News

Rajasthan tourism to add more activity-based experiences

JAIPUR: Recognizing that activity-based tourism is going to be the key driver of the industry, the state tourism department has sounded out its district field officers on identifying bazaars which can be developed for the purpose of night tourism. Besides night bazaars, adventure and water sports tourism will be a key part of the strategy to attract tourists and revive the sector, said Nishant Jain, director tourism in the meeting. Last year, the district administration and the tourism department worked in collaboration to create paragliding activities in Rajasamand lake. Now, in a week’s time, water sports activities are going to kick off there. “Our focus is now on creating experiences, and activity-tourism plays a big part in that. Rajasamand is one example. We want to have night bazaars as well in cities that attract large number of tourists. We have told our officials at district levels to identify such themes so that along with the district administration, we can undertake the initiatives,” said Jain. Jain said tourists don’t mind visiting the same place multiple times if there are activities. “With experiential tourism, we will not only reach out to a bigger base of travelers but also attract repeat tourists,” added Jain.

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Karnataka eases RT-PCR report rule for vaccinated travellers coming from Kerala

The Karnataka government on Thursday said that passengers from Kerala with at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine certificates will be exempted from producing negative RT-PCR reports, as the state has taken special surveillance measures for people coming from Kerala. According to the order regarding special surveillance measures for persons arriving from Kerala, vaccination certificate of having received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine will be exempted from producing RT-PCR certificate. Earlier in its order on Thursday, the Karnataka government made it mandatory for travellers entering the state from Kerala via rail, road or air to produce the RT-PCR negative not be older than 72 hours or a vaccination certificate of at least one dose, as the State has taken up special surveillance measures in the wake of Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 being reported from several districts of Kerala. However, an exemption has been provided to the people who have received both the doses of Covid-19 vaccine, constitutional functionaries, health workers and children below two years of age. In case of dire emergency situation like death in the family and medical requirements, the passengers shall be allowed even without these requirements after collecting their swabs along with details of identity.

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Tourism development project for Beypore in the pipeline

Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas has said that a “comprehensive responsible tourism development project” will be implemented in Beypore with the help of the Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission. In a meeting of local body heads under the Beypore Assembly constituency here on Saturday, the Minister said the project would be a combination of several successful schemes implemented by the RT Mission in other parts of the State. The project will include the Beypore beach, port and surrounding areas, Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary, Chaliyar river and its banks, and historically important areas of Beypore. “Beypore has all the ingredients required for a perfect tourist destination. The Arabian Sea, the Chaliyar, breakwater, port, lighthouse, bird sanctuary and rare species of mangroves combined with culture, traditions, variety of food and rural lifestyle make it a great attraction for tourists,” the Minister said, adding that the attractions were, however, underutilized. Besides providing better services and travel experiences to tourists, the project envisages building better living standards for the local people. Development of the local economy, creating tourism-related employment opportunities, capacity building of local people to cater to tourism through training, rural development and women empowerment are the other probable avenues. A committee chaired by the local MLA with the State coordinator of the RT Mission as convener and representatives of local bodies as members will be formed soon for the implementation of the project.

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J-K: Historic Mughal Road set to reopen on July 5

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday announced the opening of the historic Mughal Road on July 5. The road had been shut down due to heavy snowfall on the Pirpanjal range last year. Certain higher reaches still have snow cover. The people from the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch were relieved by the announcement as the road is a backbone for them and opens employment opportunities for many. The Mughal Road helps in connecting several businesses, including those in the tourism industry. The Chief Engineer of Mughal road, Shabbir Choudhary said, "The road closed in November and with the COVID pandemic lockdown, the functioning couldn't resume earlier. Now that the road is set to open, the local businesses will get some relief." Elaborating on how the farmers, horticulturists, and the transporters have been suffering due to the COVID-19 lockdown, and how the closing of Mughal Road added to the misery, Majid Shah, a local of Rajouri said, "Where COVID-19 affected the business, the closing of the road was adding to it. The decision has been taken very timely. The people of Kashmir valley, especially that dependant on the fruit business, be it the transporters or the growers, would now be relieved." The businesses will finally start functioning normally, he added. Abdul Hamid, a local hotel owner said that the shutting down of the road affected the smaller businesses more than others. He said, "I deal with tourists, and there haven't been many due to the pandemic. So our losses have a different reason. But those small vendors who sell fruits and vegetables on the roadside, and other street vendors, are who have been affected the most." Tourists are attracted to the natural beauty of the area along the Mughal Road such as Pirmarg, Doongi marg, Pir ki Gali and others.

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Goa: With entertainment village, Mandrem set to get biggest tourism project

PANAJI: Goa tourism development corporation (GTDC) plans to set up a mega entertainment village spread over 1.5 lakh sqm in Mandrem. The foundation stone for the proposed project is likely to be laid in the next six months, prior to the assembly elections. “After the greenfield international airport at Mopa, this is another big project that has been approved for Pernem taluka. The first meeting on the project was held on Wednesday,” tourism minister Manohar Ajgaonkar told TOI on Thursday. Ajgaonkar said that while the required land is currently in possession of the revenue department, formalities to transfer it to GTDC will be done shortly. It will be built on public-private partnership (PPP) mode, but all required permission will be facilitated through GTDC. The cost estimation of the project is yet to be done, but they want to start at the earliest. Completion of the formalities pertaining to transfer of land, and then selecting a suitable bidder will take some time,” he said. The entertainment village, Ajgaonkar said, will have facilities to conduct small and medium-scale entertainment events. They have not decided whether it will be a suitable venue for any electronic dance music (EDM) festival that may take place in the future. “The place will be a hit as the project is coming within proximity of the international airport,” he said.

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Kerala launches in-car dining to boost tourism affected by Covid-19

Ever since the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic hit India, dining out has been affected due to a majority of the country’s population preferring to not take the risk of getting exposed. Aimed to meet this challenge and also boost tourism in the state, Kerala has launched in-car dining, news agency ANI reported. Under this initiative, the restaurants operated by the Kerala Tourism Department Corporation (KTDC) across the state will offer tourists local cuisine while they are sitting inside their vehicles. The state tourism minister PA Mohammed Riyas told ANI that amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, “instead of dining inside a restaurant and mingling with the crowd, the in-car dining initiative will ensure safety to the tourists coming to Kerala". During the launch of the project, Kayamkulam MLA U Pratibha was also present alongside Riyas. Notably, the in-car dining initiative has been launched at a time when tourism in Kerala, which accounts for 11 per cent of the state domestic product (SDP), incurred loss due to Covid-19. The Kerala government announced of starting the in-car dining project earlier in June. At that time, Riyas had said that customers can place their orders at KTDC’s Aahaar restaurants, and that the in-car dining will cover all meals throughout the day – breakfast, lunch and dinner apart from snacks. Riyas stated that only KTDC restaurants will be responsible for carrying out the scheme. "We plan to reach out to the people with safe and tasty food. KTDC hotel chains will be renovated under the project 'Mission Facelift' after classifying them on a priority basis," he added. The tourism minister also suggested the idea of completely vaccinated tourism and even finding new tourism destinations in the state. According to the ANI report, he informed that Kerala government has initiated a project in which a new such tourism destination will be recognised in every panchayat. Furthermore, Riyas told ANI, several projects to develop new heritage and pilgrim tourism destinations to attract maximum domestic tourists, are also in the pipeline.

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