Category: News

The Uttarakhand cabinet followed a unique way to promote its tourism, as they met for the first time in a floating restaurant on the charming Tehri Lake. The ministers headed by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat met inside ‘Floating Marina’, the boat which served as the restaurant in the middle of the lake. The cabinet approved 12 decisions during the meeting which will enhance the state’s tourism and aid better use of natural resources. The main decision in the meeting was to develop 13 new tourists in the state. The 13 destinations will be developed with one each in all ... Read more

The Kerala Tourism Facebook page got first place in a ranking done by Facebook based on total engagement with tourists that included reactions, shares and comments on the page between the 1 January and 31 December, 2017 time frame. The Kerala Tourism page pushed the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department’s Facebook page to the second place. The Kerala Tourism Facebook page had garnered 1.5 million likes to emerge as the top page. The Gujarat Tourism Facebook page was ranked third. Facebook recently released the data on the top-ranked Facebook pages of government bodies, ministries and political parties in India. P ... Read more

Uganda is all set to spend a minimum of $1.2 million in order to explore the potential of tourism in country. This whopping amount adds to the $1.5 million spent last year, making the total to $2.7 million. As per World Bank records, tourism is the principal foreign exchange earner for Uganda earning $1.4 billion annually, amounting 9.9 per cent of its GDP and 26 per cent of the total foreign exchange earnings. The government plans to hire three more public relations from Japan, China and Gulf countries to grow Uganda’s tourism prospective. He expects that each firm will receive ... Read more

Trujet has been awarded 20 new routes through the Udan scheme initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which will take Trujet’s expansion to Western and Eastern States. The airline now connects 14 major destinations in South and West India with a connectivity between 3 tier cities and their nearest metropolitans. As per the new scheme, Trujet will connect Kandla, Porbandar, Keshod, Jaisalmer, Jalgaon and Nasik from Ahmedabad and Burnpur, Cooch Behar, Tezu, and Rupsi from Guwahati. “Trujet is now reaching a new level to serve passenger with a whole new approach. We have inducted the 5 th ATR 72-600 aircraft to ... Read more

The first Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) run by an all-woman team has started operations in Phagwara, Punjab. The seva kendra was inaugurated by Union Minister Vijay Sampla in the local head Post Office. Though the new Seva Kendra was 192nd POPSK in the country, it was the first one to be operated by an all-woman team. “It was part of the Centre’s initiative for women empowerment,” Sampla said. The Phagwara Kendra will be headed by department’s Verification Officer Madhuri Bhavi. The other two women staff members — Postal Assistants — will be from the Post Office Department. The printing and issuing ... Read more

The Confederate of Indian Industries (CII) Kerala Chapter is all set to boost up their medical tourism promotions in Gulf countries in coming years. In an initiative to bring up utmost number of tourists to Kerala, many allopathy and ayurveda practitioners came together for a road show and exhibition at Oman in April. They are even planning to conduct such events in UAE, Saudi Arabia and some African countries. According to Dr S. Sajikumar, Chairman, CII Kerala and chief physician at Dhathri Ayurveda, Oman is the main market for medical tourism among GCC countries. Almost 90% of the total one lakh medical ... Read more

BLS International has opened their new Spain Visa Application Centre (VACs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The company operates 124 visa application centres in 49 countries for Spain Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperación). The new Spain VAC was formally inaugurated in the presence of the Ambassador of Spain in Saudi Arabia along with senior officials from BLS International Services Ltd. “This new and revamped Visa Application Center is the result of our effort to adapt our service to visitors coming from Saudi Arabia and in particular to the 73,000 Saudi tourists that arrive to ... Read more

With an aim to address the safety and efficiency concerns that lack air navigational infrastructure in India, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed a Rs 945 crore deal  with Harris Corporation. The 15-year-contract was signed by A K Banerjee, ED (CNS-OM) and Rick Simonian, VP, Harris Corporation at the 6th US-India Aviation Summit, held at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai. As part of the deal, Harris Corporation will serve as the prime contractor and systems integrator for the programme, which is to be implemented over a period of two years. “India’s exponential air traffic growth is creating demand for ... Read more

Tourism industry is one which suffers the most due to the sudden and recurring harthals. In a decision coming as a great relief to the tourism industry, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the tourist sector will be exempted from the harthals and strikes at a whole-party meeting on Tuesday. The meeting led by Chief Minister raised concern over the dip in tourism sector due to frequent harthals. The meeting stressed that wrong message about state is being send to the tourists during these harthals. All political parties attended the meeting extended welcomed this move and extended full support to ... Read more

For the first time, an International Rail Coach Expo (IRCE) to focus on Rail Coaches and train sets, is being held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, from 17th to 19th May, 2018. Many reputed rail car and equipment builders will be showcasing their technology and products to be held at the ICF RPF Parade Grounds, Chennai. It will be a unique platform to bring different suppliers under one roof and create synergy for “Make in India”. The expo is being hosted by Integral Coach Factory, popularly known as ICF, under the Ministry of Railways, in coordination with CII (Confederation of Indian ... Read more

Lords Hotels & Resorts has announced its plans to launch its fifth hotel in Nepal at Nepalgunj. The new hotel, Kalptaru Lords Inn, is a seven-storied premium property, which has seventy-seven rooms including five premium suites and one presidential suite. Kalptaru Lords Inn will commence operations under the Lords Hotels & Resorts brand by the end of May 2018. Lords Hotels & Resorts presently operates Mirage Lords Inn in Kathmandu and is scheduled to launch a resort in Budhanilkantha and two other hotel properties in Birjung and in Bhaktapur. “It is with pleasure that we inform about our new sign up of ... Read more

As a plan to promote Dubai as a favoured destination for Chinese travellers, the Dubai tourism authority has signed an agreement with Chinese internet giant Tencent on Tuesday. As per the statement issued by Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), the association will lead the Tencent network to spread out Dubai’s marketing reach and access within China. China is considered as one the quickest budding markets for the Emirate. There were reports on Sunday that a senior government delegation from Dubai headed to China for signing agreements with Tencent and a number of other leading companies, with ... Read more

Kerala Tourism’s ‘Project Muziris’ has been chosen the Best Innovative Tourism Project at the Global Star Awards 2018. Noushad P M, Managing Director of the Muziris Projects has received the award at the event held in New Delhi. Project Muziris was picked for the award as it has added to Kerala’s array of attractions. Project Muziris will help reinstate the historical and cultural significance of the legendary port of Muziris, which makes a part of Central Kerala, the award committee said. The Government of Kerala has initiated the Muziris Heritage Project to reinstate the historical and cultural significance of the legendary ... Read more

Didier Dogley takes charge as the Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Seychelles. Formerly, the minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, he was assigned the new portfolio in a Cabinet reshuffle announced by President Danny Faure. Dogley has already moved into his new office at Botanical House. Didier Dogley was first appointed Minister in February 2015, and assigned the Environment, Energy and Climate Change portfolio. He had previously held high level positions in that same ministry including the post of Director General, Principal Secretary and Special Advisor. “In a world where unspoiled natural landscapes and seascapes are ... Read more

Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has recently organised a destination showcase for Maldives in Mumbai, India, branded as Maldivian Night. More than 200 travel professionals from the two countries attended this exclusive event, hosted at the Four Seasons, Mumbai. Maldivian Night was conducted as a business networking event, where Maldivian hoteliers and Travel agents had the opportunity to meet with more than 150 prominent travel agents and tour operators from India. Around eight Maldivian companies took part in the business networking event. The event was concluded with an entertainment evening, to promote and feature Maldives Travel Awards. ... Read more