Category: News

The Minister of State for Culture(I/c) and Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma inaugurates the Exhibition ‘India and the World: A History in Nine Stories’ -an extensively collaborative effort of the British Museum, London; National Museum, New Delhi; and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai with the active support of the Culture Ministry. The Exhibition will be inaugurated at 5.00 PM, at the National Museum auditorium, New Delhi. The exhibition chronologically encapsulates the evolution of Indian civilization since antiquity and its interconnectedness with the outside world through a raft of exquisite artefacts from ... Read more

Considering the huge demand of passengers on Delhi – Gorakhpur sector, Ministry of Railways has decided to increase the frequency of Gorakhpur – AnandViharHumsafar Express from 3 days to daily. Train No 12571/12572 Gorakhpur AnandViharHumsafar Express via Barhni will now be extended from 2 days to 4 days & Train No. 12595/12596 Gorakhpur Anand Vihar Humsafar Express via Basti will now be extended from 1 day to 3 days a week. Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Communications (I/C) and Minister of State for Railways, along with local public representatives will flag off the special Train No. 02571 Gorakhpur- Anand ... Read more

Saudi Arabia was the only Gulf state with no public Christian places of worship. Saudi has entered into a deal with Vatican to build churches in the Gulf region. “This is the beginning of a rapprochement… It is a sign that the Saudi authorities are now ready to give a new image to the country,” President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, told the Vatican News website after returning from Riyadh. The agreement was was signed between local Wahhabi leaders and a Vatican cardinal to establish a cooperative relationship. The deal signed between Tauran and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdel ... Read more

Cox & Kings Global Services (CKGS) has opened the new Morocco Visa Application and Information Centre in Mumbai. Mohamed Maliki, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, inaugurated the new centre at Dalamal Towers, A Wing, 4th Floor, Unit No: 410 – 412, Free Press Journal Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai.  The company is als0 planning to open a new MVAIC in Hyderabad in June 2018. CKGS has centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Goa Indore and Bangalore.  CKGS is set to open a new MVAICs in Hyderabad in June 2018. “The ties between Morocco and India go ... Read more

Think Strawberries, one of the leading travel representation companies, has been appointed as the Sales, Media, Marketing and PR Representative in India for Disneyland Paris, Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority, Tourismo De Portugal and Majid Al Futtaim Group (Ski Dubai, iFly Dubai and Orbi Dubai). In addition to this, Visit Orlando and Cocoon Maldives have signed with Think Strawberries for Representation in both India and UAE. “2018 has been a terrific start for us. We are thrilled with the successful acquisition of marquee accounts, which demonstrates that Think Strawberries is future ready and recognised by some of the finest, ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Jinson Abraham With an aim to combine tourism promotion, entertainment, a spirit of adventure, and an awareness of healthy living and physical activity, the Kannur district administration will kick start a unique initiative, the Month of Adventure, on May 6, 2018. Four consecutive Sundays of May, beginning on May 6, would be dedicated to the promotion of various adventure events in Kannur. Kannur district sports council and the district administration organising a cycling marathon from Kannur to the Muzhappilangad beach on May 6. Anyone who has a cycle can participate in the marathon. The next Sunday, May 13, will see ... Read more

Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will give additional loan for Himachal Pradesh to develop tourism infrastructure in the state. An ADB team led by Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama called on state Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to allocate the second trench of Rs 750 crore loan under the Infrastructure Development Investment Programme for Tourism. The team appreciated the efforts of the state Tourism Department in implementing the phase one under the programme, which will be over by 2020. Nineteen projects were sanctioned under phase one out of which 16 were completed and the remaining three would be completed by ... Read more

Goa Tourism is planning to conduct a roadshow in US to boost tourism. Tourism minister Manohar Azgaonkar and chairman Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) Nilesh Cabral will head the roadshow, which will start on May 20. Chief secretary Dharmendra Sharma and deputy director tourism will also be part of the delegation to US. US tourist arrivals in Goa remain at less than 2 per cent of the state’s total tourist footfall. The tourism department’s website shows that the footfalls from the country dropped to 1 per cent in 2016 after showing a slight growth in 2015 when it received 12,227 visitors. Meanwhile, ... Read more

This is the best time to start a tourism enterprise or an enterprise for providing entertainment in Rajasthan, as the state government has decided to exempt 50 per cent on stamp duty. Issuing the order, Department of finance said that the stamp duty chargeable on purchase or lease of multi-storied commercial building for setting up these units will get relaxation of 50 per cent on stamp duty. The benefit will also been given to entrepreneurs who are interested to set up enterprise in information technology. The entrepreneurs can get this relaxation of paying 50 per cent of stamp duty at ... Read more

After winning the hearts of people across the world with its snack varieties, Haldiram’s is now turning to travel and tourism sector, launching a travel company by the name Travhos Experience. The Indian snack company is said to have hired a handful of experienced tourism professionals to head the company. Travhos is also planning to offer everything from package tours to treks. It will also be offering services in heritage and spiritual as well as in business and other packages for India and abroad. “Our model is to make all kind of travel experiences accessible to the public,” Siddharth Sharma, Managing Director ... Read more

Targeting Indian tourists, Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has opened a representative office in Mumbai. More than 110,000 Indian travellers visited Qatar in the first quarter of 2018. Qatar has become an increasingly accessible destination for Indian travellers, especially after Qatar waived visa entry requirements for Indian citizens last year. “The decision was taken in view of the rapid growth of India’s outbound tourism market in recent years, coupled with QTA’s intensified efforts to diversify and grow visitor source,” said QTA’s Chief Marketing and Promotion Officer Rashed AlQurese. “The steps taken to make accessing Qatar easier are particularly targeted at visitors seeking to experience ... Read more

SpiceJet has launched daily direct services between Delhi and Punjab’s Adampur. The first direct flight was flagged off from Delhi airport’s Terminal 2 to Adampur by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, and Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet. SpiceJet was awarded Adampur under the first round of the regional connectivity scheme UDAN and the city is the fifth destination for the airline under this scheme. In addition to Adampur, SpiceJet also launched daily services between Leh and Delhi. Flight SG 8731 was flagged off at 3:30 pm from Delhi and SG 8732 was given a flag ... Read more

Crowne Plaza Resort Salalah, the luxurious resort owned by Oman Tourism Development Company has won “Oman’s Leading Resort 2018” at the 25th edition of the World Travel Awards. The Middle East Gala Ceremony was recently held in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. “We are proud & honoured to have been recognised again by the World Travel Awards 2018 and we are delighted that our resort is appreciated by the travel industry. This confirms that we continue to deliver excellent service and a reflection of the hotel’s exceptional team in extending true hospitality with an intuitive touch to our guests,” ... Read more

Ramu B, IAS took charge as the Director of Karnataka State Tourism Department on April 24, 2018. The 2010-batch IAS officer Ramu B, had earlier served as the District Collector in Chamarajanagar. He said “My priority in the new role would be to improve the marketing of Karnataka tourism,” said the new tourism director. “One State Many Worlds” is all about selling an experience. I need about some months to study and understand the kind of experience we are trying to market. Be it responsible tourism or adventure tourism, I would really like to market the state to different kind ... Read more

The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) is planning to host a three-day air show in the city from November 23. The event, titled Air Show-2018, will be held at Punnami Ghat. Air Show-2018 would be held with the support of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). About `2.85 crore will be required to host the event, and the state government has released a government order (GO RT 149) sanctioning the same in principle. APTA is planning to conduct 24 events between June 2018 and March 2019. “The calendar of events would be ready by May-end and would be presented to ... Read more