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Nepal gears up for tourism challenge with swanky new airport.

Four and a half years after a devastating earthquake in April 2015 ravaged Nepal, the small hilly nation aims to reclaim its standing on the world tourism map with plans to attract Buddhist pilgrims from India, Bhutan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, besides countries like Japan, with a spanking new international airport close to the birthplace of Buddha. Potential economic spinoffs of the plan include new investments in tourism infrastructure such as hotels, which in turn is expected to spur employment generation in a country described as one of the poorest and slowest growing in Asia by the World Bank. Christened the Gautam Buddha International Airport, the facility is being developed with financial assistance from the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB). China’s Northwest Civil Aviation Construction Group is constructing the airport for which the ADB has provided $70 million. The airport is being developed under the South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development Project. It is expected to be completed by March next year, ahead of the fifth anniversary of the temblor that killed some 9,000 people, said Prabhesh Adhikari, a senior official of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Situated in Rupandehi district, some 280 kilometres from Kathmandu, the upcoming airport will function as a second gateway to the country, which is home to the some of the world’s tallest mountains, catering to tourists wanting to visit Lumbini. India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Cambodia have already expressed interest in starting airline operations from the upcoming airport, said Naresh Pradhan, the ADB official overseeing the airport project.According to official statistics, 11.73 lakh tourists visited Nepal in 2018. Of this, nearly 2 lakh were Indians, 69,640 from Sri Lanka and 26,355 were from Bangladesh.Developing the Gautam Buddha International Airport was also aimed at diversifying tourism to other parts of the country that has so far remained concentrated in central Nepal, Vaidya said.

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Roadshows in India, abroad to draw tourists back to Kashmir.

SRI NAGAR: Amidst the unfulfilled demand of restoring internet services in the Valley by stakeholders, the tourism department has decided to launch a seven-week long tourism promotional campaign within the country and abroad to woo tourists back to picturesque Kashmir. The tourism promotional campaign within the country would start from third week of December and continue till 2nd week of February. An official said the roadshows and tourism promotional campaigns would be held in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Nagpur, Indore, Bhopal, Bengaluru, Mysore, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Kochi, Ranchi and Varanasi. He said despite strong reservations from some tourism stakeholders, the Tourism Department has decided to hold roadshows in Maharashtra and Gujarat even though the tourist footfall to Valley from these states had dropped considerably over the years. A tour operator said they wanted to focus on south India, where from tourist footfall has increased considerably in last few years. The department has dropped Malaysia from the list of foreign countries, where a month long tourism promotion campaign would be held. The official said the tourism stakeholders would be holding roadshows and promotional campaigns in Thailand, Sharjah, and Dubai in United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January. Malaysia, has been dropped from the list after the Malaysian Prime Minister raised the Kashmir issue at international forums. A tour operator said they hope that government restores internet services in the Valley before the tourism promotional campaign begins.

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Delhi to enter list of world's top 10 most popular cities with global tourists.

Delhi, the national capital of India, is all set to enter the list of world's top 10 most popular destinations in the world, according to the recent data published by Euromonitor International. Currently, the city ranks at the 11th position in the list of world's top 100 destinations and is forecast to be hold the 8th place in 2019. With soaring popularity health and wellness tourism across the world, the national capital has been witnessing rapid development in the tourism industry. The amalgamation of enriching history and various cultural traditions makes Delhi one of the favourite places among the international tourists. "India has gained noteworthy attention for its yoga retreats and Ayurveda practices," said Euromonitor International, a UK-based global market research company.Delhi has witnessed an average growth of over 25% in terms of international tourists this year. India has emerged as the strongest emerging destination with seven cities in the top 100 popular cities this year, according to Euromonitor report.Despite political unrest and protests in the last few months, Hong Kong remained No.1 destination this year. However, the number of vistors arriving to Hong Kong declined in 2019. The Euromonitor report highlights top 100 cities based on 2018 international arrivals. Arrivals encompasses all purposes of visit such as business, leisure and visiting friends and relatives.

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Gulf Air And Middle East Airlines In Codeshare Partnership.

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Middle East Airlines-Air Liban, the flag carrier of Lebanon, proudly announce their codeshare cooperation. This agreement will see Middle East Airlines place their ‘ME’ code on Gulf Air flights on the Beirut-Bahrain-Beirut route. Mr. Krešimir Kučko, Gulf Air’s Chief Executive Officer said: “We are glad to sign this codeshare with Middle East Airlines and offer their passengers direct daily service from Beirut to Bahrain on Gulf Air. Beirut has always been a key route in our Middle Eastern network and we welcome this partnership with the flag carrier of Lebanon”. Mr. Mohamad El Hout, Chairman – Director General of Middle East Airlines added: “This codeshare with Gulf Air will complement the MEA network to the Gulf. We are pleased with this partnership with Gulf Air that will enable us to offer to our loyal passengers a new destination Bahrain and many other destinations in Asia via the Gulf Air network”. Gulf Air connects the Kingdom of Bahrain and Lebanon with daily flights to Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport and more frequencies during high seasons such as the summer period.

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Qantas opens doors to brand new luxury first lounge in Singapore.

Qantas has officially opened its newest First Lounge today, a luxury space spread over 1,000 square metres at Singapore’s Changi Airport. The new First Lounge will operate in tandem alongside the airline’s existing International Business Lounge, providing capacity for 240 customers and a bespoke offering for Qantas’ First Class passengers and top tier frequent flyers. The new build was designed by Australian designer David Caon in collaboration with Kelvin Ho of architecture and design firm Akin Atelie and features a number of Singaporean influences across the look and feel of the lounge as well as the food and beverage offering. Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the opening of the new lounge is a reflection of the airline’s extensive premium investment in the region.Qantas Creative Director of Food, Beverage and Service Neil Perry said the dining experience is inspired by Singapore’s vibrant culinary culture. David Caon said, “We wanted customers to feel a sense of calming luxury as soon as they walk in to the First Lounge, so we combined some of the classic Qantas First Lounge design features, such as the prominent marble and oak seen in the Sydney First Lounge, and added an authentic Singaporean twist featuring plenty of greenery.”

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Fresh call for Edinburgh 'tourist tax' 2 December 2019 Share this with Facebook Share this with WhatsApp Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter.

The Scottish government has been carrying out a public consultation on the use of a Transient Visitor Levy (TVL). The City of Edinburgh Council has said it would impose a £2 per night room charge fee if allowed. A TVL set at this level has the potential to raise £13.6m per annum in the city. Transform Scotland, a sustainable transport charity, said it believed the move would have the backing of Edinburgh residents. It carried out an online survey of 320 residents which found 78% of respondents believed a Transient Visitor Levy (TVL) would protect Edinburgh.Colin Howden, Director of Transform Scotland, said: "There is global concern about the impacts of tourism, from fuelling the growth in aviation emissions, to the impacts that large tourist volumes have on fragile historic environments and ecosystems.

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