News

Japan Airlines to give away 50,000 domestic flights to overseas tourists for travel during Olympics.

Japan Airlines (JAL) will give away 50,000 domestic return tickets to international visitors in an effort to encourage tourists to "see Japan with fresh eyes" and "discover a new Japanese city". The Win a Trip with JAL campaign would enable visitors to "experience regional attractions", the airline added in a joint release with the Nomura Research Institute and NRI Digital. The campaign, which kicks off late February next year, lets passengers fly for free to select local destinations from Haneda Airport in Tokyo, as well as Itami and Kansai airports in Osaka. Participants must, however, be a JAL Mileage Bank frequent flyer member registered outside of Japan.Travelling period for the Win a Trip with JAL campaign will be between July and September 2020. More details will be announced in mid-January. The campaign is part of a larger tourism push by the Japan Tourism Agency and Japan National Tourism Organization. By boosting tourist travel to other parts of Japan, it is hoped that the campaign will help ease the shortage of accommodation expected in Tokyo over the Olympics and Paralympics period, according to the Nikkei Asian Review. The Olympics is scheduled to run from Jul 24 to Aug 9, while the Summer Paralympics will run from Aug 25 to Sep 6.

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Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) Signs Its Second Hotel In Gangtok, Sikkim.

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), South Asia’s largest hospitality company, today announced the signing of a 50-room Vivanta hotel in Gangtok, Sikkim. This hotel is a management contract with Skipping Stones Pvt Ltd. Commenting on the signing, Suma Venkatesh, Executive Vice President – Real Estate & Development, IHCL said, “Sikkim is very famous for its ecotourism – trekking, mountaineering, river rafting and other nature oriented offerings. The signing of IHCL’s second hotel in Gangtok demonstrates our commitment to the region, taking our tally to 11 hotels across our brandscape.” The hotel is located at Pakyong, Gangtok’s neighbouring town and is a short drive from the new Pakyong Airport. Spread over 3.5 acres, it is situated amidst thick forests on a hill top with stunning valley views. The hotel has a distinctive design that showcases the region’s natural beauty. The spacious rooms are built around a large open air courtyard. The swimming pool is set amidst lush greenery. The other features include a multi-cuisine restaurant, recreation facilities and modern meeting spaces. It is a Brownfield project slated to open in mid-2020. The city is a gateway for all tourism in the region. Sikkim is famous for fascinating views of the Himalayas including Mount Kanchenjunga, numerous streams, meadows, lakes, hot springs and high altitude passes. It also boasts of around 5000 varieties of flowers and rare wild life. IHCL has eleven hotels in the North East region, West Bengal and Bhutan including five under development. The company is aiming at a Vivanta in every state capital with the brandscape expected to touch 25 hotels by 2022.

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China’s Henan province promotes destinations to Nepali tourists.

China’s Henan province, also known as the birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu, has presented itself as an attractive tourism destination for Nepali travellers here.Song Liping, chief of Henan provincial department of culture and tourism highlighted the province as the birthplace of Chinese civilization, with five world heritage sites and many relics related to China’s ancient capital. Connectivity in Henan is also great. Many tourism sites could be reached through high-speed railway in a short period of time, she said. Henan is willing to collaborate with the Nepali tourism authorities on promoting tourism to each other as Henan’s over 100 million population is a major tourism source market too, she noted. On the occasion, Nandani Lahe Thapa, senior director at Nepal Tourism Board, the main tourism promotion body of Nepal, said that there was great potential for Nepalis visiting Henan as increasing number of Nepalis visiting abroad as their incomes are rising. She also sought support from the Chinese side as Nepal has been organizing visit Nepal Year 2020 when the Himalayan country aims to attract two million foreign tourists. China has been a second-largest source market for the last several years for Nepal’s tourism.

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Queenstown’s new theme park will attract 3 million tourists each year.

The theme park developers have converted an old underground aquarium into a virtual time machine named “Timetripper”, telling the story of how New Zealand and in particular Queenstown came to be. With this the authorities expect that the newest addition will attract more than 3 million tourists each year. With fossils millions of years old being found in the Otago region, it won’t be too far-fetched to tell that story. This new “Time Machine” will generate more tourism revenue to the state also. Ian Taylor and his animation team are the ones behind it, transforming history into a brand new video experience. Animation Research Limited, lead by Mr Taylor, have helped create the virtual time machine beneath the lakeside jetty in the town’s underwater observatory. The new attraction will service around three million visitors who make their way to Queenstown each year. Māori history, the formation of Lake Wakatipu and some unusual creatures, are all part of the new attraction bringing a different kind of thrill to the tourist hot spot.

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Dubai to welcome 5 million tourists during Christmas & New Year.

Dubai, one of the tourist destinations in Middle East, is expected to welcome more than five million tourists during the peak holiday period of the Christmas and New Year. Dubai will host Expo 2020, an international event ready to attract people from all over the world. Expo 2020 Dubai is the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East. Dubai is rich in tourism and entertainment options, receives millions of tourists annually. Dubai also boasts a variety of hotel options that are suitable for all budgets and provide comfort and entertainment. Dubai is a cosmopolitan city with an architecture that combines modernity and originality. It also has an attractive view of the Arabian Desert and many unique landmarks, and it hosts some of the largest and most unique tourism projects in the world, such as the largest dancing fountain and the tallest building in the world, the 163-floor Burj Khalifa. It also has the largest artificial archipelago, the tree-shaped Palm Jumeirah, as well as water parks and numerous and diverse shopping malls. In addition, Dubai will host Expo 2020 Dubai next year. The Emirate of Dubai embraces many historic treasures, museums and heritage areas, including the Grand Jumeirah Mosque, the Dubai Museum, traditional markets and Al Seef on Dubai Creek. Dubai also has many prominent projects under construction, which, upon completion, will add to its list of attractions, including the site for Expo 2020 Dubai and the Museum of the Future, which is a unique incubator for exploring the future of science, technology and innovation with a unique concept, by employing Arabic calligraphy.

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Tamil Nadu retains its numero uno position in terms of tourist arrivals for the fifth time.

While inaugurating the 46th Indian Tourism and Trade exhibition at Island Grounds, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami stated that Tamil Nadu for the fifth consecutive year retained its numero uno position in terms of tourist arrivals. He also claimed that Tamil Nadu had the highest tourist arrival from the year 2014 to 2017. And in 201839 crore domestic and 61 lakh foreign tourists visited Tamil Nadu. In fact, the number of tourists to Mamallapuram, which is a UNESCO heritage site, has increased after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held an informal summit there. The Chief Minister further stated that Tamil Nadu has also identified new tourist places, and developmental works have been started in those spots. Various initiatives have been introduced to create job opportunities, he added. He stated that the state has allotted INR 99.91 crore for development of coastal tourism places by building basic amenities like toilets and drinking water facilities. Referring to this development, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said that temple tourism was also a reason to attract more tourists in the state. The Chief Minister further added that the said 70-day fair will be helpful for people to know more about the state government’s schemes. The departments will be showcasing their services in the said fair, whereas visitors will be able to take part in entertainment activities and amusement rides too.

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