Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Nok Air has unveiled its maiden flight service to Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok. Hyderabad is the first and only Indian destination from where Nok Air has started direct flights to Bangkok. The new route will be operated by Nok Air’s Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, has said that they have awarded as 61 routes under the tourism UDAN scheme, of which 43 routes are operational as of today.

The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, The Sultanate of Oman organized its first MICE FAM trip for the year for important MICE trade partners from all over India. The participants included representatives from travel agencies in Mumbai, Delhi, Cochin, and Hyderabad. Several places in and around Muscat, including Wahiba Sands and Jebel Akhdar, were visited by a delegation of six key MICE partners. The objective of the trip was to showcase the top attractions and the hotel properties to the MICE agents, and therefore, the agenda was to do multiple inspections of hotels and the sites suitable for the Indian MICE movement. The site inspections were done in the top properties, including Al Falaj Hotel, Al Bustan Palace, Sheraton, Jumeirah Muscat Bay, W Muscat, Kempinski, Hotel Sur Plaza, DusitD2, Alila, Anantara and many more. The diversity of options for MICE in Oman which included the beaches, mountains, wadis, desert among others were discussed during the visit. The team was very happy to visit various sites of Omanؙ—Dolphin watching tour, Museums, Nizwa Fort, the famous souqs and a visit to the Mall of Oman. The trade partners were impressed with the options available in Oman for the MICE groups with a combination of luxury and budgeted properties. The agents found Oman to be a delightful place as they enjoyed the Sultanate’s hospitality, landscape, and culture. The trade partners were thrilled to see the culinary options available and its similarity with the Indian cuisine. A big thank you to our DMC partner Zahara Tours for flawlessly planning everything and hosting at the magnificent Arabian Nights Resort & Spa! On 4 February 2023, the FAM trip came to an end, leaving the guests …

The Tourism Ministry will organise 1st Global Tourism Invest Summit from the 17th to 19th of May this year in New Delhi to showcase opportunities in the tourism sector. The Summit was supposed to be held in April 10-12, 2023. It will deliberate on potential opportunities for investment across tourism segments including hotels and restaurants, adventure and eco-tourism, cruise and other related tourism sectors. Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy has the Government is focussing on connectivity, civic infrastructure, tourist amenities and soft infrastructure to promote and develop the tourism sector. The Minister said, with India hosting G-20 Presidency, the Government is also working with State governments, local bodies and other ministries to attract foreign tourists. Reddy said the Government is providing foreign language training to taxi drivers and tourist guides to help foreign delegates understand the rich culture of the country with ease.

In the last eight-and-a-half years, India built extensive tourism infrastructure worth nearly Rs 7,000 crore to improve the experiences of tourists, Union Tourism Minister G.K. Reddy has said. He added that India is also nurturing and developing young ambassadors through YUVA Tourism Clubs in schools and colleges and listed several initiatives taken to boost the industry, including short-term hospitality courses.

Manipur CM N. Biren Singh said that a US-based company will spend USD 500 million in the state’s tourism sector with several other foreign investments on the cards. He added, “The state will receive an investment of 500 mn dollars in tourism from a company based in the US.” Citing the willingness of several other foreign investors, particularly from Argentina, Peru, and Bangladesh, to invest in the state, he said Manipur will witness development in all sectors.

Despite having a natural geographical advantage, Indian airports have, to date, not been able to realise the opportunity that exists, according to CAPA India. According to its research, for years India has ceded traffic to offshore hubs. In fact, over the last couple of decades, there has been a structural evolution from hubs to mega-hubs, particularly in the Middle East, supported by world class airlines with large widebody fleets. It will discuss this and more at its research briefing on ‘Prospects for airport hubs in India’ at 4pm IST today.

The Sultanate of Oman abounds with various underwater/submerged cultural heritage, which is witness to its role as an axis of the human civilizations since the early prehistoric periods. Since several ships, coastal human settlements and aircrafts containing collectibles with cultural and economic significance sunk in the Omani territorial waters, it prompted the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT) to establish a directorate for the underwater antiquities, the first unit of its kind in the GCC region. Ayyoub Nagmoush Al-Busaidi, Director, Directorate of the Underwater Submerged Antiquities, Ministry of Heritage and Tourism (MHT), said, “The underwater archaeological sites and ships are a source of precious historical information as they contain antiquities of human existence. The archaeology aims to analyze the antiquities, identify the origins and the development of civilizations.”  “Underwater archaeology is a scientific discipline that deals with the studying sites, man-made objects, human remains, and submerged landscapes. This science should be placed within its broader framework of marine archaeology, which studies human relationships with oceans, lakes, and rivers, while complementing it with navigation,” he added. In 2012, the MHT has launched a program aiming to identify the resources and components of these antiquities, enumerating them, and determining their nature, and protecting them from illegal trade/natural factors, he added. The department is now working on formulating rules for protection, management, employment, conducting surveys, excavations, restoration, preserving, documenting archaeological sites, analyzing the results, and presenting them to the local and international community. It may be noted that Oman’s maritime history dated back to the 3 BC, when commercial activity flourished in Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley. After Omanis gained good expertise in navigation in the 18th century, Muscat emerged as one of …

ITC group firm Fortune Park Hotels plans to add 15 new properties with 1,500 rooms in the next two-and-a-half years to its portfolio as part of its expansion across India, revealed Samir MC, Managing Director. The hospitality firm is looking to cater to a strong domestic demand in smaller cities and also from pilgrimage tourism. 

According to Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head of MEISEA for South African Tourism, Mumbai remained the top source market for South African tourism in India, as more Indian visitors traveled from there. For the period of January to June 2023, the city accounted for the highest number (64%) of forward bookings to South Africa.