Category: News

Dal Lake Officers from the tourism sector have conducted a meeting on 31st July 2018, which was chaired by Rigzin Sampheal, Tourism Secretary. The agenda of the meeting was to plan the tourism festival to be conducted in the Jammu and Kashmir. Director Tourism Kashmir Tasaduq Jeelani, Director Finance Lateef Poswal, Director Planning Tourism Parvez Sajad Kakroo, Additional Secretary Tourism Gulzar Ahmed, Joint Director Tourism Jammu Showkat Mehmood and other concerned officers of the department attended the meeting. Tasaduq Jeelani briefed the Tourism Secretary about the preparations to be done to facilitate a hassle-free Kashmir festival. Jeelani has suggested that ... Read more

Ayodhya – Photo for representative purpose only A new tourist township, ‘Navya Ayodhya’ is coming up in Uttar Pradesh, near Ayodhya. The township will be spread across 500 acres of land on Faizabad-Gorakhpur National Highway with an estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore. The initial project report is being prepared by a London-based consultancy. The proposal from the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department is awaiting state government approval to start the works. One of the main features of the township is there will be a special place named the ‘Nirvana Abode’— a destination to attain ‘moksha’ (salvation). The Navya Ayodhya project ... Read more

Effective 28 October 2018, Etihad Airways will increase its flights from Abu Dhabi to Canada’s largest city, Toronto, from three to five weekly services. The flights will be operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, featuring 40 seats in Business Class and 340 in Economy Class. “We are thrilled to announce more flights to cosmopolitan Toronto, one of the most successful and popular destinations on our global route network. This news has been eagerly anticipated,” said Robin Kamark, Chief Commercial Officer, Etihad Aviation Group. “We have welcomed well over a million guests on our flights to Toronto since we launched the service almost ... Read more

Rwanda targets to raise revenue of USD 74 million through its Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism strategy this year, Rwanda Convention Bureau said on Tuesday, 31st July 2018. As part of its diversification strategy of tourism sector, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) has introduced the MICE tourism policy in 2014. It aims at providing innovative products in the tourism sector, while preserving existing popular tourism sectors like gorilla tourism, eco-tourism, cultural and community-based tourism. The new products will work as complimentary to the existing tourism sectors. “Last year Rwanda hosted 192 conferences, generating revenue of USD 42 ... Read more

The Mangaluru district administration and the Department of Tourism will hold a series of capacity building training programmes in August for different stakeholders of tourism initiatives. As per a press release on Tuesday, 31st July 2018, an orientation class for travel agents and hoteliers will be held at Koteshwar in Udupi District on August 6. A training programme for home stay providers in and around Udupi will be held on August 8. Another training programme for taxi drivers operating around Byndoor, Kollur and Kundapur will be held on August 9. Taxi drivers associated with Udupi tourism packages operating in Udupi ... Read more

Emirates announced that it will introduce two additional flights to its Toronto (YYZ) service, complementing its existing schedule and providing even more choice and convenience to travellers. The additional Toronto flights will be introduced on August 18 2018 and will operate on a Saturday departing Dubai as EK241 at 03:30 and arrive in Toronto at 09:30. The return flight, EK242, leaves Toronto at 14:25 and arrives in Dubai at 11:40 the next day. On Sundays, EK241 will depart at 03:30 and arrive in Toronto at 09:30. The return flight, EK242, will leave Toronto at 14:30 and arrives in Dubai at ... Read more

Alexis Stephens and Christian Parson, a North Carolina couple has been on an adventure trip, hauling their miniature house nearly 80,000 kilo meters across 36 states in US and one province in Canada. The couple has spent nine months building the miniature home on wheels before commencing their three years of travel. They’re documenting their trip on a YouTube channel focused on disseminating the nomadic tiny home lifestyle. “We own the world’s most travelled tiny house,” claimed the couple Setting up the home for the journey meant using every bit of available space. “Every single inch matters in a tiny ... Read more

Jet Airways has commenced new flights on the Indore – Chandigarh – Indore – Hyderabad and Bengaluru – Guwahati routes. It has also commenced services from Indore to Hyderabad and Chandigarh. Jet Airways flight 9W 955 departed from Indore at 1245 hrs arriving at Chandigarh at 1445 hrs. On its return journey, flight 9W 958 will depart from Chandigarh at 1515 hrs and land at Indore at 1715 hrs. The flight will then depart for Hyderabad at 1800 hrs arriving at its destination at 1925 hrs. This flight will be operated by on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Similarly, Jet ... Read more

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa China and New Zealand is to jointly celebrate year 2019 as the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism.  As the first step towards the eventful year to come, a new website is launched and initiated funding for a major exhibition at the national museum. “With the new website, we have provided a platform for organizations to get involved with the 2019 China-New Zealand Year of Tourism, whether it is by promoting events, or accessing resources and useful information on the China visitor market,” said Kelvin Davis, Tourism Minister of New Zealand. The concept of ... Read more

“The Walled City of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India” is the next proposed site for UNESCO World Heritage recognition, informed Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (independent charge) for Culture and Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate change . The site namely “The Walled City of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India” has been proposed for World Heritage. As per Operation Guidelines 2017, only one site can be nominated by the state party each year. The recognition of World Heritage is a matter of great pride. It impacts the local economy by giving a boost to domestic and international tourism leading to increased employment ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned Rs 426.02 crores for Tribal and Rural Circuit under Swadesh Darshan Scheme, said K J Alphons, Minister for Tourism. Tribal and Rural Circuits are among the fifteen thematic circuits identified for development under Swadesh Darshan Scheme. “The projects under the scheme are identified for development in consultation with the State Governments/UT Administrations and are sanctioned subject to availability of funds, submission of suitable detailed project reports, adherence to scheme guidelines and utilization of funds released earlier,” said the minister. Based on above, Ministry has sanctioned projects under Tribal and Rural Circuit theme of Swadesh Darshan ... Read more

More than 1.6 lakh people visited India for cruise tourism in 2017-2018, Tourism Minister K J Alphons. The Ministry of Tourism is working towards attracting five million cruise tourists to India by 2040, he said. A Task Force on Cruise Tourism has been formed jointly by the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Shipping with representatives of all major ports and stakeholders for coordinated efforts to create an enabling ecosystem for the development of Cruise Tourism in India. The Task Force meets regularly and the last meeting of the Task Force was held on 21.05.2018, the minister said. During the ... Read more

India and Nepal will jointly promote the Ramayana and Buddhist tourist circuits, informed Tourism Minister K J Alphons. The second meeting of tourism Joint Working Group (JWG) between India and Nepal was held in Kathmandu on 06.07.2018. In this meeting it was agreed to set up the Indo Nepal Tourism Forum with representation from government and private sector from both sides for mutual consultation and promotion of tourism in both countries. “This JWG also decided to officially recognise two circuits, Ramayana Circuit and Buddhist Circuit by both governments for joint promotions through common branding and marketing exercises,” the minister said. Earlier, ... Read more

Deogarh Under the PRASHAD Scheme, 26 religious cities/sites in 19 States have been identified for development. The cities/sites are Amaravati and Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh), Kamakhya (Assam), Patna and Gaya (Bihar), Dwarka and Somnath (Gujarat), Gurudwara Nada Saheb (Haryana), Hazratbal and Katra (Jammu & Kashmir), Deogarh (Jharkhand), Chamundeshwari Devi (Karnataka), Guruvayoor (Kerala), Una (Himachal Pradesh), Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh), Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra), Puri (Odisha), Amritsar (Punjab), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Kanchipuram and Vellankani (Tamil Nadu), Varanasi and Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Badrinath and Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) and Belur (West Bengal). The Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance to State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations under the schemes of ... Read more

About Rs 12.68 crore was allocated for conservation, preservation and environmental development works at the Taj Mahal in the last three years, said Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma at the Rajya Sabha. “The essential conservation, preservation and environmental development work at Taj Mahal is attended regularly to keep the monument in good condition,” the minister said. The expenditure incurred by the government on the monument’s conservation, preservation and environmental development was around Rs 4.12 crore during 2017-18. In the previous two years, close to Rs 3.6 crore (2015-16) and Rs 4.6 crore (2016-17) have been spent by the government, Sharma said. ... Read more