Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Prahlad Singh Patel, State Tourism and Culture Minister, has announced that the Tourism Ministry will make wildlife its theme for the Incredible India campaign for the next two months. Patel revealed that they have taken this decision in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being featured on a television show. “We have decided to make wildlife the theme for Incredible India for the next two months,” he said. He has earlier shared that the demand of wildlife tourism is there in India, and because of that they are focusing on developing dedicated areas centered around wildlife. “We have pinpointed 2-3 areas where we will develop infrastructure for wildlife tourism. I believe that the choice of travellers has changed and that should be the criteria for offerings,” he shared.

In a bid to improve India’s airport structure, Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to invest about Rs 19,000 crore over the next three years, especially in small cities. According to a report, AAI official said the investment is being made in improving runway capacity as well as building terminal capacity. AAI is also working on plans to build new airports in Gujarat’s Rajkot, Jharkhand’s Dhalbhumgarh and in Hollongi and Halwara in the Northeast. “We are seeking funds from market through debt and other modes to fund these projects. Some of the funding will also come from our profits,” said an AAI official. Source: ET

Prahlad Singh Patel, State Tourism and Culture Minister (I/C), said that they will work towards ensuring that there is a no-crime zone around 500 m–1 km radius area of major tourist attractions by tightening security arrangements. They will also work towards training drivers, guides and tour operators, affiliated with MOT, on dealing with foreign tourists, especially women. He said, “The personnel that interact with the tourists at every touch-point need to be sensitised on how to deal with them, and make sure that they do not carry any negative perception about the country. Even in case of any problem, the tourist shall be able to seek help from his phone, no matter where he/she is. Even in case they enter one state from another, we are trying to work on the technology that the helpline numbers in their phones change automatically, depending on their location.”

E-tickets bought through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will get costlier as the Indian Railways has decided to restore service fee charges it used to charge on AC and non-AC ticket (Rs 40 and Rs 20 respectively) almost three years ago, after they were withdrawn by the government to promote digital payments. The Railway Board has given its approval to the IRCTC to restore the mechanism of charging service charge from passengers booking online tickets. In a letter, the Board has said the IRCTC, the ticketing and tourism arm of Indian Railways, had made a ‘detailed case’ for the restoration of service charge on booking of e-ticket and the matter has been examined by the competent authority. It further said the Finance Ministry has contended that the scheme of waiving of service charges was a temporary one and that the railway ministry could begin charging e-tickets. Officials say that after service charges were discontinued, IRCTC saw a 26 per cent drop in Internet ticketing revenue in financial year 2016-17. (Credit and source: PTI)

The Yogi Adityanath government has planned to set up a development board to promote spiritual tourism in Uttar Pradesh. The state government has already been pushing religious tourism with Deepotsav in Ayodhya, Holi in Barsana and now Janamashtami in Mathura. He also asked travel operators to train local youths to become good guides and service providers in this sector and boost the prospects of tourism development. Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh, said, “Uttar Pradesh is a major centre of spiritual tourism, and tourists and pilgrims visit the state in lakhs. The government is going to set up a development board to further improve spiritual tourism in the state.” The state has already developed a ‘Buddhist Circuit’ under which work has been done in Sarnath, Kushinagar, Kapilvastu and Shravasti. Places related to Jainism have also been developed, along with the Ramayana Circuit. “Work is also in progress on linking Uttar Pradesh to Janakpur in Nepal, the birth place of Sita,” Adityanath said. Source: IANS

The Indian aviation sector is witnessing phenomenal growth and there could be 2,000 planes in a short time, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said recently. He told the Lok Sabha that the country’s aviation sector is the third-largest in the world and there is an annual growth of 17%. “In 2008, the number of passengers stood at 117 million and now it is around 440 million. It is expected to touch 1 billion,” adds Puri. Source: PTI

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and partners welcomed passengers on board Vistara’s inaugural international flights from Delhi and Mumbai with a taste of Singaporean hospitality. The STB, together with tourism partners like Gardens by the Bay, Resorts World Sentosa, Sentosa Development Corporation, Trick Eye Museum Singapore and Wildlife Reserves Singapore (comprising the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Safari and Jurong Bird Park) have put together value deals and discounts to popular attractions and experiences in Singapore. The discount vouchers are part of the welcome kits for Vistara’s passengers upon arrival in Singapore for the inaugural flights; and will continue to be distributed to passengers until 14 August 2019. Details of the discounts being offered can be found in the appended Fact Sheet.   Singapore received 1.44 million visitors from India in 2018, crossing the one million visitor mark for the fourth time in a row. India is also the third largest visitor source market for Singapore and has been able to retain its position as the top source market for cruise travel. The introduction of new flights from India will help more Indian travelers experience leisure, business and cruise travel to Singapore.   

Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Chandigarh Chapter, has elected its new committee recently. Harraj Singh Sidhu has been elected has the Chairman, Puneet Arora has been constituted as the Hony. Secretary and Naveen Kumar has been elected as the Hony. Treasurer.

Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Punjab Chapter held its Annual General Meeting on 2 August 2019 in Jalandhar. The meeting elected Gurjeet S.Sekhon of Ace Vacations & Travels, Amritsar as its Chairman, Narinder Davesar of Bharti Travel Advisor (Regd.) as its Secretary and Pankul Sharma of Sharma Travels, Jalandhar as Treasurer for a period of two years. TAAI is India’s premier, nodal, largest and oldest Travel & Tourism Association.

Airlines across the world carried 4.4 billion passengers on scheduled services, an increase of 6.9 per cent over 2017, representing an additional 284 million trips by air, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which released performance figures for 2018 in the IATA World Air Transport Statistics (2019 WATS).  Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO, IATA, stated, “The world’s airlines safely carried around 4.3 billion passengers last year, on some 126,000 daily flights connecting over 21,000 city pairs.”