Category Archives: States

The Supreme Court has permitted building of an additional terminal at Agra airport near Taj Mahal but made it clear that it would not allow increase in air traffic on the airfield as that will be hazardous to environment and asked the Centre to consider luxurious trains like the ‘Palace on wheels’ to the city. The apex court also directed the Centre to consider an alternative airport site to meet the increase in the air traffic due to rise in tourist influx to visit the Taj Mahal and other destinations in and around Agra in Uttar Pradesh. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde made it clear that it was willing to allow the construction of additional terminal at the existing airport but was against increasing the air traffic which could “damage” the environment in an “eco-sensitive area” having some world heritage sites including Taj Mahal.

In a bid to boost untapped tourism in the state, MP Tourism will be organising a new festival in Orchha to celebrate cultural diversity, natural beauty and architectural heritage in the state. The Madhya Pradesh Government has identified tourism as one of the leading sectors for development and will be taking multiple initiatives to promote the state for both domestic and international travellers. The festival will showcase Madhya Pradesh in Orchha bringing it alive with music, dance, heritage tours, workshops, local cuisine, arts and handicrafts.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has recently announced that the Imphal-Mandalay route will soon be included in the ‘International UDAN’ scheme. Manipur government had been pursuing the introduction of flight operations between Imphal and Mandalay for quite some time, but instead of a scheduled flight service, permission for chartered flights just for a limited duration of time was granted. The bidding process for selection of airlines to be completed within two months. The service was launched on 23 November and will be run till December 7.   (Source: Indian Express)

In a bid to promote Kerala in the China Market, Kerala Tourism with a high-profile delegation, along with the travel trade partners from the state, participated in China International Travel Mart (CITM) 2019 at Kunming and also organised two roadshows in Shanghai and Beijing. Kadakamapally Surendran, Minister, Tourism, Kerala, said, “We are trying to ensure brand visibility in East Asian markets using innovative strategies.  China is an important emerging market for Kerala Tourism. In just two decades, it has become the world’s largest outbound travel market, with some 145 million Chinese travellers visiting abroad in 2017.” Apart from Japan, Kerala Tourism is also focusing on Singapore and Japan, and participated in ITB Asia 2019 in Singapore and Tourism Expo Japan, held in Osaka, Japan.  

Goldstone Hotels & Resorts has spread its wings in the state of Bihar as the brand is set to launch two new properties; one at Motihari which will open next week and the other one in Patna, which will be unveiled in the next 15 days. Sandeep Singh, Managing Director Goldstone Hotels says, “The brand’s presence in the state was long due and we aim at having at least 7 more properties in Bihar by the end of this financial year to cater to every segment of clientele.”

Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata are the preferred destination cities for medical tourists arriving in India. Nearly 27 % of India’s medical tourists head to Maharashtra, out of which 80% go to Mumbai, reveals the report India Building Best Practices in Healthcare Services Globally 2019-20 by FICCI. Chennai attracts nearly 15% of the incoming foreign patients while Kerala handles around 5% to 7%. 

The four-month-long runway re-surfacing work at Kochi Airport has begun and there would be no flights from 10 AM to 6 PM till March 28, 2020. Since almost all services have already been re-scheduled between 6 PM and 10 AM, the project period would see cancellation of only five services during the major runway re-surfacing period, a statement from the airport said. Domestic sector is going to have only four cancellations. In view of it, CIAL has decided to increase the check-in time to 3 hrs for the domestic passengers and 4 hrs for the international passengers, the statement said.

WelcomHeritage (WH) has opened its latest property—WH Inderpura Resort, which is situated on Delhi road State highway 37B at Udaipurwati of Jhunjhunu District in Rajasthan. With an inventory of 21 rooms, the property is situated on 1.75 acre land at the foothill of Aravalli range. Sanjeev K Nayar, GM, WelcomHeritage shared shared, “The addition of this property is part of our strategy to expand and open more properties in the current financial year. Rajasthan has such abundance of cultural properties and we are extremely lucky to find few of such gems and add in our existing portfolio. Udaipurvati is a beautiful location with a vivid historical importance. The picturesque location of the property and the cultural heritage of the city promise to give a perfect holiday experience. Moreover this property has close proximity to Delhi/NCR, we expect to see the business flow from this part of the country on a higher pace, especially in weekends.”

CT Ravi, Tourism Minister, Karnataka, has said that the state is planning to introduce a new tourism master plan, which will focus on the overall infrastructural development of tourist destinations, improving inter-connectivity between destinations, along with providing adequate security measures. Through this, the tourism department plans to increase its revenue contribution to the state’s GDP to 20 per cent from the existing 14.8 per cent. Also, with a new tourism policy, the government hopes to create about 2 lakh direct jobs, said the Minister. Karnataka’s existing tourism policy ends next year. With a thrust on experiential tourism, the tourism department will work towards skill development for tourist guides, promoting local fests at tourist destinations and others. Traditional sports like Kambala will also be promoted, added Ravi.

A total of four islands will be developed for tourism in Andaman & Nicobar (A&N), while five will be developed in Lakshadweep, revealed Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, while speaking at the pre-application conference for Eco Tourism Resorts for Andaman & Nicobar Islands. “These are some of the most pristine islands, and one of the last destinations in the world to be opened. We want to develop them as high-value destinations. They will be built around the carrying capacity of the island after detailed analysis.” Chetan B Sanghi, Chief Secretary, A&N Islands, Administration, said, “The islands are Long, Aves, Smith and Shaheed Sweep of A&N islands. We will ensure that investors get easy and early clearances. Also, initially 30 per cent and later 60 per cent of the local population will get employment.”