Category: News

Photo Courtesy: South China Morning Post Tourism experts expect a setback in the booming US tourism industry due to the escalating trade tensions between the United States and China. “There will be impacts on the tourism. The question is how long. We hope it’s temporary,” said Barry Lin, Vice General Manager of Destination Marketing Services at Chinese online travel agency, Tuniu to the media. “The tourism industry is monitoring the situation closely, as the National Day Golden Week, a national seven-day holiday starting on Oct. 1 in China, is getting closer,” said Lin. China is one of the major inbound ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Voice of Sikkim The Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (KBR) in Sikkim, surrounding the world’s third highest peak Mount Khanchendzonga, has been added to UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves, making it the 11th biosphere in India to be included in the network. It is to be considered an opportunity for joint collaboration and conservation of biodiversity with neighbouring countries like Nepal, and Bhutan. The Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP) in Sikkim is popular among trekking and hiking enthusiasts, is also the starting point for several stunning trails, taking explorers up and through a dizzying variety of forests and terrains to ... Read more

Kampot Beach (Photo Courtesy: Mad Monkey Hostels Cambodia is planning to construct the first international tourism port in the coastal province of Kampot. The foundation stone for the port has been laid on Wednesday, on 8th August 2018. “The port will be developed with the financial aid of USD 8 million from the Asian Development Bank.  The four-hectare is coming up in Chhum Kreal commune of Tek Chhou district,” said Thong Khon, the Tourism Minister “The port will improve tourism in the province by connecting seaborne tourists from Thailand and Vietnam,” he said in a speech during the ground-breaking ceremony. ... Read more

Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) is a Premier Business Networking Event and Business-to-Business team, who have been conducting trade shows in various cities of India. The events provide a platform for interaction and business between tour operators and travel Agents to understand the each other and build good business relationships. GPS is conducting an event in Kochi to facilitate interaction between the buyers and sellers in the tourism industry. The event, which will be hosted at Le Meridian hotel, will be for three days starting from Thursday, 9 August, 2018 to Saturday, 11 August, 2018. First day of the event will ... Read more

GOAMILES, Goa’s first mobile app based taxi service,  was launched by Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister of Goa at the Secretariat Complex, Porvorim. GOAMILES will provide the convenience of booking a taxi immediately upon arrival in the state at reasonable, government approved rates. The GOAMILES app can be downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple Store. Speaking at the launch, Parrikar said, “Goa can now take tourists for miles through the new app based taxi service which will be affordable and give travellers a comfortable journey from the time they arrive till they leave. I congratulate Goa Tourism for launching this initiative ... Read more

Picture Courtesy: Hatten Land Malacca (Melaka) is expected to have a RM200 million (USD 49.2 million) water theme park, the largest in the Malaysian UNESCO World Heritage city. A collaboration between Singapore’s Hatten Land, Samsung C&T Corporation – which also operates South Korea’s Everland Resort – and water slides designer Polin Waterparks, Splash World at Harbour City is due for completion by end of 2019 and expected to be opened to the public in the first half of 2020. A joint statement by the partners said that the water park, located 14 floors above ground, will be “the world’s first ... Read more

Wide body aircrafts can now operate from Calicut airport. The application from Saudi Airlines has been approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, allowing them to operate wide body aircrafts. The airport was partially closed on May 1, 2015, after the Airport Authority of India (AAI) banned operation of wide-bodied aircrafts including Boeing 777 and B747-400 and Airbus 330 for the runway re-carpeting, to ensure safety of passengers. A convoy of Kerala MPs have visited the Union Aviation Minister several times to seek permission for making the airport fully functional. Revamping works of the runways to facilitate operation of ... Read more

Emirates is planning to introduce two additional flights to its Toronto (YYZ) service, to complement its existing schedule. The additional Toronto flights will be introduced on August 18, 2018 and will operate on a Saturday departing Dubai as EK241 at 0330 hrs and arrive in Toronto at 0930 hrs. The return flight, EK242, leaves Toronto at 1425 hrs and arrives in Dubai at 1140 hrs the next day. On Sundays, EK241 will depart at 03.30 hrs and arrive in Toronto at 09.30 hrs. The return flight, EK242, will leave Toronto at 14:30 and arrives in Dubai at 11:25 the next ... Read more

Renowned Saputara Mnsoon Festival has begun in Gujarat on 4th August 2018, as part of the tourism development programmes of Gujrat Tourism. The festival aims at attracting more tourists to the state during monsoon season. Saputara will adorn like bride during the festival days. There will be cultural programs every day, from 4 PM to 7 PM. Other attractions of the festival are rain dance, cartoon characters to keep kids entertained, lake lighting and fountain at Saputara Lake. Saputara, the only hill station in Gujarat, is located in located in Sahyadri Hills or Western Ghats. With its lush forests, waterfalls, ... Read more

University of West Indies, Mona Jamaica is set to host the Tourism Resilience Summit of the America in September, as informed by Jamaica Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett. The summit will bring together global stakeholders in the tourism industry on 13th September 2018 at the University of the West Indies, Mona in Jamaica. “This summit is part of the ministry’s efforts to build resilience within the region and globally. Resilience building has become even more crucial in a world that is hyper connected and as such more vulnerable to climate change, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism and cybercrime,” said Bartlett. “The summit, ... Read more

Istabul, Turkey Turkey’s currency, lira has reached an all-time low against the pound, stimulating a rush in inbound tourists from UK. Lira reached 0.15 against pound sterling, resulted from a continuous decline during the past twelve months. The decrease in value during this period is around 35 per cent. Anyone changing 100 pound would get more than 650 lira. As per Thomas Cook’s recent reports, there has been an increase of around 63 per cent in bookings to Turkey during 2018, when compared to 2017. Antalya airport in Turkey excelled Spain’s Palma de Mallorca as the company’s most served airport ... Read more

According to Tourism Council of Bhutan’s (TCB) exit survey 2017, nine out of every 10 international tourists have voted Bhutan as a safe tourist destination. About 91 per cent of the regional tourists from India, Bangladesh and Maldives also said Bhutan is a safe tourist destination. About 1,428 international visitors were surveyed at the Paro International Airport using administered questionnaire survey. A small number of international tourists were interviewed at exit points of Phuentsholing, Samdrupjongkhar, and Gelephu. A total of 1,534 regional visitors were surveyed at all exit points as part of the survey. Value for money stands the highest for ... Read more

If you have yet to book your tickets for your summer holidays, here is a chance to save some money. Dubai-based Emirates is offering discounted fares to various Asian cities. The offer is available for those who book the tickets on or before 12th August 2018. The passengers can travel until 31st October 2018 with the discounted prices. Currently Dubai to Mumbai economy ticket is priced AED. 460/- only. Dubai to Delhi is AED 500/-,  to Chennai AED 570/-, to Kochi – AED 500/-, to Thiruvananthapuram – AED 550/-, to Bengaluru – AED 560/- The rate may even be less, ... Read more

Major tourist friendly nations, including India will soon visit Sri Lanka visa-free. Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a task force to study the possibility of granting visa-free entry to visitors from tourist friendly nations in order to boost arrivals. “Some of the countries under consideration are India, China along with some other European and West Asian nations,” said Tourism Minister John Amaratunga. The new move is aimed at encouraging more people to visit Sri Lanka and avoid “chaos” at the immigration, the minister added. Once the task force give the recommendations, the visa-free entry will be implemented in ... Read more

The Tourism Ministry in partnership with the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) is organising the ‘first ever’ India Tourism Mart (ITM) from 16th to 18th September, 2018 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The objective of the event, which is well supported by all the State /UT Governments, is to create an annual Global Tourism Mart for India in line with major international travel marts being held in countries across the world. The Mart will provide a platform for all stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industries to interact and transact business opportunities. “India, with its great potential in tourism ... Read more