Category: News

The country is planning to have a total of 200 airports by 2040, against the 99 at present. “We would also be adding 1000 aircrafts in the next 7-8 years and one billion trips in the next 15 years,” said R N Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. He was speaking at the Global Aviation Summit organized by FICCI in Mumbai today. “The domestic aviation has been growing at 20 per cent every year, for the last four years and, this growth has been the highest in the world and it has sustained,” he said. “This growth will be inclusive ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the project “Development of Spiritual Circuit: Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple-Aranmula-Sabarimala” being implemented under the Swadesh Drashan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in the presence of Palanisamy Sathasivam, Governor of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan Chief Minister of Kerala, K J Alphons, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, in Kerala today. The project ‘Development of Spiritual Circuit: Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple-Aranmula-Sabarimala’ was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in 2016-17 for Rs 92.22 crores. Majority of work under this project has been carried out at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The Sree Padmanabaswamy Temple is ... Read more

Union Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, K J Alphons announced that the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned projects worth Rs 85.23 crore for the development of Spiritual Circuit III for Kerala under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The sites identified under the circuit are spread across all 14 districts of the state and cover 133 religious places. He said the districts where the projects would be implemented are : Kasargode, Wayand, Kannur, Kozhikode, Palakkad, Malappuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Pathanamhitta, Kollam and Thiruvanathapuram . The Minister said the destinations have been selected keeping in view the inherent historic, cultural ... Read more

The Prayagraj Kumbh mela, the grand congregation of Hindu devotees that takes place four times over a course of 12 years, begins today. The festivities commenced with the ‘shahi snan’ or the holy dip with sadhus from 13 akhadas (tent) taking a dip in the rivers along where the mela takes place. The ritual of Shahi Snan dates back to centuries. It is believed that the tradition of a Shahi Snan meaning a royal dip, began during the 14th-16th century. Today, millions of pilgrims, plunged themselves into the cold waters during the first Shahi Snan, that began at around 4am. ... Read more

SATTE – photo from 2018 event Kashmir Tourism department is participating in a number of promotional events and exhibitions within and outside the country with a view to promote the tourism products of the state. As per a statement issued by the department on Monday, the department will showcase its tourism products at SATTE (South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange),  South Asia’s largest travel and tourism event, to be held from January 16- 18 at Greater Noida. The event will be followed by another Road Show at Pune on January 21, where the department will be interacting with the media ... Read more

Indian temples are known for its own unique offerings and rituals. If you are anywhere near the Brajeshwari temple in Himachal Pradesh, you would be lucky to see the installation of a butter idol during Makar Sankranthi, which is tomorrow. Every year the preparations for installing the butter idol begin on Makar Sankranti, which is celebrated as a week-long festival at the temple. The goddess idol will be made of 2,500 kg of clarified butter in a famous temple in this Himachal Pradesh town. The idol of Goddess Brajeshwari Devi, being prepared by using ‘desi ghee’ after purification with holy water 101 times ... Read more

Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore This year, Pongal – the festival of Tamil Nadu- will be celebrated in collaborating with Isha Yoga Centre, Coimbatore. This year’s festivities will take place on the centre’s premises in Coimbatore from 3pm to 6pm on 16th January 2018. “People from across the world with distinct culture and religion will join the Pongal celebrations that will include Pongal pots, sugarcane, rangoli and traditional games,” stated a release from the Yoga center. On the occasion of Mattu Pongal, 15 varieties of native cattle breeds like Kankarej, Kangayam, Sahiwal, Gir and others will be exhibited to depict the ... Read more

Almost all of us have multiple Instagram accounts – one for self and one for business. Managing those accounts have been a headache all these times. But, now Instagram, with an aim to simplify the lives for multi-Instagram account owners, has begun rolling out a new feature that lets users post their pics to multiple accounts simultaneously. The ‘self regram’ feature is available and can be accessed at the last stage of posting a photo or video. Users will now be able to choose accounts they wish to publish their post simultaneously on. However, the new feature will not allow ... Read more

As per statistics form the tourism department, during the tourist season – from October to April, 26 luxury ships with around 35,000 tourists have arrived in Kerala. Where the projected number of tourists for the season was around 50,000; the number of tourists arrived within two months is considered to be a positive sign in the cruise tourism sector. The Cochin Port Trust has got Rs 3 crore as of now. Cruise tourism is proved to be beneficial for the local market. It is reported that a tourist spent approximately Rs 25,000 per day on major tourism centers in Kerala. ... Read more

Japan-based All Nippon Airways (ANA) is planning to launch its direct daily flight from Tokyo to Chennai starting from October. “We are focused on building the relationship between India and Japan. For this, ANA is planning to launch its operations from Tokyo to Chennai. Though this is the initial phase of discussion, but if it materialises, it will be a daily flight,” said Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism at the reception of 3rd Meeting of India- Japan Tourism Council. All Nippon Airways operates in Delhi and Mumbai. Chennai is the third line in India. If the plan is ... Read more

Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram voted the ‘most welcoming place in India’ as per a poll conducted by Booking.com. According to the 7th annual edition of the Guest Review Awards survey, five destinations from Kerala got place in the total 10 most visited places in India. Varkala came first, in the Top 10 list in India, followed by Kochi (Kerala) and Jaisalmer (Rajasthan). Thekkady (4th Place in India), Alappuzha (6th) and Munnar (8th) are the other three destinations from Kerala got enlisted in the top ten list of India. Jodhpur in Rajasthan (5th), Puducherry in Tamil Nadu (7th), Udaipur in Rajsthan (9th) ... Read more

The government of India is constructing 44 strategic roads along the border with China at a cost of nearly Rs 21,000 crore and over 2100 km of axial and lateral roads in Punjab and Rajasthan, abutting Pakistan. According to an annual report (2018-19) of the Central Public Works Department, the agency has been asked to construct 44 ‘strategically important’ roads along the India-China border to ensure quick mobilisation of troops in case of a conflict. The nearly 4000-km-long Line of Actual Control between India and China touches areas from Jammu & Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. The report comes at a ... Read more

Arrival of winter in Kashmir helped the tourism sector valley, as most of the hotels and guest houses in Kashmir’s Gulmarg and Jammu’s Patnitop are full, as tourists from across the country have been flocking to enjoy the cold weather and snow. “Today both Gulmarg and Patnitop are witnessing 100 per cent occupancy. Over 1500 rooms of hotels, guest houses and government huts are occupied in the famous ski resort Gulmarg,” said Rigzin Samphel, Tourism Secretary, to the media on Sunday. “The Patnitop hills and its adjacent resorts are also chock-full with local visitors as well as from north India ... Read more

The main entrance of the temple Considered as a most important pilgrimage site in Kerala, the iconic Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram has been the prime attraction for the domestic tourists and devotees in and outside the state over the years. And, with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting this richest temple in the world, the authorities are expecting a major thrust in religious tourism in the capital city. The Padmanabhaswamy temple has been witnessing a footfall around 10-15 lakhs pilgrims annually, where the occupancy rate of hotels and lodges is always 100 per cent almost round the year. The temple hit headlines ... Read more

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