Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

After the completion of several infrastructure projects in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister for Road, Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari said that people will be able to travel from Srinagar to Delhi in just eight hours in the future. He stated that the government is pursuing a number of important infrastructure projects in Jammu and Kashmir that will improve regional connectivity. “The Srinagar-Katra-Delhi expressway is also under construction,” he said, adding that more people will visit Kashmir if the infrastructure is improved.

The Department of Tourism of Rajasthan Government on Wednesday signed an MoU with the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR) for organizing the Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart (RDTM) 2022. The MoU was signed between the Director of Tourism, Nishant Jain and the President of FHTR, Apurv Kumar in the presence of Principal Secretary, Tourism, Gayatri Rathore. She Rathore said that the objective of the MoU is to promote Rajasthan as the most favourable tourist destination nationally and informed that the second edition of RDTM will be organized from July 22-24, 2022 at Birla auditorium, Jaipur.

Radisson Hotel Group is embarking on an exciting new era of hospitality in India, as it prepares to double its portfolio in the country. It will continue its focus on the market as a part of its Asia Pacific growth strategy. The Group has unveiled plans to more than double its Indian footprint, with 148 hotels and resorts to be added by 2025. These will be in addition to over 140 properties Radisson Hotel Group currently has in operation or under development nationwide, revealed Katerina Giannouka, President, Asia Pacific, Radisson Hotel Group.

The Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI) FHRAI recently sent a representation to Santosh Sarangi, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), to extend the Export Obligation (EO) period under the EPCG Scheme for another 6 to 8 years for the past EPCG licenses where the EO period ended in February 2020 onwards. The association states that it should allow all hotels time to recover and generate foreign exchange to meet their export obligations.

SriLankan Airlines has geared up for a busy Summer 2022 by increasing the number of scheduled flights by 40 per cent to match pre-pandemic levels and meet the growing demand for air travel as the industry continues to recover. The frequency increases will come into effect across SriLankan’s network of online destinations with the start of the airline’s summer flight schedule. The new schedule will facilitate smoother operations for the airline and offer customers greater flexibility, convenience and connectivity. One of the most significant changes is in SriLankan’s operations to India, which were scaled down considerably at the height of the pandemic. India recently reopened their skies for commercial passenger flights after two years of closure. In celebration of this encouraging development, SriLankan will be nearly doubling the number of weekly flights to India to over 100.  Other planned frequency increases to cities in the Indian Subcontinent include the operation of an extra weekly flight each to Gan, Maldives and Lahore, Pakistan. SriLankan is further planning to match the weekly number of flights to Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Muscat and Seychelles in the Middle Eastern and African regions to its pre-pandemic level of operations. Frequencies to certain destinations in the Far East and Oceania would also be gradually increased in the coming months. Daily flights have already been introduced to Kuala Lumpur, while daily flights will be operated to Melbourne by May and to Bangkok and Jakarta by July of this year. Further, an additional weekly flight has been scheduled for Narita starting from July 2022. New destinations are also part of the plan and commercial passenger flights to Seoul, Korea are to be launched in May 2022. SriLankan Airlines earns …

The Travel & Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) team led by President Nilesh Shah met the new Tourism Minister of Goa Rohan Khaunte, to request him for his support to the tourism industry. Shah said, “He is a dynamic leaders and has experience in the hospitality industry. We want a tourism minister to execute the vision outlined in the tourism masterplan. We hope under his leadership our industry benefits.”

As per the American Express Travel: Global Travel Trends Report, the motivation to travel for 48% Indians is for discovering new experiences, 46% for relaxing and 45% for exploring new destinations. The report also shows that Indians are also traveling to see the people and places they love, celebrate important life events, embark on wish list trips, experience in-person events, and seek greater wellness and self-care. Highest amongst all the other surveyed countries, 91% surveyed Indians agree they will book a dream vacation in 2022 which they normally would not have considered before the pandemic while 87% want to book a once-in-a-lifetime vacation in 2022.

Sharing new developments at Asego, Dev Karvat, Founder & CEO, Asego, revealed, “We are about to launch our all-new tech platform which will allow our partners to issue policies on-the-go in just 3 clicks. Furthermore, we have moved to a multiple underwriter model which will provide our partners more flexibility and freedom to customize products and services as per their customers’ needs.”

India’s travel industry is projected to account for 29 million outbound trips per year by 2025, according to analysis from GlobalData. Moreover, survey conducted by ResearchandMarkets.com predicts that India’s outbound tourism market will surpass $42 billion by the end of 2024. India’s tourism sector will therefore be a key focus for exhibitors at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2022, which will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre from May 9-12.

Flying Konkan Devgad Zipline is the first of its kind adventure sport activity along the coastal region of India, was launched and thrown open to public earlier this year. Co-founded by  IT engineers turned entrepreneurs, siblings Vaishnavi Joil & Srikant Joil  introduces coastal ziplining to the Indian population as a unique adventure activity along the coast, offering breathtaking views of the pristine coast, and thrilling break from the niche ‘water sports’ category. Over the past decade, the popularity of adventure sports tourism has seen an upward trend among tourists of all age groups and backgrounds. Among them all, ziplining is one of the most popular, safe and adventurous activity so far, for those seeking an adrenaline rush but in a comparatively safer set-up, while taking in the natural beauty of the destination.  And while India currently has several ziplining options, including popular locations in Rishikesh and some in Rajasthan, Goa and even in Maharashtra, the Indian coast has so far remained isolated to ziplining. But Flying Konkan Zipline is changing all of that! A true labor of love, the Flying Konkan Zipline was conceptualized as a curious idea in 2016, and finally took shape and materialized in January 2021, after years of meticulous research, planning, permissions, paper work and several trials. However, the pandemic and the lockdown in 2020, was a pivotal point in the way the venture would shape out eventually. Speaking about the journey and the vision, Vaishnavi Joil, Co-Founder, Flying Konkan Devgad ZIpline, said, “Devgad has been our family native and we have spent several summer vacations as children, relishing in the mangoes and exploring the beach. However, during the lockdown when we moved here to work …