Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, has said that the central government will focus on building air connectivity with countries that are part of Commonwealth of Independent States, while the world slowly comes out of coronavirus pandemic. He also added that the 2 Cs that are quintessential to economic growth is connectivity and commerce between India and the CIS region.

Uttarakhand Government have opened Mussoorie throughout the week for tourists. However, they will allow only 15000 tourists during weekend, owing to COVID-19 situation. Dilip Jawalkar, Secretary, Uttarakhand Tourism, said, “The system and rules allowing 15 thousand tourists to come on weekends are applicable from Saturday morning till 8 am on Monday. On other days tourists can easily enter Mussoorie. This is only being done to provide a safe and clean environment to the tourists.” It is mandatory for tourists to bring a negative report of one of the tests, which includes RTPCR / Rapid Antigen Test (Rat) / True Net Test / Antibody Test or certificate of dual vaccine up to 72 hours before arrival. Along with this, registration and hotel booking will have to be brought along with the registration in the Smart City Portal. Jaspal Singh Chauhan, District Tourism Officer, said that information claiming Mussoorie only being open during weekends are wrong. Tourists can easily contact helpline numbers and get accurate information regarding any changes in the guidelines.

Kishan Reddy, while addressing the recent conference of tourism and culture ministers of North Eastern states. has said that under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, MOT has sanctioned 16 projects in the North Eastern region. He also informed that under the PRASHAD schemes, the MOT has sanctioned number of projects in the region. Approximately Rs 200 crore has been sanctioned for these projects, he added.

In a reciprocal reaction, the Indian government has withdrawn the e-visa facility for the citizens of Canada and the United Kingdom. According to a senior Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official, post-Covid, UK and Canada have posed a lot of restrictions over the entry of Indian nationals in their country and many times, travellers have to face inconvenience despite several requests were made to the concerned embassies to take up and matter and resolve it. “The e-visa facility to UK and Canada citizens have been withdrawn from the first week of August this year. Now, they have to apply for a regular sticker visa at the Indian embassy. Tourist visa is already suspended and people visiting India under other categories of visa now have to apply for regular sticker visas,” said the official. Earlier, the e-visa facility was denied to Chinese nationals following the Galwan Valley incident in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent clashes with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel in June last year.

Jammu and Kashmir get first-ever cruise facility with musical fountain in Dal Lake, attracting tourists in large numbers, reveals Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Ind. Charge) Science&Tech and (Ind. Charge) Earth Sciences. He called it a historic breakthrough in tourism sector on his recent visit to the Union Territory.

G Kishan Reddy held a review meeting with the officials of MOT, ASI and Goa Tourism along with Shripad Yesso Naik MoS, Tourism and Manohar Azgaonkar, Goa Tourism Minister. He discussed key issues pertaining to promotion of tourism & culture in the state of Goa. He also inaugurated helipad at old Goa. “The helipad will facilitate tourists with easy travel & will further heli tourism as envisioned under Swadesh Darshan Scheme of MOT in the state,” he said in a tweet.

South African Tourism is all set to kick off the last quarter of 2021 with its maiden virtual roadshow. Titled ‘VirtuallyYoursSouthAfrica’ the roadshow aims to showcase unique offerings from South Africa starting from October 20 to 22, 2021. It will have a delegation of approximately 100 suppliers from South Africa who will meet 1,000 Indian buyers from across India. Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head – MEISEA, South African Tourism, said, “This roadshow is a testament of our unwavering commitment to the Indian market. We expect mutually beneficial partnerships and impactful business conversions between South African exhibitors and Indian buyers to stem from our first virtual roadshow.”

In the final week of #ThailandBetterTogether campaign, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) India offices will highlight luxury and wellness. Vachirachai Sirisumpan, Director, TAT, New Delhi, shares, “For the final week, our theme will be luxury and wellness in Thailand, and our team will bring you up to the northern part of Thailand, where we’ll be learning about Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, which are the two charming provinces in the Northern part of Thailand. Chiang Mai is regarded as the Rose of the North because of the charm of its people, culture and nature. One can do a lot of things in Chiang Mai from eco-tourism, adventures, shopping, local experiences, learning about cooking, and last but not the least is spa, Thai massage and the hospitality of the people in the Northern part of Thailand. Going up a little bit is Chiang Rai, which is very nice and charming and its highlight is that it’s a place of art. There is a very beautiful temple, called White Temple or Wat Rong Khun, as well as another temple called Blue Temple or Wat Rong Suea Ten. These two temples represent the craft and art of the Thai people. Apart from this, there are a lot of adventures and other activities that one can do in Chiang Rai as well.”

Speaking at a webinar on developing tourism in Mizoram, Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism, said that her ministry wants to make a difference in the next two months. “It is a high priority at the ministry, for us, to take up the development and promotion of tourism in the north east region. We are also exploring with MoCA, adding more routes on the Viability Gap Funding by the MoT for priority areas. Once the plan of action is worked out, we will deep-dive and start. The NE is one of the most beautiful parts of India and so much needs to be done,” she said.

To ease the VISA process, the Govt of India has developed a user-friendly app namely SU-SWAGATAM (Visit India). This App has integrated requisite services empowering foreigners with facilities right from the visa application stage till their exit from the country. Foreign nationals intending to visit India can use the app to fill visa forms. The app is also integrated with the e-FRRO portal thereby, facilitating tourists to apply for extension of visa, residential permit, and exit permit from concerned FRRO/FRO. One can also use the app for getting useful information on various utility services like Tourist places, places of entertainment, lodging, food and shopping, etc