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Three Indian villages have been nominated for UN’s World Tourism Organization Award

Three Indian villages have been nominated in the Best Tourism Village category for the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Award. Madhya Pradesh’s Ladhpura Khas village that is situated near the town of Orchha, is one such village. The other two villages are Meghalaya’s Kongthong village, and Telangana’s Pochampally village. Indian village tourism has taken off ever since the nation’s Rural Tourism Project began across states. The idea behind such a project is to give shape to the concept of village tourism, which is not prevalent in the country. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh took to Twitter and wrote, "A moment of pride for us all as Madhya Pradesh's village Ladhpura Khas has been selected for entry to the 'Best Tourism Village'. My best wishes to the whole team of MP Tourism and administration on this achievement. Keep up the good work". Meghalaya’s Kongthong village is located in the East Khasi Hills, and is known as Whistling Village. It is perhaps most popular for its tradition of Jingrwai Lawbei, wherein the mother gives a tune or a lullaby to a child upon birth. Such a tune, like Eeooow or Ooeeo, becomes the identity of the child for the years to come, and it must be a unique one. The villagers even talk through tunes here! The village of Pochampally in Telangana is situated a few hours away from Hyderabad, and is sometimes known as the Ikat Capital of India. The village is located in Nalgonda district, and is renowned for its ikat sarees. The village is full of aesthetically designed mud houses, and can be explored on foot. You can interact with the artists, and witness the art of designing sarees. Speaking of the nomination, Madhya Pradesh Tourism and Culture Department's Principal Secretary, Sheo Shekhar Shukla said, “In the next five years, 100 villages will be developed from the point of view of rural tourism. Among these, suitable sites will be selected and developed around tourist places, including Orchha, Khajuraho, Mandu, Sanchi, Pachmarhi, Tamia, Panna National Park, Bandhavgarh National Park, Sanjay Dubri National Park, Pench and Kanha National Park etc.”

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UK likely to lift travel restrictions for India

The British government is planning to overhaul the current travel traffic light system, with a new system based on people’s vaccination status. According to reports, the changes will see the green and amber lists - which include the amber-listed India - be done away with. Passengers arriving from red-list destinations will still have to enter hotel quarantine. Expectations are growing that there will be a simplification of those travel rules, after Health Minister Sajid Javid said on Sunday that he wanted to “get rid of” expensive RT-PCR tests for travellers as soon as possible. This also comes at a time when Britain’s biggest airport - Heathrow - is still handling footfall that is 71% lower in August compared to the same month before the pandemic. Heathrow blamed the complicated, changing and expensive rules for those arriving in the United Kingdom for Britain’s much slower travel recovery versus competitors, pushing it down to 10th busiest European airport, from its top spot in 2019. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will this week set out his plans to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in the winter months. Heathrow said in its statement that it would favour a two-tier system with destination countries rated either low risk or high risk, with the latter still requiring hotel quarantine. Fully vaccinated travellers would be able to travel freely, the system being used by many European countries, while those not vaccinated would take pre-departure or arrival tests using lateral flow tests, which are cheaper than RT-PCR tests. Currently there are three tiers, with expensive tests always required even for those who are fully vaccinated.

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Tourism industry in Assam proposes Vista Dome train between Silghat and Kaziranga

The Tourism industry in the North East has proposed a Vista Dome train service between Guwahati (Silghat) and Kaziranga to make the connectivity easier and delightful to the region’s sought after National Park for the visitors. The proposal was made by the private industry at the ongoing two-day conference of the Tourism and Culture Ministers of the North Eastern States convened by the Union Tourism, Culture and the DoNER Ministries. Talking about it, Nirmalya Choudhury, Chairman for the North Eastern Region of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) said that such a service will ease vehicular traffic on the roads to a large extent as well as reduce the frequent accidents that happen involving wild animals and vehicles. Between 6 and 7 lakh tourists visit Kaziranga in an average season. “People will love to travel by train if there is a Vista Dome train offering panoramic views,” he said. Appreciating the initiative of the Union Tourism, Culture and DoNER Ministry in convening the review meeting, Choudhury said that the consultations were held in an open and transparent way and the industry also got time to present their case to the government. “Tourism in the region was badly impacted due to the pandemic. We need some hand-holding from the government to revive the industry in the region,” Choudhury said.

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Bihar to celebrate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ with yearlong tourism events from Sept 17

The Bihar tourism department has planned a yearlong tourism event to celebrate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ starting from September 17, 2021. The event will commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. Announcing the big news, the State Transport Minister Narayan Prasad said that different kinds of events will be organised in Bihar at famous tourist spots associated with Mahatma Gandhi. The minister said, “The department will organise several cultural events, including cycle rally, kid festivals, fairs, classical shows, seminars, competitions, heritage walk and boat ride throughout the year. The stories of heroes of the freedom struggle and historical places will be highlighted at these events which will continue till mid-August next year”. More about the program The program will commence with ‘Fit India Freedom Run’ on September 17 to be held at the Eco Park in Patna at 7 AM. The tourism will also organise Amrit Mahotsav during Sufi Festival in Kako, Jehanabad and Pitrapaksha Mela in Gaya. From October 1 to 3, programmes will be organised at Bhitiharwa Ashram in West Champaran. During this time, events highlighting the first visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Champaran and his satyagraha movement will be organised. Then on October 3, a kavi sammelan will be held at Maharaja Library in Bettiah. On October 11, a cycle rally will be organised in Saran district. Program brief September 17: Program begins with a run at Eco Park in Patna October 1 to 3: Bhitiharwa Ashram in West Champaran October 3: Kavi Sammelan at Maharaja Library in Bettiah October 11: Cycle rally in Saran district. November 10: Boat Campaign from Digha Ghat to Deedarganj, Patna November: Heritage walk at the ruins of Nalanda University for school kids and NCC cadets December: Cultural events in Jehanabad and Saran districts January (2022): Kite festival in Bodh Gaya and Patna. February (2022): Events at Rajgir Zoo Safari and Sasaram March (2022): Events in Bodh Gaya and West Champaran April (2022): Nature walk in Kaimur and Rohtas June (2022): Events in Sitamarhi, Bodh Gaya, Manersharif and Yoga University-Munger July (2022): Events in Sultanganj (Patna), Bhagalpur, Munger and Banka

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Passenger trains to soon start between India and Bangladesh

Passenger train services will soon start operations between India and Bangladesh. As per the reports, a train will run through Haldibari-Chilahati border between India and Bangladesh. The same was recently revealed by Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata, Tofik Hussain. Haldibari in Cooch Behar is located around 4.5 km from the Indo-Bangla international border, which is also referred to as the 'zero point'. Further, Haldibari is situated around 12 km from Chilahati in Bangladesh's Nilphamari district in Rangpur Division. Reports have it that Hussain visited the Haldibari railway station and the railway track, along with the High Commission's business chief Md Samsul Arif and Siliguri Sonali Bank Manager Jabedul Alam. After analysing the current scenario, Hussain added that they are very happy that passenger train services will start shortly between Chilahati and Haldibari. He also added that this step will help boost tourism and business of both the countries, and will help in their development as well. He expressed that both the countries have already given the approval to run the passenger trains between India and Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata, Tofik Hussain, while praising Haldibari railway station, stated that if the COVID situation normalises in the coming days, they will also start issuing tourist visas.

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IndiGo to start 38 new domestic flights in September to boost domestic network

Indian budget airline IndiGo has announced it will start 38 new daily domestic flights from September to improve accessibility between metros and tier-2 or tier-3 cities. These 38 new flights will include 24 6E only connecting flights, two new flights and 12 flights that the airline will be relaunching after the Covid second wave. IndiGo will operate new flights between Raipur-Pune, while restarting flights between Lucknow-Ranchi, Bengaluru-Vishakhapatnam, Chennai-Indore, Lucknow- Raipur, Mumbai-Guwahati, and Ahmedabad-Indore, the airline's said in a statement. It will also operate 24 flights between Ahmedabad-Agartala (via Kolkata), ChennaiChandigarh (via Hyderabad), Chennai-Vadodara (via Hyderabad), Kolkata-Kozhikode (via Bengaluru), Kolkata-Coimbatore (via Hyderabad), Chandigarh-Patna (via Lucknow), Chandigarh-Ranchi (via Lucknow), Chandigarh-Hyderabad (via Delhi), CoimbatoreLucknow (via Hyderabad), Coimbatore-Udaipur (via Bengaluru), Delhi-Silchar (via Kolkata) and Hyderabad-Dibrugarh (via Kolkata). “We are pleased to add 38 new flights to strengthen our domestic network. These flights will cater to the increased demand for travel and improve accessibility between metro and tier 2/3 cities," said Sanjay Kumar, chief strategy and revenue officer, IndiGo. “Strengthening connectivity between eastern, western, northern, and southern regions, increased accessibility will also promote trade and commerce. We will continue to offer new routes as per the travel demand across various sectors. It is our endeavour to consistently provide our signature on-time, courteous and hassle-free service at affordable fares, across our unparalleled 6E network," he added. These flights are designed to cater to business and leisure travellers who are constantly on the lookout for new and affordable flying options, said the airline.

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