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Over 7 million visited Dubai in 2021 tourism turnaround

More than seven million foreign tourists visited Dubai last year, marking a "remarkable turnaround", the government of the Gulf city state hosting the Expo world fair announced Thursday. The figure was up 32 per cent on 2020, the first full year of the Coronavirus pandemic, Dubai's Economy and Tourism Department said in a statement. It hailed the recovery as "a remarkable turnaround amid continuing global challenges" This year, however, missile attacks since last month by Yemeni rebels on the United Arab Emirates of which Dubai is a member have prompted US and UK travel warnings. Dubai, home of the world's tallest tower, super-luxury hotels and swanky nightclubs, has since October 1 hosted Expo 2020 which runs until March 31. The glitzy emirate, a trading and leisure hub for which tourism is a pillar of the economy, attracted a massive 16.7 million tourists from the East and West in 2019, before Covid-19 restrictions. It has recorded a total of more than 850,000 cases of Coronavirus, including over 2,250 deaths

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India proposes Hoysala Temples of Karnataka for UNESCO World Heritage tag

India's famed Hoysala Temples in Belur, Halebid, and Somanathapura could soon be included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. According to latest reports, India has filed for the nomination of the temples for the year 2022-2023. The temples are situated in the Indian state of Karnataka, and are collectively called The Sacred Ensembles of Hoysala. The temples have been on the tentative list of UNESCO since 2014. The expert delegation from UNESCO is now expected to visit the site in September-October, 2022. The UNESCO Heritage Committee will take the decision on whether to include the temples in the list or not at a meeting in July-August 2023. The Union Minister for Culture, Tourism, and DoNER, G Kishan Reddy said that it is a great moment for India. The Hoysala architecture dates back to the Hoysala Empire when Hoysala rulers built numerous temples in the region. All of them date between the 11th and 14 centuries. These glorious temples are dedicated to Lord Shiva. These cities that have been mentioned in the nomination are significant for their historic importance. They are treasure troves of cultural and architectural marvels. The intricate works done on the temples here at these sites are something of a wonder. You cannot take your eyes off these masterpieces. Of course such places are also attached with numerous tales and legends, thus making them a portal for time travel. To have these sites in the UNESCO World Heritage list will be a game changer for tourism. Thereby attracting more people, both domestic and international, and making everyone aware of Karnataka's lesser known gems.

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Australia hopeful to welcome international travellers in April

Australia might reopen to international tourists in April during the time of Easter. Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister of the country, made the announcement while talking to a local radio station. Though he didn’t give any specific date, he said he is hoping that it will happen sometime during Easter. The Australian PM said, "Well I can't give you a specific date yet…and that's because we're just watching how omicron is sort of washing over the eastern states. I'd like to see us get there soon — certainly before Easter, well before Easter." Since the beginning of the pandemic, Australia has been one of those countries that maintained some stricter border measures. The country stopped all sorts of transportation very early and allowed only certain groups of people to enter. As per the Department of Home Affairs, only Australian citizens, permanent residents, and their immediate family members are permitted to visit the country. It is only recently that Australia reopened its borders to fully vaccinated tourists from a number of nations including Singapore, Japan, and South Korea, that too without any quarantine measures. On the other hand, USA’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has put Australia in their "Level 4" list of destinations, which means a "very high" level of COVID-19 transmission in the nation. The CDC has asked Americans to avoid traveling to Australia currently. CDC classifies a country as "Level 4" if there are 500 plus Coronavirus cases per 100,000 people over the last 28 days.

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IRCTC's Northeast tour package: Destinations covered, fare and all you need to know

Northeast India, consists of eight states — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. Tourism in this area is based around the unique Himalayan landscape and culture distinct from the rest of India. Northeast India is considered as one of the most gorgeous and blessed by mother nature as even a tiny stream here resembles picturesque. So are you in the mood for a scenic getaway in the lap of nature? Escape to the quiet hills and calm valleys of the Northeast. IRCTC has launched a flight package to Northeast India. The region offers unforgettable visits for tourists interested in wild life, religious, cultural and ethnic tourism, river cruises, golf and a host of others. There is also great scope for mountaineering, trekking and adventure tourism in the region. About destinations: Bagdogra: Bagdogra is a city in the Naxalbari CD block in the Siliguri subdivision of the Darjeeling district, West Bengal. It is a part of the Greater Siliguri Metropolitan Area. Bagdogra is well connected by air from four major cities of India – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. It has a railway station named Bagdogra Railway Station. Bagdogra Airport is now a customs Airport. Kalimpong: A beautiful hill town in North Bengal which can be reached from either Siliguri or Darjeeling. It is popular for its panoramic valley views, Buddhists monasteries, churches and Tibetan handicrafts. Gangtok: Situated in the eastern Himalayan range, state capital Gangtok combines a modern, resort town style with ancient spiritual beliefs and an impressive natural heritage. Mountain views act as the backdrop to holidays in Gangtok, where much of the focus also lies on the monasteries, shrines, and temples of this old centre of Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage. Darjeeling: Famous throughout the world for the tea it grows and the great view of Kanchenjunga range of mountains that it offers. It is also known for its richness in cultural & natural heritage and the famous toy train that has been declared a UN heritage.

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India's top airline IndiGo returns to profit after two years amid strong demand

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -IndiGo, India's biggest airline, expects its revenue to recover from April this year as demand for travel rebounds, its CEO Ronojoy Dutta said on Friday, after the carrier reported its first quarterly profit in two years. Airlines, whose profits have been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic over the last two years, were seeing signs of recovery when the Omicron variant disrupted travel late last year. Dutta said the airline saw a steep fall in bookings after Dec. 15 as India imposed curbs amid rising infections. And while travel is returning slowly due to pent up demand, he expects revenue to be lower in the January to March quarter before recovering. "The worst has come and gone, things are slowly getting better. At least we can say for sure they are not getting worse," Dutta told analysts over a call. IndiGo parent Interglobe Aviation, which operates IndiGo, reported a net profit of 1.28 billion rupees ($17 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, compared with a loss of 6.27 billion rupees a year earlier. The company said revenue from operations nearly doubled to 92.95 billion rupees from a year earlier, which Dutta said exceeded the levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yields, a metric for profitability, grew 19.2% to 4.41 rupees compared with the previous quarter, despite a 186% rise in fuel prices over the same period. And passenger load factor, or the passenger carrying capacity being used, rose to 80% during the quarter. The airline expects to deploy 10%-15% lower capacity in the fourth quarter, compared with the previous one, as bookings gradually pick ramp up. Profits were also helped by stronger yields on international flights which were limited in number but saw strong traffic resulting in higher margins, said Dutta, who is hopeful that the government will soon ease restrictions on international travel.

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Parliamentary Committee recommends govt to formulate promotional strategy to position India as a favoured tourism destination

Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has recommended the government to formulate an integrated marketing and promotional strategy to position India as a favoured tourism destination in the tourism generating markets overseas. The Committee has also suggested that the Ministry of Transport, Tourism and Culture should adopt a strategy to increase India's share of the global tourism market from the present 1.24 per cent to 5 per cent in the years to come. The recommendation was submitted in the 'Three Hundred Thirteenth Report on Promotion of Indian Tourism in Overseas Markets-Role of Overseas Tourist Offices and Indian Embassies". The report was laid in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The report was adopted by the Committee on January 31. In its recommendation, the Committee said, it is of the firm view that focussed marketing and promotion efforts go a long way in promoting the growth of inbound tourism to India. "The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry should formulate an integrated marketing and promotional strategy to position India as a favoured tourism destination in the tourism generating markets overseas and increase India's share of the global tourism market from the present 1.24 per cent to 5 per cent in the years to come," mentions the report. "The Committee feels that one of the effective steps in this direction would be re-casting the website of the Ministry in an attractive and user-friendly manner." The modern tourism industry is a key driver of socio-economic growth through the creation of jobs, infrastructure development and the export revenues earned because it has the potential to stimulate other sectors through its backward and forward leakages and cross-sectoral synergies with airlines, transport, basic infrastructure, agriculture and handicrafts.

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