Tag Archives: Statue of Unity

TAAI in association with Gujarat Tourism is organising the TAAI Tourism Conclave at Statue of Unity, Kevadia from 9-12 March. The Conclave scheduled today is aimed to bring members together and brainstorm on importance of Domestic travel & new ways & opportunities for the industry. Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI said, “TAAI is constantly involved with the government to establish correct procedures & support our membership to adopt transformation & to continuously improve our ability to explore, achieve & prosper.”

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is set to run a deluxe AC tourist train for Jyotirlinga and Statue of Unity tour on February 27. A spokesperson of IRCTC said, “In continuation of several tours, IRCTC has decided to run a deluxe AC tourist train on Jyotirlinga and Statue of Unity tour. The Jyotirlinga and Statue of Unity tour will start from Delhi’s Safdarjung on February 27 and will cover two prominent Jyotirling temples – Mahakaleshwar in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain and Omkareshwar along with the tallest statue of world – Statue of Unity – in Gujarat’s Kevadia.”

The Fern Hotels & Resorts has further etched its imprint in the state of Gujarat by opening two new properties at Kevadia (Statue of Unity) and Junagadh. With the opening of these hotels, the group now has a presence of 19 hotels in 17 cities across the state. The two hotels will together add 355 rooms to the group’s existing inventory.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flagged off eight new trains from various destinations to Kevadiya in Gujarat, boosting connectivity to the Statue of Unity town. These trains connect Kevadiya to Varanasi, Dadar, Ahmedabad, H. Nizamuddin, Rewa, Chennai and Pratapnagar.

Randhir Singh Vaghela, IATO Chairman (Gujarat Chapter), says, “The Statue of Unity is becoming a great destination for tourism. And the latest development of seaplanes being launched on October 31 has added another feather to its cap. Believe me, there are so many activities added at the Statue of Unity that it is now a minimum two-night destination and we are hoping that it will soon become one of the global destinations that every tourist would like to visit.”

The National Tourism Advisory Council (NTAC) and other stakeholders recently met with Gujarat Tourism officials at Tent City, Statue of Unity, Kevadia in Gujarat to chalk out a strategy for bringing five million tourists to the Statue. The Council came to the conclusion that the number of tourists visiting the Statue would touch three million in 2019, taking into consideration the footfall during the last two months. Further, to reach the goal of five million tourists, a detailed proposal was made by the state government. After discussions, it was suggested that additional facilities should be created at the Statue of Unity like night safari, ropeway between the dam and safari, check dam to be constructed about 10 kms downstream of the dam so that boating and water sports would be possible for a length of over 10 kms from the check dam to the Statue, amusement park, tribal museum, state bhawans at the site, restaurant complex to be expanded with cuisines from all states, adventure tourism, boat riding in the dam, mid-segment hotels to be set up on land to be leased out by Narmada Valley Development Authority on long term lease, regular helicopter service to be started from the Statue to various towns in Gujarat, and seaplanes to be operational from the Dam to various destinations.  

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued an advisory stating that airlines may consider using local language for in-flight announcements “to extent feasible”. Moreover, in order to enhance awareness about the cultural heritage of India, pilots can make in-flight announcements about important monuments or sites enroute the flight, the advisory said. Announcements in local language would be in addition to the ones made in Hindi and English, according to the DGCA advisory. The DGCA clarified in its latest advisory that airlines may make the aforementioned additional in-flight announcements without compromising any safety requirements or core job functions of crew members. “It is made clear that the above announcements be made without compromising safety of operations at any stage,” the advisory added. In 2016, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had issued a circular asking airports under its control to make public announcements in the local language followed by Hindi and English. There are more than 100 operational airports in India. “To enhance awareness about cultural heritage of India, pilot can make in-flight announcement about the important monument or site (such as the Taj Mahal, the Konark Temple, the Ajanta Ellora, the Statue of Unity, etc), which are enroute the flight,” the DGCA advisory stated.