News

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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Kashmir will be connected via trains to whole of India by 2021.

The valley of Kashmir will be connected to the rest of the country through an extensive railway network by December 2021. The chairman said that the construction of the bridge is the most challenging part of the Kashmir rail link project. Facts about the project 1) The gigantic arch-shaped structure is being built in a terrain that’s hostile. 2) More than 5462 tonnes of steel will be placed 359 m above the river bed, which is the most challenging. 3) The 1.315-km-long bridge is being designed to bear wind speeds of up to 260 km per hour. 4) It will connect Bakkal in Katra and Kauri in Srinagar. 5) The bridge forms a crucial link in the 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal, which is part of the Udhampur- Srinagar - Baramulla rail link project. 6) It will break the record of the Beipan River Shuibai railway bridge (275 m), which is in China. Declared as a national project in 2002, the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project is every bit crucial, as it will be a trusted transportation system that will connect the valley to the Indian Railways network.

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Turkey’s capital city Istanbul welcomes 11.3 million foreign tourists in nine months.

Turkey’s one of the most popular city, Istanbul welcomed 11.3 million foreign tourists in the first nine months of this year, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya announced. Yerlikay said that Istanbul is reaching its 2023 tourism targets by breaking its own records. The number of foreign visitors between the months of January and September increased by 12% compared to the same period in 2018. The German tourists topped the list with 858,000 visitors, marking a five percent increase, followed by Iranians with 687,000, Iraqis with 545.000 and, Russians in fourth place with 512,000. The number of Chinese and Kuwaiti tourists increased significantly, recording 11% and 30.7% increases respectively. The arrivals to Istanbul from Arab countries overall increased by 12%. Of all the tourists coming to the metropolis, 25.8% came from Arab countries, amounting to 2.9 million tourists. The hotel occupancy rates in Istanbul also increased by 4% to 74.5% compared to the previous year. The average daily room price increased by 10.8% to 91.1 euros ($102). The income per room rose by 15.4% to 67.9 euros ($76).

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