Page 16 - Tourism

Kerala selected as one of the 52 places to visit in 2023 by New York Times

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took it to twitter and said it was recognition of the approach towards community tourism

52 days in luxury: World's longest river cruise sets off on maiden voyage

The cruise, operated by Antara Luxury River Cruises, will visit 50 tourist spots, including world heritage sites, national parks, river ghats, and major cities

Feast & fest: Odisha goes all out for Hockey World Cup that begins Jan 13

State's biggest cultural extravaganza to coincide with tournament that is expected to increase tourism by 70%

Centre bars tourists at Shri Sammed Shikharji in Jharkhand, amid protests

In view of a series of protests by the Jain community, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav has asked the state to forbid all eco-tourism activities

Rajasthan govt's Indira Rasoi scheme becoming popular among tourists

The scheme was started on August 20, 2020, with 358 kitchens in 213 urban local bodies and each plate included 100 gm of dal, 100 gm of vegetables, and 250 gm of chapati and pickle

India emerges as Nepal's top inbound tourist market in 2022, shows data

India has emerged as Nepal's top inbound tourist market in 2022, the tourism authority here said on Monday, as the key sector in the Himalayan nation is gradually witnessing recovery from the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. Of the total 614,148 foreign visitors from January to December last year, 209,105 were from India, followed by the US with 77,009 and the UK 44,781, according to data published by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). Australia is in fourth place with 26,874 inbound visitors, while Bangladesh with 25,384 tourists ranked fifth in the list. The arrival of 614,148 tourists last year indicates a significant recovery in the Nepal tourism sector, NTB CEO Dhananjay Regmi said. In 2021, the country witnessed only 150,962 tourist footfall, while it was 230,085 in 2020, according to the data. Before the pandemic hit the tourism industry, Nepal received 1.2 million tourists in 2019. The highest number of 88,582 tourists entered Nepal via air routes in October 2022. Of the

Indians help Singapore cross 6 mn visitors mark, record best tourism year

Singapore is set to report its best year for tourism since the Covid-19 pandemic shut the travel sector down with help from visitors from Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Australia

Lunch with BS: 'G20 is about thinking and acting big', says Amitabh Kant

From tourism to development to projecting India's soft power to the world, Kant tells Ruchika Chitravanshi and Nivedita Mookerji that G20 is about thinking and acting big

Tourist inflow information to be collected through drones in Himachal

With the increase in tourist footfall on Christmas and New Year, the Himachal Pradesh Police will use drones at the entry points including Shimla, Parwanoo and Pandoh for accurate estimation of the number of visitors entering the state. The police headquarters on Sunday issued directions to the concerned Superintendents of Police (SPs) to arrange vehicle recovery cranes and place them at significant locations to remove unauthorised parking to avoid traffic congestion, an official said. The SPs have also been directed to carry out regular checkings at hotels, guest houses and other places of stay and take special care that the tourists do not face any inconvenience, the police official said. Along with this, the SP Cyber Crime has also been directed to take prompt action against anti-social elements who post any objectionable or misleading information on social media. The official said for any assistance tourists can call on emergency contact helpline number 112. Though white Chris

Beaches to mountains: Indians are heading out for their New Year vacation

A quite hill town, a bustling beach, or an international city: Indians are taking their pick to greet the New Year

Indians flocking both foreign and local getaways as travel recovers: Airbnb

The traveller is also expanding his travel horizons, looking to explore new getaways abroad

Lanka Premier League will boost economy, says tourism minister Fernando

Originally planned for August 2022, the much-awaited Lanka Premier League 2022 commenced on December 6. The league was postponed because of the economic and political turmoil in the island nation

1.24 million Indian tourists visit Dubai in first 9 months of 2022

At least 1.24 million Indian tourists visited Dubai in the first nine months of 2022, the highest among all foreign nationalities visiting Dubai.

Jharkhand tourism to get boost with logo, brand promotion: Official

In a bid to provide a fillip to the tourism sector in the state, the Jharkhand government is working on a slew of plans, including promotion of sites and a study on the inflow of travellers, an official said on Saturday. The government has selected a brand partner for publicising places of tourists' interest and preparing a logo, state tourism secretary Manoj Kumar said. Jharkhand has many places of tourists' interest but branding has been an issue. There is no proper promotional programme on television or other platforms. There should be a message about why visitors must come and explore Jharkhand. So, we have hired a Goa-based branding partner for publicising spots of tourists' interest, Kumar told PTI. He said that the partner will prepare a logo and souvenir for Jharkhand tourism. The agency has prepared a logo for Jharkhand tourism. It is being fine-tuned and the final approval has not been given yet, he said. The department has also given a work order to study the tourists'

International tourists bring over $630 mn into New Zealand economy in Q3

International tourists spent 200 mn NZ dollars more than international visitors coming to see friends or relatives, despite making up a similar volume of arrivals, statistics show

Rajasthan govt to organise folk art festivals to boost tourism in state

As the tourism industry is recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rajasthan government has planned to organise folk art festivals from the panchayat to the state level to give a boost to the sector. These festivals will also conserve arts and culture of different regions of the state and work toward uplifting artists. Currently, Rajasthan has 22 types of folk festivals, but now the state government is planning to hold festivals from the panchayat to the state level, according to an official. The tourism department is preparing a detailed plan for it and cultural competitions will be held with a budget of Rs 27 crore, he said. "The Rajasthan folk art festival organised from the panchayat to the state level will increase the arrival of domestic and foreign tourists in the state. Major local tourist places would be selected on priority for organising the festival," the official said. He said that the protection of folk arts and culture of different regions of Rajast

Nearly 1.5 million tourists visited Maldives this year: Ministry of Tourism

The Maldives received nearly 1.5 million tourists so far this year, with travellers from India topping the list, according to data from the country's Ministry of Tourism.

PM envisions boost to Arunachal tourism with addition of Donyi Polo airport

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has envisioned a boost to the tourism sector in Arunachal Pradesh with the addition of Donyi Polo airport in Itanagar

Centre nods for Goa like beach shacks across coastal states to lift tourism

Shacks are crucial to tourism and local businesses in Goa and Maharashtra and currently, they have to be removed in the monsoon months (June to August)

Telangana eyes 20% increase in foreign, 30% in domestic tourist arrivals

Telangana Tourism expects increase of 20 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals and 30 per cent growth in domestic tourist footfall to the state by end of 2023 as compared to pre-COVID level, a senior government official said. Telangana witnessed domestic tourist arrivals of 3,20,00,620 while international tourists numbered 5,917 in 2021. For this year, domestic arrivals increased to 3,95,53,865 and international arrivals rose to 35,945 up to July. During 2019 when the pandemic had not yet set in, the domestic arrivals in the state was 8,30,35,894 while the number of foreign travellers was 3,23,326. Already, there is increase in the count of foreign travellers visiting Telangana and there has been growth in domestic tourists arriving this year, the official said. "Our target is to increase international tourist arrivals by 20 per cent, and also domestic tourist arrivals by 30 per cent by 2023-end," Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) Managing Director B Manohar