Tourist

A Sikkim government official Wednesday said it is now "almost certain" that no one is left strapped under the snow at 15th Mile, the site of the devastating avalanche and search operations by the Army and the Border Road teams have been called off. But helpline numbers will remain active for the time being to help tourists get information about their kin, Gangtok district collector Tushar Nikhare told reporters here. "We are almost certain that no more tourists are trapped under the snow near 15th Mile," Nikhare said. The Army, NDRF, ITBP, GREF, Sikkim Police and two personnel from Tiranga Mountain Rescue Team equipped with radars searched all possible areas near 15th Mile to find out any tourist lodged under the snow. But nobody was found there during the rescue and search operations that were carried out from 8AM to 3PM before being halted, the Gangtok DC said. The rescue teams used digging and trenching machines and other modern equipment to find people trapped under the debri

Goa CM Pramod Sawant said that tourists entering the state will be given unique stickers to fix on their vehicles, so they are not harassed (by police) while moving across the coastal state

The visa application volume from Kolkata has reached 85 per cent of the pre-pandemic level as travellers from here give vent to revenge travel' made easier by the re-opening up of borders and easing of COVID restrictions, according to a visa outsourcing firm. Prabuddha Sen, Chief Operating Officer (South Asia) of VFS Global, said the volume showed a 160 per cent rise in 2022 as compared to 2021. This is higher than the Indian average as a whole. On a pan-India average, the volume of visa applications reached 80 per cent of the pre-pandemic level and witnessed a 140 per cent rise in 2022 when compared to 2021, he said. We witnessed unprecedented demand from India in 2022, which led to an extended peak outbound travel season with steady volumes witnessed until December. We are confident that the momentum will further grow, he said. Sen said the visa application volume from Kolkata generally witnesses two peaks during summer and Durga Puja but in 2022, the autumn peak extended well

Air traffic jumped by around 100 per cent compared to the previous year, taking the number to pre-pandemic levels with more than 14.25 million passengers using these airports over last year

Assam Tourism Development Corporation is eyeing over one crore domestic traveller footfall in 2022-23, following a surge in tourists' interest in visiting the state. "Till January of this fiscal, we have hosted over 88 lakh domestic visitors, which is more than double of what we received during FY20 (51 lakh). This is a positive sign as more and more people are looking at exploring the North East and Assam as a destination," Tourism and Managing Director of Assam Tourism Development Corporation Secretary Padmapani Bora told PTI. This is mainly due to the confidence people have gained about the state's law and order situation, he said, adding that "this has given us confidence that the domestic tourist footfall is likely to cross over one crore in FY23." Assam had witnessed visitor footfall of 13.5 lakh during 2020-21, and 17 lakh during 2021-22, according to data, he stated. The state, mainly known as the gateway to the North East, is well connected to the rest of the country with

Nepal has welcomed more than 1,20,000 tourists in the first two months of this year, the Himalayan nation's tourism department said on Wednesday, with Indians accounting for the highest numbers of arrivals in February. Nepal has witnessed a dramatic surge in tourist arrivals with many countries easing their travel restrictions since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out more than three years ago. It has welcomed 128,329 tourists by air during the first two months of 2023, according to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). In February alone, the country welcomed 73,255 foreign tourists, a whopping 270.6 per cent rise compared to the same month last year, the NTB said. The highest number of tourists last month were from India, with 18,401 arrivals, according to the NTB. The US is the second highest tourist-generating market for Nepal as 7,887 tourists visited the country in February 2023, the NTB said. With China allowing its citizens to travel abroad, its effect has been seen in Nepal's touris

The agency also suggested people in close contact with poultry to get vaccinated against seasonal human flu, to reduce the risk that H5N1 could recombine with a human avian virus

G20 summit delegates from 30 countries visited the Bannerghatta Biological Park, Kalkere Arboretum, and Jungle Lodges and Resorts as part of the series of events organised by the ECSWG.

On average 20-25 million tourists visit the desert state every year

A foreign tourist, who visited the Taj Mahal on December 26, has gone missing after he tested positive for COVID-19, a senior health official said on Thursday. Dr Arun Srivastava, who is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Agra, said that they have not been able to find the tourist as the contact details given by him is incorrect. "A tourist visited the Taj Mahal on December 26 and his sample for the COVID-19 test was taken at the entrance gate of the monument. His report was found COVID-19 positive in RT PCR test. However, the contact number and other details mentioned by the tourist is incorrect and we have not been able to find him since then," Srivastava told PTI. He said that now the health department is looking for the tourist with the help of Local Intelligence Unit (LIU), Hotels association and other sources. "The Health Department in Agra is taking steps to trace the location of the tourist so that he can be given proper treatment and other people can also be saved from ...

The contact details provided by him are wrong, CMO said

The Russian embassy on Tuesday said the Odisha police has found "no criminal aspect" in the death of two citizens of the European country in a hotel in Rayagada district within days of each other. "The Consulate General of Russia in Kolkata is following the case in touch with local authorities. According to information available to the police, no criminal aspect is seen," "Russia Today" quoted the Russian embassy here in connection with the death of the two Russians in Odisha. Among the dead was Pavel Antov, a lawmaker from the Vladimir region, about 200 km from Moscow. According to reports in a section of the media, Antov (65), the founder of the Vladimir Meat Processing Plant, ranked among the rich list of lawmakers in Russia. He was found lying in a pool of blood outside the hotel in Rayagada on Saturday. Vladimir Bidenov, Antov's co-traveller, was found dead at the same hotel on December 22. He was found lying unconscious in his first floor room of the hotel with a few empty w

The traveller is also expanding his travel horizons, looking to explore new getaways abroad

Industry sources say the service was not proving any value to the ride-hailing company

To be positioned in the upper upscale band of the leisure segment, the hotel will compete with the likes of Pullman and Courtyard by Marriott

A recent survey by LocalCircles reveals that soaring airfares have worried travellers and two out of three fliers want the government to bring back an upper and lower limit on air-fares

The firm recently had also revamped its flagship patron-facing app, CO-OYO, allowing users to now run their own promotional offers ahead of the peak festive travel season this year

Group tours at 65-70% of pre-pandemic levels; Southeast Asia, Egypt, and Turkey seeing maximum demand

The leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Friday endorsed the holy city of Varanasi as the first ever tourist and cultural capital of the grouping for the year 2022-23. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said this at a media briefing. The Indian delegation at the SCO summit in this historic Uzbek city of Samarkand was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Uzbekistan handed over the rotating presidency of the grouping to India for the year 2022-23. "Prime Minister Modi thanked all the member states for endorsing Varanasi as the first ever SCO tourist and cultural capital during the upcoming year 2022-23," Kwatra said. "This is a befitting recognition of the historic city and opens the door for greater cultural and people-to-people ties between India and the region," he said. The foreign secretary said several events would be organised by the Uttar Pradesh government in collaboration with the Centre to celebrate this recognition of Varanasi. Kwatra said the SCO also

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said Delhi would soon become a city of lakes, which would act as tourist spots. Elaborating on Kejriwal's announcement, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the government was undertaking rejuvenation and beautification of 50 lakes in the city. Sisodia also took stock of the work at Sannoth Lake in Bawana in northwest Delhi. "In order to make Arvind Kejriwal's Delhi a city of lakes, I took stock of the work being done to restore and beautify Sannoth Lake. With lakhs of litres of treated water daily, the dried up Sannoth Lake is being transformed into one of the most beautiful picnic spots of Delhi, Sisodia said in a tweet in Hindi. He added that this project would also address Delhi's water shortage issue. "Fifty such lakes that have lost their identity are being restored and this will enable recharge of groundwater and also address the problem of water shortage. Once this project is completed, Delhiites will be able to come here wit