Category: News

Kourion, Cyprus Cyprus Parliament on Tuesday passed a law establishing a junior ministry for tourism, scheduled to begin operation in January 2019. The government bill also provides for creating the position of an under-secretary to the president for tourism. The bill will come into being from 2nd January 2019. In a statement, deputy government spokeswoman Klelia Vasiliou called it a ‘milestone for boosting the tourism sector, a key pillar of the Cypriot economy’. The establishment of the ministry would lead to the implementation of a national strategy for tourism. It has been formulated over the last five years through consultations with all ... Read more

Bodh Gaya at Gaya district in Bihar Government of India is planning to entice the Buddha aficionados all around the world to visit India’s Buddhist spots. It is part of the tourism ministries plans to boost the tourist inbound to the country in the days to come. As per tourism minister K J Alphons, the focus is on augmenting the infrastructure and improving road and air connectivity. The home ministry is actively considering a proposal set forth by the tourism ministry to open new entry points through Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, as stated by an official. Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation ... Read more

Novotel New Delhi Aerocity AccorHotels has introduced ‘MyRoom by AccorHotels’ concept across five properties which offers customised rooms. The concept rooms are introduced in AccorHotels’ Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Goa hotels with an aim  to meet travellers’ stay experiences which are distinctive, innovative, customised and local. To bridge the gap between the hotel staff and guests, MyRoom themes have been designed by the hotel staff itself. The staff brainstormed on themes they are passionate about, while keeping their guests in mind. Following internal discussions, three winners were shortlisted, where each winner was given charge to decorate and plan the room as per their ... Read more

The rock restaurant Tanzanian authorities said they have started verifying registration certificates and licenses of firms that are engaged in tourism businesses in the east African nation. “The move is aimed at identifying and removing all unregistered and unlicensed firms from doing the tourism business,” said Gaudence Milanzi, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. “Unregistered and unlicensed firms had been linked to incidences of fraud including conning and causing unnecessary inconveniences to tourists. Such incidences were tarnishing Tanzania’s image to tourists around the globe,” he said in a statement. The government was  issuing registration forms to ... Read more

Tourism Sector has created 14.62 million jobs during the last four years, thus becoming the leading sector in the economy in terms of job creation, said Minister for State for Tourism (I/C), K J Alphons. He said that all segments of the society benefit from the tourism sector, as it creates employment opportunities at all levels. The Tourism Minister was speaking after interacting with Ambassadors of foreign missions in Delhi on bilateral tourism. Around 20 Ambassadors attended the meeting which included Finland, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Russia, Malaysia, Russia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, etc. “Engaging the Ambassadors of countries is important to ... Read more

After four long months, the Agra-Jaipur flight of Air India will start flying again from July 16th albeit at a changed time. The flight will be operating four days a week. The flight will be operated on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The flight will take off from Jaipur at 6:50 am and land in Agra at 8 am. The return flight will take off from Agra at 8:30 am and land in Jaipur at 9:30 am. Air India has scheduled the ATR-72 aircraft for this route instead of the ATR-48 it was flying earlier due to the heavy seat occupancy ... Read more

Nepal is all set to launch its first broad gauge railway service connecting India by December. The broad-gauge passenger railway service will be operated from Nepal’s South-Eastern Janakpur town to Jayanagar. This stretch is a section of the 69km Nepal-India cross border railway line from Jayanagar to Nepal’s South Eastern region. Five more cross-border railway lines between the two neighboring countries are either being constructed or planned. There was an operation of Janakpur-Jaynagar railway service in the past but on a narrow gauge line. But the service came to a complete halt around five years ago after renovation and upgrading ... Read more

The Fijian government has pledged to raise its tourism standards to increase visitor arrivals and foreign exchange earnings. “47 per cent of the Fijian government’s allocation of 99.3 million Fijian dollars (about 47.2 million U S dollars) announced in the 2018-2019 National Budget for Fiji’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, was allocated to the tourism sector to foster sustainable development,” said Jioji Konrote, President of Fiji while addressing the new Rosie Holidays Event in Fiji’s third largest city of Nadi. “The government is constantly engaging with Fijian industry stakeholders, including Fiji Airways, to have more source markets for tourism arrivals. Our ... Read more

Epic views abound of the mist-cloaked mountains of the Western Ghats © Naufal MQ / Getty Images Lonely Planet has just revealed its 2018 Best in Asia list, a collection of 10 of the best destinations to visit in the continent for the year. And, Western Ghats of India, finds a place in the top 5 of the list. “Asia is such a vast and diverse continent for anyone dreaming of an escape,” said Lonely Planet’s Asia-Pacific Media Spokesperson Chris Zeiher. The panel of travel experts has named Busan, South Korea as its top pick, describing it as “eclectic” and “vibrant”. ... Read more

Mumbai Marine Drive area will soon become one of the world’s top water sports destinations to have  events like Formula 1 racing and Grand Prix. The government is planning to develop Mumabi as the hub of cruise tourism in the country. Marine Drive, Kanhoji Angre Island, Mandwa, Alibaug and Vijaydurg would be developed as eye-catching tourist destinations under this project. “In order to attract tourists, water sports activities are being planned in and around Marine Drive are, to have events like Ferrari Formula 1 nd Granprix. Mandwa will be transformed as a wellness destination with facilities for activities like Yoga ... Read more

Israel received 2.1 million tourists during the first half of the year 2018, depicting an increase of 19 per cent compared to the same period in 2017 (1.74 million) and 26 per cent more than in 2016. In the month of June, 310,200 tourists visited Israel, according to reports released Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics, which is 2 per cent more than in June 2017. Revenue from tourism in June reached about 1.66 billion shekels, according to the report. Since the beginning of the year, tourism industry could contribute 12 billion shekels to the Israeli economy. City of ... Read more

The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approved the ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’ for senior citizens under which the Delhi government will bear the expenses of 77,000 pilgrims every year. “Mukhyamantri teerth yatra yojana approved. All objections overruled…” Kejriwal tweeted. Delhi residents above the age of 60 are covered under this scheme. Those selected, will be allowed to be accompanied by an attendant aging 18 years or above and their expenditure will also be borne by the city administration. The Delhi Cabinet had approved the revenue department’s proposal to begin the programme titled ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’ on January 8 ... Read more

India will conduct a road show in China to attract more tourists from that country which has the highest number of outbound people, Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons said today while announcing the schedule for the first India Tourism Mart. Aiming to double the number of foreign tourist arrivals and receipts from it in the next three years, India will conduct a road show in China, along with other promotional activities. Last year, India’s tourism industry did extremely well. The inbound tourists from abroad crossed 10 million and the ministry aiming at doubling this in three years. Recently road ... Read more

Oman Air said it will resume its service between Muscat and Malé in the Maldives this October. Flights to the Maldives with Oman Air will recommence for the 2018-19 winter season from 28 October 2018. The service will be operated by the new Boeing 737 aircraft. The flights from Muscat to Maldives will operate on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the flight from Maldives to Muscat will operate on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The Maldives is a beautiful chain of 26 ring atolls, made up of more than 1,000 coral islands, located only three and a ... Read more

As part of the ‘mega anniversary sale’, the economy airline IndiGo to give away 1.2 million seats at a discounted rate starting from Rs 1,212/- across its network of flights including overseas destinations. The booking starts on Tuesday for the four-day and can travel from July 25 to March 30 next year, IndiGo said in a press release. “IndiGo is offering customers a four-day special sale starting at Rs 1,212 effective from July 10 till July 13. As part of the mega sale, the airline is offering 12 lakh seats for travel between July 25, 2018 and March 30, 2019 ... Read more