Category: News

A new government order has released with the updated, simplified procedures for availing tatkal passport. According to the order those who are above 18 years applying for tatkal passports should submit any two documents from the list including ration card, voters id, PAN, student id, driving license, birth certificate, passport, pension order, government employee id, along with the Aadhaar card. Out of the three documents submitted to avail tatkal passports, PAN card and voter id were mandatory till now. “Ration card has found a place in the documents in the new list, which is going to be a welcome move ... Read more

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has said they set a growth target of 8 per cent in tourism revenue from the international market. “Thailand’s ‘unbeatable geographic location’ is a major reason why visitor arrivals will continue to grow strongly in the years ahead,” said Tanes Petsuwan, TAT Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications, during the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2018 held in northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. “Thailand has the best connections within the entire region as there are approximately 30 overland border checkpoints open for travel by international visitors with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia, as well as four Friendship ... Read more

Indian telecom sensation Jio has announced their most awaited Republic day offer for its loyal customers with extra data and new budget plans. New offer gives an added 500MB extra usage as well as 50 per cent more value than current plans, users will get 1.5 GB per day daily, instead of 1 GB per day and hence 1.5 GB per day users would get 2 GB per day. Photo Courtesy:youtube.com The new offer will come into existence on 26 January midnight. Jio has also announced their budget plan for Rs 98 with 2GB data for 28 days, with free ... Read more

Travel spice, an online hotel booking platform from Bangalore, has won the ‘Travel Tech’ start-up of the year 2018 award from the Government of Karnataka. Award, and a prize money of Rs 15 lakhs, was handed over by the Minister of Tourism Priyannk Kharge to the co-founders of travel spice Ankit Manglik and Prashant Mitta at Bangalore Palace. Photo Courtesy: m24news.com The company has business with over 8000-star hotels among 220 cities in India and abroad. Travel Spice provides online bookings with discounts as well as value-based services. “Travel Spice is based on the unique opaque model well suited for ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: SPTO The World Health Organisation, in partnership with the South Pacific Tourism Organisation, is planning to improve the health of both the tourism workforce and tourists to the region. “The so-called ‘Healthy Islands’ project would promote smoke-free public places, increase the opportunities for people to eat healthy local foods and get physically active,” said WHO Technical Officer, Dr Ada Moadsiri. Under the new partnership, the organizations will promote smoke-free public places and increase opportunities for people to eat healthy local foods and get physically active. The partnership also aims to support improved accessibility for persons with disabilities in the ... Read more

Travel and tourism fraternity is flocking to Thailand for ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in Chiang Mai. The five-day ATF, one of the most momentous annual tourism promotion forum in Asia that includes Tourism Ministers from the ASEAN countries, various airline company meetings, tourism conference, travel exchange trade fair etc, will conclude on January 26. The theme adopted for 2018 was ‘ASEAN – Sustainable Connectivity, Boundless Prosperity’ with ‘Wonderful Indonesia’ being highlighted this year. Also this year Indonesia will detail a 182 square meter pavilion for the expo. Ministry’s development and marketing first deputy, Pitana said that the event also showcases 350 ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Kerala Tourism Ten million foreign tourists visited India in 2017. With more projects in the anvil, the country has potential to push it higher. However, the state tourism departments are looking at the budget allocations from the Central Government for the year 2018. Officials from the ministry hint that it is not going be an exciting budget for the tourism industry. The safety and infrastructure of the industry are the sections which need immediate attention. A handful of projects are waiting for the fund allocation from the ministry. Tourism ministry has received Rs 1776 crore in 2017-18. This year, ... Read more

The state capital of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, is all ready for the five day National Banan Festival 2018. The event, which is scheduled to be held from February 17 to 21, 2018, will be held at the Vellayani Grounds in Kalliyoor Grama Panchayat. Thiruvananthapuram-based Centre for Innovation in Science & Social Action (CISSA) is organising NBF 2018. A photography contest will also be held as part of the festival. The competition is open to amateurs as well as professionals. Photographs that are submitted for the competition should have ‘banana’ as the focal theme. Photographs can be of different varieties of bananas in ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: J&K Tourism The Government of India has sanctioned Rs 7.37 crore tourism projects for the development of tourism infrastructure on Kishtwar- Sinthan Top circuit, in Jammu and Kashmir. “Rs 5.89 crore have been released in the first instance for taking up various components envisaged in the tourism project at Sinthan Top, Dedpath and Mughal Maidan,” said Minister of State for Tourism, Priya Sethi in the Assembly. However, the works on some components were delayed due to litigation and non-issuance of forest clearance. She said the government was vigorously pursuing the court case to get the stay vacated, while tenders ... Read more

The Baadshah of Bollywood, who received a Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum in Davos, re-created a Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge moment amidst the Swiss Alps. Striking his famous signature pose, Shah Rukh captioned it: “Switzerland main aake yeh na kiya toh kya kiya…?” (What will I do after coming to Switzerland, if I am not doing this)! It was in Switzerland that one of SRK’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge was filmed. Shah Rukh received the award on Monday for his “leadership in championing children’s and women’s rights in India” with Meer Foundation, an organisation that works extensively towards empowering women subjected to acid ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Southwest Airlines Seldom do we care about abandoned canines and cats. But, here we have some pretty good news coming up from the Carribean Island Puerto Rico. America’s Southwest Airlines Chief Pilot David Newton flew all the way in his Boeing 737, just to rescue puppies and kittens that were stranded after the hurricane hit Maria in San Juan. David Newton, who has done more hundreds of rescue operations, said this was very special to him. Newton and the special rescue team called ‘lucky rescue’ flew to the city just for giving a second chance of life to the ... Read more

Northern Ireland’s Royal County Down golf course Emiratis can now enjoy visa-free travel to Ireland. Tourism Ireland tweeted sometime back that they are very happy about the order and hopes that the lifting of visa requirement is likely to benefit trade and tourism. The move is effective from January 31 and is a sign of the growing ties between the two countries The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan T.D., announced the lifting of the visa requirement for citizens of the UAE travelling to Ireland with effect from the 31st January and has signed an order to give effect ... Read more

A record-breaking 29.6 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport last year, a 6 per cent increase considering the previous year. A significant increase in long-haul traffic and a robust performance from continental European routes were the main elements of the rise. Photo Courtesy: Dublin Airport About 27.8 million passengers started or ended their journey at Dublin last year, while 1.8 million passengers used Dublin Airport as a hub. Dublin Airport has flights to 191 destinations in 42 countries operated by 47 airlines and is now the 11th largest airport within the European Union. Short-haul traffic increased by 4 per cent ... Read more

New York City’s iconic Statue of Liberty reopened at the expense of state funds following a brief closure as a result of the U.S. federal government shutdown. The Statue of Liberty was among the national monuments and parks that closed after the U.S. federal government shutdown last week. The National Park Service is said to have reopened the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island through a funding agreement with the State of New York. “The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World” was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States and is recognized ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: youtube.com The number of tourists visiting Netherlands recorded a new high with 17.6 million visits in 2017, a 11 per cent increase from the previous year. According to the statistics published by NBTC Holland Marketing, tourists from Germany, Belgium, and United Kingdom were the highest in number. They altogether spent about 13 billion euros. Predictions also state that there would be an increase in foreign tourist arrival in the coming years also. “If we don’t do anything now, future guests will visit the same places at the same time. We therefore need to work even more firmly on, ... Read more