Category: News

Sri Lanka is planning to bring in more tourists fom Middle East. The island nation received a total of 107,635 tourists from the Middle East region in 2017, up 6.5 per cent compared to 2016. As part of efforts to boost visitor numbers from the GCC, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau has unveiled its diverse product offerings and experience spread across the small island. “Sri Lanka has much to offer visitors from the region with our distinctive, adventure-packed, eco-friendly, family-focused experiences and offerings, as well as our rich nature, heritage and culture, year-round schedule of festivals and special events, numerous parks ... Read more

The Maharashtra government is planning to develop the ‘Mumbai-Aurangabad-Nagpur’ triangle as a tourist circuit to attract visitors. The circuit will be developed on the lines of the Jaipur-Delhi-Agra Golden Triangle tourist circuit. A detailed project report on this matter will be prepared in three months and global tenders will be floated to appoint a consultancy firm for the purpose. “The state has immense tourism potential and the need of the hour is to attract more visitors. Despite being a large state, we still lag behind in terms of tourism though we have a long coastline, tiger safaris and naturally rich tourist destinations,” ... Read more

Jharsuguda Airport has received DGCA licence and said it will commence flight operations from June 14. Air Odisha, which bagged the bid, will operate flights from Jharsuguda to Bhubaneswar, Ranchi and Raipur thereby meeting the long-standing demands for air-connectivity to the Western Odisha region. The airline will use a 21-seater dual-engine Beechcraft aircraft (1900D) to operate from Jharsuguda to the three destinations under the regional connectivity scheme. “We received Jharsuguda Airport’s commercial operations licence on May 4. We are taking a month’s time before starting the operations for marketing purposes,” said an Air Odisha spokesperson. Air Odisha will operate one flight each daily ... Read more

The government of Himachal Pradesh is planning to promote tourism at Haripurdhar in Sirmaur district. The state government will request the Central Government to include it under the Swadesh Darshan Programme. The Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur elaborated the governments plans at the closing ceremony of the three-day Mata Bhangayani Mela at Haripurdhar. Thakur said the area had immense tourism potential and basic facilities would be provided to devotees at the Mata Bhangayani temple complex. “With over 90 per cent of the state’s population residing in the rural areas, the government is keen to develop these,” he added. He said ... Read more

Uttarakhand has received the Global Star award on tourism from the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu. The Joint Director Uttarakhand Tourism, Poonam Chand received the award at a programme held at Hotel Le Meridien in Delhi. Expressing happiness on receiving the award, the Tourism and Culture Minister Satpal Maharaj attributed it to love of the people of the state for the environment. “The dream of sustainable tourism can be achieved only by environmental protection, efficient waste management and eco tourism,” he said. “The state has been felicitated for prompting tourism while conserving bio diversity and complex ecosystem of ... Read more

The IRCTC Tourism offers an 11-night, 12-day trip covering Kullu, Manali and Manikaran. The package includes catering breakfast, lunch, evening tea, snacks and dinner. The IRCTC Tourism package includes a visit to Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Qutab Minar, Lotus Temple, India Gate, Indira Memorial, Raj Ghat, Wagha Border, Golden Temple, Hadmiba Devi Temple, Vashisht Kund, Tibetan monastery, Snow Point (subject to vehicle permission), Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake among other places. The package excludes entrance fee, entertainment charges, Manali snow point trip transfers, laundry, medicines, tour guide services and all other things not mentioned in the package inclusions. The travellers can place ... Read more

National Rail Museum will now be open in evening also for visitors. Museum will remain open for extended hours of 6 pm to 9 pm for visitors on weekends. National Rail Museum is one of the prime tourist attractions in Delhi NCR. Spread over 11 acres at Chanakyapuri Diplomatic Enclave, National Rail Museum recreates nostalgia and romance of railways. It has fascinating collection of more than 75 real exhibits of bygone era of railways. Visitors will be able to enjoy indoor gallery, musical fountain, multicolour lighting of exhibits. Entry passage, toy train station and surrounding area has been lit with ... Read more

Global timeshare firm RCI has recently published a report which studied holiday and vacation patterns of 50,000 RCI members in India, and found that there was a 13 per cent growth in the number of Indians taking vacations abroad in 2017-18. The report,  found that the US was the most preferred destination in 2017-18 while for those headed for Europe, Switzerland and Spain were the top choices. The report also said that there is an 8 per cent growth in domestic travel, with Goa being the preferred choice in 2017-18, followed by Coorg and Munnar. Among the South-East Asian countries, the top picks were ... Read more

With an aim to increase more people to people exchanges, especially tourism from India, the Central Asian Republic of Uzbekistan, said it will extend electronic-Visa facility for India starting from July 2018. The country had already initiated friendly-visa regime for Indians from early this year by doing away with the mandatory ‘invitation letter’ clause for applying for visa. “The e-Visa system will further ease the processes to enhance more travel exchanges between the two countries. Uzbekistan offers a wide range of attractions for tourists starting from religious to spiritual to eco-tourism, adventure, educational, etc. With less than three hours of flying time ... Read more

If you are a family vacationing in Goa and is planning to check-in to the Park Hotel Goa Baga River, your kids may not get a room there, as it is an adults hotel. The boutique hotel is for adults-only, and guests below the age of 18 are not welcome. The hotel caters exclusively to couples and the just-married. TripAdvisor says that there is only one other hotel in the country with entry restrictions and that is ‘Ananda – In the Himalayas’, in Rishikesh. The hotel doesn’t allow children below 14 “in order to maintain its tranquillity”. The 28-room luxury hotel’s ... Read more

Emirates has launched the Emirates Vintage Collection – a selection of fine wines from its cellar in Burgundy which have been stored for up to 15 years. The four wines to be included this year are the Château Cheval Blanc 2004, Château Haut Brion 2004, Château Mouton Rothschild 2001 and Château Margaux 1998. Due to limited availability, these exclusive wines will be served in First Class on select routes for a limited period. Since 2006, Emirates has been buying wines for long term storage, many of which were purchased ‘en Primeur’ or when they were still in barrel. The Emirates ... Read more

Major aviation consultancy, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has urged the Central government to make the process of Air India Privatization investor-friendly otherwise it might soon shut down. CAPA, through its Twitter account said that “CAPA estimates AI headed for 2-year losses of USD1.5-2.0 bn in FY19/FY20. Failure to divest could see AI close unless govt willing to spend taxpayer funds. Far less costly to make offer more attractive to investors”. According to CAPA, the three key themes emerging on Air Indian divestment are: 1) Critical that terms in EOI – particularly for labour & debt – are amended, as ... Read more

Ballarshah Station Balharshah and Chandrapur stations (Nagpur Division) of Central Railway have been awarded first prize for depicting the best art & refurbishing itself as the most beautiful station across Indian Railways. Ballarshah and Chandrapur railway stations were decorated with paintings and sculptures depicting the Tadoba forest, which was welcomed by the passengers who had a feel of the rich wildlife beauty of the Tadoba Forest in the station itself. Both the stations have been awarded Rs 10 lakhs as the prize money. In order to promote cleanliness with creativity, the Ministry of Railways had invited nominations across all Zonal ... Read more

On 5th May Indian Railways has a special reason to cheer and celebrate for the women commuters. The first ever Ladies Special train in the world was started between Churchgate and Borivali on 5th May, 1992. 5th May 2018 will go down in the annals of history as the 26th anniversary of introduction of this milestone of Indian Railways dedicating an entire train to women commuters. The First Ladies special train, flagged off on Western Railways, was initially run between Churchgate and Borivali and further extended upto Virar in the year 1993. The ladies special has been a boon for ... Read more

ATTOI (Association of Tourism Trade Organizations, India), in association with Ministry of Ayush and Kerala Tourism, is organising a tour of yoga professionals from across the world to the birthplace of yoga. The 10-day educational tour, Yoga Ambassadors Tour, is organised as part of the various programmes organised by the ministry on the International Yoga Day with the support of Kerala Tourism. Yoga Tour operators, Wellness Magazine professionals, and Yoga Teachers from across the world are being invited for familiarizing the Global audience about Kerala and it’s richness. The Yoga Ambassadors were selected by a team of experts based on specific ... Read more