News

With Demand Rising, Airlines Add Flights to India

Singapore Airlines added nine weekly flights to India last year, bringing its total to 104. Air France-KLM is increasing its seat capacity on Indian flights by 25 percent this winter. United Airlines has just begun offering nonstop seasonal daily flights from San Francisco to Delhi. And Delta Air Lines began nonstop service between Kennedy International Airport in New York and Mumbai in December. In the last few years, more than 20 of the 80 international airlines that fly to India have added service, in some cases through arrangements with other airlines, called code sharing. At this pace, India is expected to become the third-largest aviation market by 2024, behind China and the United States, according to the Center for Aviation, a company that provides market intelligence to the aviation and travel industry. The contribution of travel and tourism to India’s gross domestic product — the broadest measure of goods and services produced in India — is expected to increase to $492.2 billion in 2028, from $234 billion in 2017. While there are signs of an economic slowdown in India, business travel to India remains strong. And driving that travel is bilateral trade, said Gunjan Bagla, managing director of Amritt Ventures, a company in Malibu, Calif., that helps Western companies market their products and services to India.

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Iran hopes to revive tourism after the recent setbacks.

Iran’s tourism minister has said that the country’s tourism industry has suffered a major setback but it will certainly come back to normal again. Ali-Asghar Mounesan said this referring to the Ukrainian plane crash on January 8 near Tehran killing all 176 people on board. “These events are a major blow to tourism, but we will leave it behind by the means of new plans and we will definitely return to normal,” Mounesan said. Mounesan said that inbound tours witnessed a 70 percent fall after the plane crash incident. He said that the Iranian ministry is dwelling on new travel markets for a recovery. International safety warnings have been issued for tourists and other travelers bound towards prime destinations in the Middle East in the wake of the assassination of the top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by U.S. forces on January 3. The U.S. State Department and British Foreign Commonwealth Office were among the many government bodies to issue “do not travel” advisories for Iran. Iran welcomed around 7.8 million foreign nationals last year, witnessing a 52.5 percent increase year-on-year. The World Travel & Tourism Council said that Iraq was the main source of tourism for Iran in 2018, constituting 24% of all inbound visitors. Azerbaijan with (17%), Turkey (8%), Pakistan (4%) and Bahrain (2%) were other major sources. The remaining 46% came from the rest of the world. Iran boasts of hundreds of historical sites like bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 22 are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Under the 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, Iran aims to increase the number of tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025.

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Delhi Zoo to be upgraded soon with virtual-reality technology

The National Zoological Park in Delhi is planning to introduce virtual reality technology to enable visitors to get closer to animals and a GPS-based mobile application to make zoo visits more engaging and interactive. Aiming to be among the top 10 zoos of the world, Delhi zoo is up for a technical makeover, if everything goes as planned. Virtual headsets will let visitors see animals up-close, which means people will find themselves hugging a deer, standing next to a tiger, or caressing an elephant, as per Delhi Zoo Director Suneesh Buxy. He also added that this enhanced feature will enable them to see a lion playing and hunting in front of them. Currently, boards present outside every enclosure carry only limited information, and that too in the form of text and pictures, whereas the mobile application will engage visitors with text, video content, and pictures, about the inhabitants of the zoo. Top zoos around the globe have nowadays embraced the virtual reality technology to make visitors' experience better. Therefore, the Delhi Government is now planning to introduce the high-end technology to enter into the elite list.

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Despite Brexit, tourism to the UAE to remain steady.

In spite of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, tourism experts and officials are of the opinion that there would be a limited and short-term impact on tourism to the UAE, since it is a popular destination among travelers from the UK. Lewis Allsopp, the CEO of Allsopp & Allsopp, said that the UAE is a tourist haven, and that UK citizens would love to discover what the country has to offer. According to Dubai Tourism, despite the depreciation of the pound against the dollar, and continued Brexit uncertainty, the UK remained Dubai’s third largest source market with 1,086,000 visitors dropping in from January to November 2019 period. Arrivals from the UK to the GCC are expected to increase 22 per cent over the 2018 to 2024 period, driven by new and direct flight routes, competitive air fares and a growing number of leisure travelers.

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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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