Category: News

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Medical Tourism Association (MTA), to coordinate efforts to position Abu Dhabi as a world-class medical tourism destination, with the MTA’s annual World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress event now being hosted in Abu Dhabi a major part of the agreement. This globally recognized event brings together experts and organizations from more than 100 countries worldwide and regularly attracts more than 10,000 visitors, approximately 200 exhibitors and sponsors, and up to 100 hosted VIP buyers. The MoU agreement, which was ... Read more

Seychelles Tourism Board is looking for enhancing inbound tourists from the second tier cities of India. With the aim of expanding their reach to more cities of India, destination training workshops were conducted by the Seychelles tourism board in Surat and Nagpur. The objective of the workshops was to provide the tour operators with information and details about Seychelles and to find new potential partners who could promote the destinations in Seyshelles. (Photo courtesy: Udaipur Times) Events were attended by 25-30 companies in each city, which included destination presentations followed by question and answer and networking sessions. The training session ... Read more

The Italian Embassy in Bahrain has opened a new visa application centre in Manama in partnership with VFS Global on Tuesday. (09 October, 2018). In a joint statement, VFS Global and the Embassy said the new centre will provide greater seamlessness to visa application processing and residents in Bahrain need not submit their Schengen visa applications at the Embassy. “We are very pleased to start a new chapter of cooperation with VFS Global, providing a state-of-the-art service in collecting applications for short-stay Visas for travel to Italy and Malta as their main destinations in the Schengen area. We are confident ... Read more

The country’s busiest airport in Delhi, the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), will go plastic-free by 2019. The airport has already started saying no to plastic for grocery bags, food packaging, bottles, straws, containers, cups and cutlery. Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has said the initiative is in line with India’s pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022. DIAL has started awareness campaigns, enhancing waste management systems and promoting the use of eco-friendly sustainable alternatives progressively. Single-use plastics, often also referred to as disposable plastics, are commonly used in packaging and include items intended to be used only ... Read more

Renowned tourism destination and World Heritage Site of Assam, Manas National Park, was opened for tourists on Wednesday, 10th October 2018. The national park was inaugurated by Kampa Borgoyari , Deputy Chief of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). A huge gathering was present on the occasion. To the amusement of the visitors traditional art forms like Bihu dance, Zikir, Bodo dance and Naam Prasang were performed on the inauguration. A huge procession was taken out on the occasion. The colourful procession was participated by a large number of local people, elephants, members of different organizations and artistes. “This year we are ... Read more

  Union tourism Minister K J Alphonse has unveiled the new Tourism Policy of Uttarakhand on 8th October 2018. He was participating in the ‘Destination Uttarakhand Investors Summit 2018. Yes Bank was the ‘Knowledge Partner’ of the new Uttarakhand Tourism Policy 2018. With the new policy, Tourism gets ‘Industry’ status and thereby creating investment opportunity for investors through favorable incentives, subsidies and provisions. The policy also lays down a road map for the Govt. of Uttarakhand’s flagship project ‘13 districts, 13 destinations’ scheme for systematic development of these destinations. The policy will enable investors to capitalize on the huge Tourism ... Read more

Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) plans to host an event to give budding tourism entrepreneurs an opportunity to strengthen their business idea and gather investment support. ‘The Tourism Udhyami Seed Camp’ will be held in Nepal’s tourism capital, Pokhara, from 30th October to 4th November 2018. Interested people can submit their applications until October 15. 20 finalists will be selected from among the applicants, on the basis of the criteria prescribed along with the distinctiveness and feasibility of the proposed idea. From Udhyami Seed Camp – 2017 The participating teams of two to four members in each team will be provided ... Read more

The national passenger carrier Air India said it will launch direct flight services from Bengaluru to London with effect from November 17, 2018. “The non stop flight will fulfill the long standing demand of IT professionals and health tourism in the region,” the airline said in a statement. According to Air India, the service will be operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The aircraft will fly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Bengaluru and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from London. Air India has also offered special introductory two-way fare of Rs 1,29,500 for business class travel and Rs 35,220 for ... Read more

German carrier Lufthansa said that it has plans to begin service from Austin to Frankfurt in May 2019. The nonstop service will be available on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The first Austin-Frankfurt Lufthansa flight is scheduled for May 3, 2019. Tickets are already on sale at lufthansa.com. “We are thrilled to announce the launch of nonstop service between Austin, Texas, and our Frankfurt hub in May of next year, which will offer Austin area residents a world of travel opportunities to more than 200 destinations in 100 countries from our European base. Those living in Texas’ state capital will ... Read more

As part of the incessant efforts of the state to lure tourists to the valley, the Kashmir tourism department has held road shows at Moscow and St Petersburg. Tasaduq Jeelani, Director Tourism, Kashmir, said that the responses from the tour operators were positive. “I personally talked to the heads of the travel trade from Moscow and St Petersburg, who assured that they would send groups to Jammu and Kashmir for holidays, especially for adventure and heritage tourism,” said Jeelani. Other than presentations, showcasing Jammu and Kashmir’s diverse culture, art and craft, breath-taking beauty of Kashir; few short films highlighting the ... Read more

Oman’s Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has commenced its multi-city roadshow on October 7, beginning with Qatar’s capital Doha. The Tourism Ministry is also conducting mobile promotional workshops during the five-city roadshow. The workshops, set to take place in Kuwait, Jeddah, Riyadh and Dubai as well. The roadshows and workshops will be attended by Omani tourism companies including Oman Air and SalamAir. The ministry has coordinated with its representative offices to invite about 100 tourist companies and institutions, in addition to the local media in the host countries. Introductory and promotional presentations will be made about tourism potential, services and products in the ... Read more

The Odisha government on Tuesday ordered the closure of all schools, colleges and Anganwadi centres till October 10-11 in four districts of the state as a precautionary measure against Cyclone Titli. Cyclone Titli is very likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm during the next 24 hours. Titli has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm, triggering rainfall in several parts of Odisha. It is also expected to make landfall between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coasts tomorrow morning.  It is very likely to intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm during the next 18 hours. The Met department has warned ... Read more

Floating Market in Pengkalan Tok Kuning, is the new tourist attraction in the state of Perils, Malaysia, by offering experience like traveling abroad. The innovative concept was implemented by the Perlis Fishing and Recreation Club to offer a unique travel and shopping experience to the visitors. The floating market is located about 5 Km from Kangar Town. It will give visitors the opportunity to buy food stuff and other items sold from boats. “The market will operate consistently every two weeks on Sundays from 5 pm to 10 pm accompanied by about 50 fishing boats,” said Mohammed Noor Hashim, Chairman ... Read more

Islamic Travel Mart (ITM), India’s premier B2B marketplace and meeting point for all stakeholders in Islamic tourism, is scheduled to be held from October 13-14, 2018 at the World Trade Centre, Mumbai. Leading travel professionals and organisations from the Haj, Umrah, Ziyarat, Halal and mainstream travel sectors are coming together to promote the development of travel and tourism to the Haj and Umrah circuit, as well to other Islamic pilgrimage destinations across the globe. The objective of Islamic Travel Mart is to create a platform for greater interaction and networking between the suppliers and buyers of Haj, Umrah, Ziyarat and Halal Travel, ... Read more

Scattered across the scenic Verzasca Valley, the Swiss village of Corippo is slowly becoming a ghost town. It was dwelling of 300 people during the 19th Century, but now population has dropped to just 12 inhabitants with a reported average age of 75. These dismal records have incited fears that the village is lumbering towards extinction, as concerns shared by rural communities across Europe. Young people have been leaving the village due to lack of opportunities and a preference for city life. However, an innovative solution to Corippo’s revival has been proposed; turn the village into a hotel. In fact ... Read more