Category: News

While most of the football fans spend their time in front of the TV to cheer up their favourite teams, 30 football enthusiasts could witness the pre-quarter finals at the Russian stadium itself. And, it was Bon Voyage International, a Trivandrum-based tour operator, made their dreams a reality. Bon Voyage, headed by Sujith Vaidyan, conducts tour programmes worldwide, with specialization in Sports tours, Destination Weddings etc. “Majority of the inquiries we have received this time for the World Cup special tour package, were from the casual travellers in Kerala,” said Sujith Vaidyan . The FIFA World Cup package was for ... Read more

Following strong reaction and demand from the passengers to reverse the decision to take off ‘Hindu meal’ from its menu, Emirates has decided to reinstate the ‘Hindu meal option’ for its passengers. “Based on feedback from our customers, Emirates confirms we will continue to provide a ‘Hindu meal option’, to make it easier for our Hindu customers to identify and request this option. The decision to discontinue ‘Hindu meal option’ had created a stir on the social media with passengers calling for reversal of the decision by the airline. Emirates had taken its “Hindu meal” off the menu, citing a review ... Read more

File Photo: Jericho earthquake Earthquakes hit parts of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine on Wednesday, the aftershocks of which continued all through the day. No injuries or damage were reported. Two earthquakes measuring 3.2 on the Richter scale were felt overnight Wednesday in northern Israel. The epicenter of the earthquakes originated 9 km northeast of Tiberias. A 4.3 magnitude earthquake occurred at 10 pm, Wednesday night, with its epicenter two kilometers deep in the Sea of Galilee, Northern Palestine. A tremor was recorded on Wednesday evening, and felt by many residents, especially in the Lebanon capital Beirut. In the meantime, three medium-intensity earthquakes ... Read more

Emirates has introduced 3D seat models on emirates.com, becoming the first airline to introduce web virtual reality (VR) technology on its digital platform. The 3D seat model is a visualisation engine that displays an immersive 3D 360 degree view of the interior of the Emirates A380 and the Emirates Boeing 777, giving customers a chance to explore their seats, the spacious cabin and the Emirates onboard product. This new feature available on emirates.com allows users to navigate through the Economy, Business and First Class cabins, as well as the iconic Onboard Lounge and Shower Spa on the Emirates A380 using ... Read more

The Chief Minister with Water Resources Minister Mathew T Thomas and Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran reviews the progress of the works – (Photo Courtesy – Hindu) The man-made Parvathy-Puthanar canal, created in the 18th and 19th centuries as a water route linking Thiruvananthapuram to Kollam and beyond, has been covered with weeds and debris and become a dirt canal. As per the decision of the cabinet to re-establish the canal to make it navigable, cleaning works are in progress in the canal. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has visited the work site on 5th July 2018 to monitor the progress of ... Read more

UPDATE: https://tourismnewslive.com/2018/07/05/emirates-reverses-decision-will-serve-hindu-meal-on-flights/ Emirates has taken its “Hindu meal” off the menu, citing a review of its services and customer feedback.  The airline said the decision to withdraw the Hindu meal option from its in-flight menu was taken following a review of the on-board products and services. “As part of our continuous review of the products and services available to customers, Emirates can confirm that it will discontinue the Hindu meal option. We constantly review our offering, taking into consideration customer uptake and feedback. This helps us improve service efficiencies,” the Dubai-based airline said in a statement today. Hindu passengers can ... Read more

A forum on China-Maldives Tourism Cooperation was held in the Maldives on Tuesday, 3rd July 2018 to expand tourism ties between the two countries and attract more Chinese tourists to visit Maldives. Government officials and leading travel operators from both Maldives and China has attended the meeting. “The contribution of Chinese tourists to the tourism industry of Maldives is considerable,” said Moosa Zameer, Tourism Minister of Maldives. “China stands first in the number of tourism arrivals in the past few years,” he added. “This is a remarkable step in our efforts to increase the number of Chinese tourists and to strengthen ... Read more

“Nissan’s arrival to Kerala is a big boost for us. Following Nissan, a few other top-level IT companies such as Microsoft and Tech Mahindra have also expressed their interest to come to Kerala. This will change the face of Kerala’s IT sector. It’s going to change Kerala’s image entirely,” said Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala. He was talking to a spokesperson form the Delhi based daily ‘livemint’.

Coming out from the grip of Nipah infection, Kozhikode will host the 6th edition of Malabar River Festival (MRF) in which Olympians, world champions and top athletes of the Indian kayaking community will display their dexterous paddling expertise to vie for top honours and handsome cash prizes. Billed as the largest white water kayaking in Asia, this years event, which will also have the distinction of being the first World Kayaking Championship, is to be held at Thusharagiri in Kozhikode from July 18 to 22 in which 25 teams from around the world will participate. With Rs 15 lakh as ... Read more

Hari K C has been appointed as Business  Head -South India of East Bound Group. He will be based out of Kochi. Hari has been active in the tourism industry for more than 18 years. He is joining Eastbound from the Assistant Vice President post in Le Passage to India Journeys. Hari joined LPTI in 2005 as an Executive and stepped down as Assistant Vice President, after 14 years of service. “Long term associations are considered as stupidity by some but not in my case. This has been my identity over these years, a place where I have spend equal time ... Read more

ITC Kohenur Hyderabad ITC Limited said it plans to add 2,500 rooms to its hotel segment to take the total inventory to 12,000 in five years. At present, the group has 9,500 rooms. Sanjiv Puri, Managing Director, ITC said the company would invest Rs 2,500 crore in the next two to three years in Telangana, among others, to set up an integrated consumer goods manufacturing unit and logistics facility and for the capacity augmentation and efficiency of Bhadrachalam Paperboard. ITC has appointed a committee internally to examine the possibility of foraying into the healthcare space. Once it submitted its report, ... Read more

India plans to have road shows to emphasis alternate therapies like Yoga and Ayurveda to attract more tourists form the US. The tourists from US have been one of the largest contributors of income in the tourism industry, UK being the second foreign contributor.  Recently, in the leadership of the tourism minister Alphons Kannanthanam, a road show under the theme ‘Incredible India’ has conducted in New York and Chicago. In 2017 India has received 1.4 million US tourists, which was 6 per cent more than that of a year ago and around 25 per cent more from 2014. Meanwhile, UK ... Read more

“Non-participation of Kannur Airport in the UDAN scheme is due to the possible loss of income for our state,” said Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarai Vjayan. He was delivering his keynote at the MP’s meet in Thiruvananthapuram. “If we are part of the UDAN scheme, only one aviation company can operate in a particular route. It will adversely affect Kannur Airport, which is striving to be one of the best airports in India. The union ministry has assured to complete all the formalities related to the airport by 15th August,” he added. The inauguration of the airport is scheduled in ... Read more

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has inaugurate the fourth edition of its Tourism Investors Meet (TIM) today at FICCI, Federation House in New Delhi. The event will focus on and Interactive conclave, one to one meetings where by exhibiting destinations will be showcasing their policy and facilities with respect to soliciting investment in Tourism Infrastructure through pre-scheduled structured face-to-face business meetings between the State Governments and prominent investors. Last year, TIM witnessed participation from several state governments and over 150 investors from various parts of the country. The two-day event saw presentations made by the ... Read more

The draft of Tourism Regulatory Authority Bill, aimed to monitor and control the tourism industry in Kerala, is getting ready. The final bill will be enacted after considering the comments and suggestions of the industry experts. Tourism News Live has received a copy of the draft bill. The Regulatory Authority will have the power to take corrective measures on its own, or as per complaints received about any irregularities in the industry. It can take any suitable action, including imposing fines on organizations running without approval from any competent authorities. If an irregularity is found for the first time, a ... Read more