Category: News

Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, Cooperation and Devaswoms, has welcomed Indian Medical Association (IMA) president Dr Ravi Wankadekar’s statement that Kerala has nothing to worry about the Nipah virus scare and that the state is absolutely safe from the virus. Stating that Kerala is indeed a safe destination, Kadakampally Surendran said that around 300 doctors who have arrived to Kerala from various parts of India for the IMA conference organised in Kovalam stands testimony to this. The arrival of the renowned doctors to Kerala has immense significance, he said. The Minister also conveyed his salutations to the doctors who have ... Read more

In what can be called a huge relief to Keralites, IMA President Dr Ravi Wankedekar, who is in Kerala for the IMA conference, has stated that the Nipah virus outbreak doesn’t hold any threat in Kerala. Lauding the doctors in Kerala who had been prompt enough to spot the virus as soon as it appeared, Dr Wankedekar said that the Kerala government and the healthcare agencies did a great job by putting up resistance to the virus. Though the doctors didn’t have any forewarning or experience about the virus, they were able to detect the virus and act fast to ... Read more

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has decided to hold the Global Travel Mart India between September 16 and 18, in Delhi. “It has been a demand from the tourism industry so many years and therefore Ministry will be organising the first edition of the Mart in partnership with FAITH, the umbrella body representing all the industry associations in the country. Explaining the format of the Mart, the Secretary said that it will have components like B2B meetings on the first day, Investors Meet and Workshops on the consecutive days,” said Rashmi Verma, Secretary – Tourism, Government of India. Verma said that ... Read more

IndiGo has bagged six accolades at the BIAL Pinnacle Awards 2018, organized by  BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Ltd), held in Bengaluru last week. The six awards spread across prestigious categories including, On-time Airline of the Year – Domestic’, ‘Passenger Airline of the Year – International Low Cost’, ‘Customer Choice Airline of the Year – Domestic’, ‘Passenger Airline of the Year – Domestic Low Cost’, ‘Transformational Process Idea’ and ‘Airline with best growing network – Domestic’. “We feel absolutely honored to be recognized by BIAL across six prestigious categories of customer service. This is a recognition for all the unrelenting effort that the ... Read more

E-visa services for the foreign tourists have been launched by Ethiopian immigration authorities and Ethiopian Airlines. The new online visa application and issuance came to effect by June 1st. This online system will help the foreign tourists to apply and process their visa on a single page, with the option to pay and get their visa entry online. The applicants will receive and e-mail authorizing their travel to Ethiopia, once the application is approved. The visa will be stamped on their passport upon arrival in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia had prolific revenue of around $3.5 billion from tourism last year. Most ... Read more

The much-awaited Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes Kunthiana) season is almost here in Kerala and the state is expecting over 800,000 travellers to visit the picturesque hill station during July -October 2018 period. The Neelakurinji flowers will blossom after 12 years across the hills of Munnar in Idukki district during these months. Neelakurinji is commonly found across the Western Ghats,and had flourished previously in 2006. Munnar has the largest concentration of the Strobilanthes out of the 46 varieties found in India. The mass flowering of Neelakurinji will begin in July for next three months, and will paint the hills blue. “There is no ... Read more

The reports and statistics indicate that tourism is the major source of income for all countries and Sweden is earning huge revenue through it. The total expenditure of tourists in Sweden amounted to 317 billion kronor, recording a 7.4 per cent increase when compared to 2016. This makes 2017 the all-time best year for tourism. The tourists from other countries accounted to 42 per cent of the total tourist expenditure. Tourism also contributed to the total exports of the country last year, registering a growth of 6.3 per cent in total exports. The scenic nature is what makes the tourists ... Read more

In a move to attract Indian tourists, Tourism Australia has made association with eight airlines as part of the ‘Great Australian Airfare Sale’, with all airlines offering tickets at great discounts. Air India, Jet Airways, Qantas Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air Asia, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways and Scoot are the eight airlines joined in the endeavor. Travellers can make use of booking offer till 21st of this month, with the travel validity till June 30, 2019. The return fares start from Rs 23,000 on a budget airline for connecting flights, and will go up to Rs 55,000 for direct flights. Australia’s ... Read more

Sri Lanka is trying to woo more Chinese tourists to the island nation. As part of its marketing efforts, the Minister of Tourism Development John Amaratunga has held talks with Chinese tourism and airline officials to encourage more visitors to Sri Lanka from China. The talks were held during a visit to promote the island at the Shanghai World Travel Fair held at Shanghai Exhibition Centre in China. The team has conducted a series of promotional events and meetings across major cities in China, including Shanghai, Nanjing and Chengdu, during the past week. The Sri Lankan tourism minister has held talks with Xu Weiwan, ... Read more

Vanchikulam freshwater lake was once a busy waterway connecting Thrissur and Kochi. However, the waterway lost all its prominence with the arrival of Shoranur-Kochi rail line and NH47, and soon turned out into a waste dumping yard. Now, Thrissur Corporation and Tourism Department has made plans to restore the waterway and convert it into a tourism hub. The inauguration of first phase works was done recently by Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran. The construction works will be headed by the Kerala State Nirmithi Kendra. The plan is to revive Vanchikulam as an eco-friendly park with solar lighting system. A walkway, cycle track, ... Read more

As the Telangana state celebrates its 4th anniversary, the government’s prime lift irrigation project Kaleshwaram will be added to the tour circuit on June 2nd. The Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) will have a day-long special tour from Hyderabad to Kaleshwaram. They will also be conducting a paragliding event from Jun 3rd-5th at Bison Polo Grounds, Secunderabad, first of its kind in the state. Another exciting initiative is the ‘Telangana Formation Flight-2018,’ which will have an aircraft fly past the audience at the Bison Polo Grounds fluttering national flag and showering flower petals over them. The itinerary of the ... Read more

In a move to promote cruise tourism substantially, the Union Government has planned to develop terminals at major ports. The government plans to make a single company in charge of executing the contracts of maintenance and operations of cruise terminals. The cruise terminals at 4-5 ports will be maintained and operated by one company. The contracts will be implemented by the Ministry of Shipping after discussing with the major port authorities and state naval boards. Reports suggest that Mumbai port will be set as the as home port. The ports in New Mangalore, Goa and Chennai will be ports of call where ships will be ... Read more

The 4th United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Forum on Gastronomy Tourism was launched off on Thursday at Bangkok. The forum has brought 475 delegates from 52 nations to Bangkok. The forum focuses on updating the participants about the strong linkage between tourism and gastronomy highlighting new techniques and technologies in preparing, marketing and managing the association. The forum organized by UNWTO and Basque Culinary Centre focuses on stressing the importance and role of gastronomy tourism towards the development of sustainable tourism in the region and increasing its awareness, both nationally and regionally. The participants from Japan, China’s Macao, Indonesia ... Read more

The Kerala Tourism has come up with the ‘Come Out and Play’ campaign in a way to lure the domestic tourists to Kerala during monsoon season. The state will gift the tourists a chance to revive nature, rekindle relationships, and reconnect with life by involving in activities like trekking, Ayurveda massage, river rafting more. The tourism department aims at bringing tourists from powerful domestic markets like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi & NCR, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal. As per Tourism Director P Balakiran IAS, the campaign primarily concentrates on ‘PLAY’ with accordance ... Read more

In a first, the government has come out with refined safety and quality guidelines for ‘adventure tourism’ on India. The guidelines set in discussion with the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) covers 15 land-based, 7 air-based and 7 water-based activities. The guidelines consists of minimum standards required for activities like mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, paragliding, kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, river rafting etc. The guidelines also instruct that all tour operators must be recognised by local or state authorities, have a registered office, responsible to nature, employ trained and skilled professionals. It includes subjects like the role of a ... Read more