In a bid to attract holiday makers from abroad, India has launched a major tourism promotion campaign at the ITB Berlin, the world's largest travel trade show.
'Afzal Guru became a victim of Pakistan's conspiracy. He was used as a means, just like all other innocent Kashmiris.'
The fund will be used to restore and reconstruct the government tourist facilities
India earned over Rs 3.22 lakh crore (Rs 3.22 trillion) worth of foreign exchange through tourism.
The ministry of tourism is less concerned about the impact of the floods on life and property, but is more focused on promoting tourism, says Swathi Seshadri. Anupam Chakravartty reports
The Budget is likely to expand the scope of LTA and LTC.
"Foreign tourist arrivals have increased considerably in the recent years from about 3.46 million in 2004 to 5.08 million in 2007. During January and July 2008, the FTA was around 3.14 million as compared to 2.38 million during the corresponding period of previous year," Prabhakar Dubey, director in the ministry, said at a conference in Shillong. Along with FTAs, the number of domestic tourists have also risen from 366 million in 2004 to 526 million last year.
With a double-digit growth in the foreign tourist arrivals, 2010 was otherwise a good year for the ministry.
In the next 25 years, the Mumbai port will need five terminals because the current passenger traffic of 200,000 is expected to climb to 4 million.
Amid a growing chorus in the party for his elevation, Tamil Nadu sports minister and son of Chief Minister M K Stalin, Udhayanidhi, was elevated as the deputy CM on Saturday with additional responsibility, in a cabinet reshuffle that saw the return of V Senthil Balaji to the council of ministers two days after securing bail in a money laundering case.
In the same year, medical tourism was a $333-million strong market and the ministry said given its growth rate of 25 per cent it will emerge as $2billion market in 2012.
The tourism ministry on Monday insisted that the new visa rules would not affect inflow of visitors and dismissed as a 'joke' the apprehension of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor that India would become a less welcoming destination.
China said on Tuesday that it supports the Maldives in safeguarding its sovereignty, as the first batch of Indian military personnel operating a helicopter left the island nation and was replaced by a civilian crew.
In mid-October, travellers from the US, the UK, New Zealand, Canada and Australia were advised by their governments to exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to India, citing terror threats.
In underlining the role of border villages as custodians of India's frontiers, New Delhi is following China's example in Tibet.
Foreign exchange earnings from tourism has risen by Rs 551 crore (Rs 5.51 billion) in June as compared to the same period last year, officials said.
He urged China to bolster the flow of its tourists to the Maldives.
If Saudi Arabia, with just two Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, can create a huge tourism-based ecosystem beyond oil, Ayodhya is sure to become the world's hottest religious tourism site in less than a decade, predicts R Jagannathan.
Experts believe the slowdown or the rupee depreciation has not been able to kill the spirit of the Gujarati traveller.
'The private sector believes that some enablers in labour-intensive sectors like apparel, toys, tourism, and media retail, can unlock a lot of jobs.'
With the country racing to meet the Commonwealth Games deadline, the year 2007 saw the tourism industry bargaining tax sops for budget hoteliers and those wishing to double up their homes as 'bed-and-breakfast' inns to cater to the big rush.
There were also posts on social media claiming that some Indians are cancelling their scheduled trip to the Maldives in view of the row.
A top Maldivian government official said that during the meeting, Naseer made it clear that the remarks do not reflect the views of the Maldivian government, and reaffirmed Maldives' continued support for its neighbour, the Sun Online reported.
Government departments have been tasked with identifying major goals, which will include annual targets from the financial year 2024-2025 to 2028-2029.
Thousands of yoga enthusiasts from across the world rolled out their yoga mats as they joined day-long sessions of the ancient Indian practice to commemorate the 10th International Day of Yoga on Friday.
Accepting BJP central leadership's directive as part of the truce between Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and his detractors, Karnataka Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar has decided to join the state ministry soon.
IT and tourism are the major areas in which Shanghai can cooperate with its sister city Mumbai.
Modi said India's next general elections will be held in 2024 and he invited G20 delegates to visit the country to witness the "festival of democracy" in the "mother of democracy".
Data for the first nine days of January shows that tourist arrivals from India to the Maldives has been at similar levels as last year during the same period.
The tourism industry expects a short-term impact, as it is counting on the state's proven expertise in managing such crises.
Atishi will have a brief tenure in office as assembly elections in the national capital are due in February.
'We don't have a say which MP stays where. We prepare everything and allot according to the list we get from Parliament.'
A Supreme Court-constituted panel has asked the Union environment ministry to amend or withdraw the guidelines related to setting up zoos and safaris within tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries to discourage the use of wildlife habitats for tourism activities which are non-site specific.
'They were ahead of their times. We don't expect this from a civilisation of the first century AD.'
The avoidable stresses and strains in ties helped in one way. It showed for the entire region how a matured India handled diplomatic relations, especially with a smaller and suspicious neighbour, with practised dignity and patience, unruffled by provocations in word, deed and action, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a statement on Sunday, the Maldivian foreign ministry said they were aware of the "derogatory remarks on social media platforms against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals".
