News

Eurail Global Pass now includes 2 more destinations for you to travel to

After adding Great Britain, Lithuania, and Macedonia to its network of countries to visit in Europe, Eurail has now added Estonia and Latvia, as of January 2, 2020. The Eurail Global Pass is an amazing opportunity for travellers to experience Europe’s alluring destinations; as of now, the total number of Eurail destinations stand at 33 countries. The Eurail Global Pass can be used by travellers to board local trains, high-speed trains, and even night trains across 33 destinations. The Eurail Global Pass will take you to all the three Baltic countries, namely, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, apart from 30 other countries. Furthermore, Eurail is also going to introduce a new Latvia One Country Pass and an Estonia One Country Pass; so yes, good things are coming up for travellers going to Europe. But that is not all, travellers can also take discounted ferry rides from Riga to Stockholm and Germany. You could also take one from Tallinn to Stockholm, and Helsinki. You can also save up to 50 per cent on the ferry rides. With the help of this Eurail Pass, you can take the train to all the major European destinations and can hop on and hop off at any given time. This provides greater ease to travellers, and is really an unlimited train ticket to explore the vast European continent. The pass is available for only non-European residents, as European residents can travel with Interrail Pass. Youths, Seniors, and Families can get extra discount on the ticket.

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Skip travelling to Himachal this weekend; temperature dips below zero degrees

The Shimla Police posted a message on its Facebook page, stating that all roads leading to the city are blocked. Shimla Superintendent of Police Omapati Jamwal further added that it will be inappropriate to travel till the roads are opened. Authorities also advised people against travelling to popular tourist spots, i.e., Manali and Shimla as more than 250 roads have been blocked in Himachal Pradesh due to heavy snowfall. And now, as per the latest reports, the weatherman has forecasted more snowfall and rainfall in the state this weekend. The Met department also stated that the chances of snow in the upper regions of Shimla, Kinnaur, Kullu, Lahaul, Spiti, and Chamba districts are more likely. The police have also advised people not to drive on Kufri and Mashobra roads as the roads have turned slippery due to snowfall. Officials also added that Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti, and Pangi and Bharmour areas in Chamba are still cut off from the rest of the roads and efforts were being made to reopen them. The areas that are, reportedly, under threat now are Kalath, Nehru Kund, Palchan, Kulang, and Kothi in Kullu, and Tandi, Darcha, and Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti. The minimum temperature recorded in Manali of Kullu district was minus 7.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Kapla in Kinnaur at 6.4, Shimla was at minus 1.3, Palampur at minus 1 degree Celsius, and Kufri went as low as minus 2.6 degrees Celsius.

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Rome bans souvenir stands around its famous sites.

The city has now banned souvenir stands located near its famous sites. Not only souvenir stands, but snack carts are also going to be banned in the city. These sites include places such as the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish steps. According to reports, 17 of these stalls are being closed down, and only eight of them are allowed to remain open. The ban has been put in place in order to protect the heritage of Rome, according to the city’s mayor, Virginia Raggi. The crowd surrounding such stalls can dampen the experience for a lot of travellers, and significantly reduces the importance and beauty of the sites. However, some of us do like to buy souvenirs and tiny replicas of these heritage buildings. The ban was put in place on January 1, 2020, and is supposedly going to save Rome’s reputation from getting ruined. According to the Mayor, "For years, the monuments of the city have been tarnished by vendors who sell drinks, panini and trinkets in front of Rome’s architectural jewels. This is no longer tolerable." Recently, Rome has taken some steps in order to clear the cluster and help travellers get a better experience of the place. You cannot sit on the Spanish steps anymore; you cannot walk bare-chested; eat near the popular heritage sites of the city; and more.

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Goa looks at China to shore up falling foreign tourist numbers.

In order to boost the falling tourism numbers, stake-holders in Goa tourism are looking at China to tide over the slump in foreign tourists. Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) president Savio Messias on Wednesday said that there is a downfall in international tourist arrivals in Goa by almost 30-40 per cent. Messias said that China offers a lot of potential for Goa markets. The TTAG chief, who had participated in a Travel Mart at Chengdu city in China, said many Chinese are unaware about Goa. “Promotions in China are different from the rest of the world. They don’t use Facebook, Google or Whatsapp. We will have to design websites in the Chinese language to reach to them,” he said. Goa attracts around four lakh international visitors every year, whose number has gone down significantly in the last two years. Russia and Britain are two long time markets for Goa.

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Qatar Airways is proud sponsor of the Fourth Edition of Shop Qatar.

Qatar Airways is the Official Airline Partner and proud sponsor of the fourth edition of the Shop Qatar festival, currently taking place until 31 January 2020 in various shopping malls across Doha. The launch event treated guests to a fashion show by Qatar’s Hind Al Rumaihi, followed by French fashion collective Faith Connexion. A traditional Chinese lion show ended the evening, as a prelude to the week-long Chinese New Year celebrations that will happen for the first time ever. Running until the end of January, Shop Qatar will showcase the work of local, regional and international designers, with a series of fashion shows and makeup masterclasses with celebrity artists and influencers. The celebrations will end with Chinese New Year festivities. There will also be an array of mall activations, children’s entertainment shows and a host of live music concerts. Following Shop Qatar is an exciting programme of events in 2020, including Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition (24 to 29 February), Qatar International Food Festival (24 March to 2 April) and Doha Design Week (18 to 28 March). This is in addition to the year-round activities on offer in Doha such as outdoor adventures, cultural attractions and fine dining. Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of more than 250 aircraft via its hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA), to more than 160 destinations worldwide. The world’s fastest-growing airline added several exciting new destinations to its growing network last year, including Rabat, Morocco; Izmir, Turkey; Malta; Davao, Philippines; Lisbon, Portugal; Mogadishu, Somalia; Langkawi, Malaysia and Gaborone, Botswana. The airline will add Luanda, Angola; Osaka, Japan; Dubrovnik, Croatia and Santorini, Greece to its extensive route network in 2020.

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International tourist arrivals in Italy expected to increase by 3.1 percent annually this year.

In keeping with the global upward trend, international tourist arrivals in Italy are expected to go up by 3.1 percent annually this year, as per projections by the Venice-based International Center for Studies on Tourism Economics (CISET). However, CISET also said that the increase in international tourist arrivals would be more limited in contrast to the previous two years from all of the areas considered, and particularly from northern Europe. The forecast said that Italy will receive an estimated 74 million foreign tourists this year. The tourism sector is expected to continue growing worldwide. “Despite caution caused by uncertainty at geopolitical level, a 3.5 percent (annual) increase — equal to 1.5 billion arrivals overall — is expected in 2020,” the CISET report said. Based on figures from the Bank of Italy on domestic tourism and from the UNWTO on the global trends, the CISET report is published twice a year association with Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. The report bases four macro-areas: the Mediterranean, central Europe, northern Europe and extra-Europe (including the Americas, Asia and south-east Asia, and Africa). “The trend from Japan would also be positive, with an expected 4.6 percent rise in arrivals, confirming the strong interest of Japanese travelers in our country,” the CISET report added. Tourism is a major source of income for Italy, which is the eurozone’s third largest economy.

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