News

Qatar International Exhibition for Travel & Tourism to be held in November this year.

Qatar International Exhibition for Travel & Tourism in November will be a great platform for mutual relations for increasing tourism resources and cultures. ‘Qatar International Exhibition for Travel & Tourism’ (QTM 2020) is expected to meet the extraordinary tourism growth in Qatar and would be a wonderful platform for creating business opportunities for industry professionals and buyers in the tourism and travel sectors. Slated in November at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC) under the theme ‘Discover People, Place and Culture’, QTM 2020 will see important government and public sector authorities, domestic and foreign tourism for increasing tourism resources and cultures. The exhibition would be held under the patronage of HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani. The inaugural edition of QTM will strengthen Qatar’s travel and tourism sector, strengthening business and investment opportunities in tourism products and services. The Qatar government has come up with various measures to boost tourism, including visa-free entry for citizens of more 80 countries free of charge. The UNWTO has said, “Qatar has now become the most open country in the Middle East and the eighth most open in the world,” in terms of visa facilitation. Qatar is also one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations among the major cities globally, with massive growth expected in the next few years.

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IRCTC to compensate passengers if Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express gets delayed.

IRCTC has decided to pursue a dynamic fare scheme for the highly-awaited Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express, which is ready to start its commercial operations from January 17, 2020. According to the news reports, the train will run on the basis of fares for regular, hectic and festive seasons. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express is the second train in India, which is completely operated by IRCTC. It will run for six days a week on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. For the first time ever from the train’s inception, IRCTC has announced to pay the passengers in case the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express is delayed. In case of an hour-long delay, train passengers will get a compensation of INR 100. If the delay is for two hours or more, the passengers will be offered a compensation of INR 250. However, there won’t be any concept of Tatkal tickets in the Tejas Express train. In case the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express is running late, the passenger can fill up a compensation claim form with the insurance firm in the link provided on the web. Passengers can also make a claim on its toll-free number. The details of travel, hours of train delay along with the PNR number and bank account details of the passenger need to be mentioned. Once the form is processed, the insurance company would transfer the refund to passengers' bank accounts Reportedly, it is for the first time that IRCTC has come up with a free insurance of INR 25 lakh to the passengers travelling in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express. The insurance cover also features INR 1 lakh insurance against theft or robbery during the journey. The passengers can also request for taxi hiring and hotel bookings facilities from IRCTC.

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Andaman and Nicobar to get country’s first-ever water aerodromes.

The Andamans might soon be home to the country’s first-ever water aerodromes. As per the reports, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is in the process of seeking environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for three, first-of-its-kind water aerodromes in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Reportedly, AAI is planning to develop water aerodromes in Swaraj Island, Shaheed Island, and Long Island with a total investment of INR 50 crores and sought clearance for preparing the Terms of Reference (ToR) separately for three airports. These airports are part of the 10 water aerodromes that the centre is planning to develop. Reports state that the Civil Aviation Ministry recently informed that it has invited bids for three unserved airports/airstrips in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and one under-served airport on the Lakshadweep Island in the fourth round of regional air connectivity scheme. The Director General of Civil Aviation also issued licensing norms last year for water aerodromes, from where planes can take off and land. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to operationalise 1000 routes and more than 100 airports in the next five years. The same will be achieved by first focusing on the priority areas. It is expected that incoming tourists at the proposed project locations will eventually lead to an increase in the footfall of tourists, thereby boosting tourism and hotel business in the region.

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Ongoing strikes in France to cause more travel misery on Monday.

The transport strikes which began over a month ago were set to continue on Monday with unions vowing to battle on despite an apparent fall in public support and a steep drop in the number of strikers. In Paris, transport authority RATP said there would be a slight improvement in the level of services compared to last Friday but overall travel around the capital would remain "very disrupted". In reality that will mean all Metro lines would function partially on Monday albeit far from offering a normal service to strike-weary commuters. Many individual Metro stations on these lines will remain closed however. Almost 80 percent of scheduled high-speed TGV trains would run on Monday as well as a similar number of low-cost Ouigo TGV trains. Intercité trains that link France's cities and Transilien commuter services in the greater Paris region will be running a third of the normal number of train services Regional TER trains will operate abut 60 percent of usual services. SNCF is keen to stress that thousands of tickets are available for TGV and Intercité trains until Wednesday, many at a reduced rate. A new poll published Friday showed a majority of 61 percent still support the strike, although that was five points lower than a December 19 survey, according to pollster Odoxa. The strikes have been ongoing since December 5, upsetting travel plans and hitting shops and other businesses over the key Christmas period. After a month of disruptions, Macron will on Monday hold his first cabinet meeting of 2020. The following day discussions with union leaders are set to resume, but so far neither side has appeared ready to give much ground. Unions have called another day of mass demonstrations for Thursday, when teachers, hospital workers and others are expected to join the strike.

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First snowfall of 2020 in Manali, Shimla

Popular tourist destinations Shimla and Manali experienced the first snowfall of 2020 which dipped the temperatures to a large extent in Himachal Pradesh. According to the news reports, the temperature went down below the freezing point by up to 3-4 degrees Celsius in the towns of Kufri and Keylong freezing point, according to the Shimla Meteorological Department. There was snowfall in Manali, Kullu district, on Saturday morning, while it snowed for up to 6.4 cm in Shimla in the afternoon. On the other handm it snowed for up to 0.2 cm in Kalpa region of the tribal Kinnaur district. Apparently, the much-awaited snowfall has come like good news for the owners of tourist accommodations as this would attract more tourists to the aforementioned destinations. Reportedly, the MeT department has circulated a yellow warning for thunderstorm along with hail and lightning at remote areas in plains, low lower and middle hills on January 6 and 7. These color-coded warnings are issued to alarm the residents about the impending or probable bad weather conditions which have the power to cause a lot of damage to life and property. The colour yellow is the least harmful in this category. There was rain in parts of Bhuntar (8.8 mm), Seobagh (6.2 mm), Sundernagar (10.2 mm), Chamba and Manali (2 mm each). Keylong recorded the lowest temperature in the state at minus 10.5 degrees Celsius, Kapla recorded temperature of minus 3 degrees Celsius and it was minus 1.2 as well as 0.6 degree Celsius in Manali and Dalhousie respectively. The lowest temperature in Solan, Shimla and Dharamshala was 2, 0.7 and 2.8 degrees Celsius respectively. In Himachal, only Una remained warmer at 22 degrees Celsius.

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Sri Lanka re-launches free visa on arrival scheme for India and other countries.

Sri Lanka is now offering free tourist visa service for 48 countries, including India till April 30, 2020. News has it that Sri Lanka has allowed free visa-on-arrival till April 30 for the residents of 48 countries. Tourism Minister of Sri Lanka, Prasanna Ranatunga, told the press that the nation is trying to rebuild the tourism industry which was affected by the Easter Sunday bombings that killed about 258 people. As a security measures, the Sri Lankan government has decided to stop offering visa-on-arrival to citizens of 39 countries. A large number of foreign tourists in Sri Lanka have been from India since a long time. It is also one of the closest and favourable exotic nations where most Indian would prefer to spend their vacation days. Sri Lanka being a Hindu dominated country is preferred by travellers from India.

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