Tourist centres have been closed in many districts, including Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram, and a night travel ban has been imposed in the hilly areas of Idukki district.
The tourism industry expects a short-term impact, as it is counting on the state's proven expertise in managing such crises.
As March draws to a close, two consecutive long weekend opportunities - Holi and Good Friday - are driving up hotel occupancy and airfares across major routes. According to travel platform Cleartrip, hotel bookings have seen a 3.5 times spike for the Holi weekend, while a 3.7 times spike has been visible in the Good Friday weekend.
India has been ranked 52nd in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2015 compiled by the World Economic Forum.
Tourism to Corbett and Almora could be particularly hit as a result of the fire, which has destroyed 2,200 hectares of forest.
Efficient land use, minimum congestion, a focus on dharamshalas (inns) and homestays, upgrading the infrastructure while retaining the historical and cultural character of the city are some of the highlights of the plan prepared by Kukreja, the managing principal of CP Kukreja Architects.
Union Tourism and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja said, "The thrust area for the government will be creation and improvement of tourism infrastructure, promotion and publicity of India as a preferred destination in overseas markets, promotion of domestic tourism and most importantly employment generation." On housing and urban poverty alleviation, the JNNURM with approval of projects of nearly Rs 50,000 crore is reshaping our cities, she said.
Nangiohbok Rymbai, a graduate in economics who works as a daily wage labourer in Shillong, tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar what he would like to see in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget.
Indian cine stars such as Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Shraddha Kapoor along with other prominent personalities on Sunday appealed to fans to "explore Indian islands" and coastal destinations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led central government will use the unorganised workers database - e-Shram portal - to provide the benefits of various government programmes to the nearly 300 million workers over the next five years, if it is voted to power for the third consecutive term in the upcoming general elections. "We have registered unorganised workers on the e-Shram platform. "We will reach out to the e-Shram registered 'shramik bandhu' and help them avail the benefits of various government programmes that they are eligible for," the manifesto of the party read.
State Tourism Minister Bratya Basu said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had directed the Tourism Department to go ahead with the setting up the board.
Even as the outbound tourism sector is feeling slowdown jitters, cruise tourism is becoming popular with Indians. Bookings for April went by 20 per cent.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
In an interactive session at the 7th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event at Chennai, Viswanatha Reddy, director, KTD, said the state helicopter tourism was proposed for Mangalore and Hospet. The department had identified Mangalore, Karwar and its coasts, which would have casinos, bars and so on for cruise tourism. He said 14 more helipads would be set up soon in addition to the present 23.
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".
Oravel Stays, the parent company behind the travel tech brand Oyo, is eyeing to clock Rs 100 crore in Q4FY24 profit after tax (PAT) and a 20 per cent revenue growth for FY24, according to informed sources. These numbers were part of an internal review meeting between founder Ritesh Agarwal and senior management earlier this week, where he spoke about the company's profitability trajectory and growth in business.
The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management invites applications from interested students to apply for the 21 days training programme in tourism.
India's appetite for music tourism is only growing.
Airbus Helicopters will partner with the Tata Group to establish a final assembly line for helicopters in the country, a development that will help in boosting indigenous manufacturing activities. This will be the second final assembly line that will be built by Airbus in India after the 'Make in India' C295 military aircraft manufacturing facility in Gujarat. The Final Assembly Line (FAL) will produce Airbus H125 helicopters from its civil range for India and for exporting to some of the neighbouring countries, Airbus Helicopter said in a statement.
Russia's unprecedented rapprochement with North Korea has raised concerns about the re-emergence of a Russia-China-North Korea alliance which could increase the probability of conflict on the Korean Peninsula, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
The Haryana government is considering the proposal to set up special tourism zones on the pattern of special economic zones in the state and places of historical importance would be developed as tourism destinations
Know the forts India has nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Engagement with neighbours is a strategic imperative, and not an option, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
In a major boost to tourism, India and France, which is one of the top tourist generating markets for the country, on Monday signed an agreement to promote each other's destinations and share market research for the purpose.
This appears to be a common refrain in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri Lok Sabha constituency where farmers want better prices for their produce and respite from the stray cattle menace and others want political leaders to talk about job creation instead of issues like the Ram temple and Article 370.
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.
Indians have been travelling to the "land of the rising sun" in large numbers, especially for business, thanks to the close ties with automobile and engineering companies.
Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Thursday lauded World Athletics' decision to award USD 50,000 to all its gold-medallists in the Paris Olympic Games and said he would like to see such incentive being given in other global competitions as well.
'If democracy does not exist, if there are no political spaces, there is no media, there is no civil society, what do we rejoice?'
The tourism ministry wants rationalisation of import duty on adventure sports equipment to promote adventure tourism in the country. There is a proposal for exemption of service tax for inbound tour operators on their foreign exchange earnings. Sources said Tourism Minister Kumari Selja would submit the detailed proposals to the finance ministry, seeking various tax incentives for the sector.
Monsoon tourism, as it is known, has performed beyond the expectations of tour operators, garnering a 50 per cent increase in both in-bound and out-bound traffic.
Confident of securing a massive majority in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday outlined his vision for his next five-year term saying the Modi 3.0 government will put all its might to strengthen the foundation of 'Viksit Bharat' or a developed nation.
'If the central government does not give rights to the people of Ladakh, then it won't be good for our country.'
The proposals were sent in last three years seeking a combined grant of Rs 785.13 crore (Rs 78.5 billion) for projects including Gandhi and Buddhist tourism circuits, besides a Tourism Development Institute, Gujarat Tourism Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said.
Temple festivals, Christmas mass, sunrise prayers for the new year at Vivekananda Rock -- Tamil Nadu's southern districts are the place to be.
Tsunami disaster has a taken heavy toll on the tourism industry of Andaman and Nicobar islands.
The BJP in its policy document stated that tourism plays a key role in socio-economic progress through creation of jobs.
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