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Sustainability is now critical for any industry’s future, especially travel. While the world of aviation is slowly recovering with boosted baseline recovery in air travel, there is public awareness in a growing number of populations to choose their means of travel. In recent years, ‘flight shame’ or flygskam, an anti-flying social movement, with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of aviation, earned popularity when Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg crossed the Atlantic in a racing yacht to avoid travelling by air to take part in the UN Summit in 2019. Thunberg, who has not flown on a plane since 2015 and made the 15-day voyage, gained recognition when she went on strike from school to protest her government’s inaction on climate change. ‘Train bragging’ called ‘tagskryt’ encourages people to travel by train. Worldwide data as estimated by the Air Transport Action Group suggest flights produced 915 million tonnes of CO2 in 2019 with the global aviation industry ...

Last Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’— his monthly radio address to the nation—was mostly about museums. To garner interest in museums—an institution where objects of historical, scientific, or artistic interest are kept—Modi urged the youngsters to take quizzes on museums, make frequent visits to such places and post memories around them on social media. The message resonated well with the recently inaugurated Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya in the national capital that exhibits remarkable achievements of all the former heads of the Indian republic and what the country has achieved in the last 75 years since independence. Museums can become a cultural hub for interactivity, especially for youngsters, and enhance their understanding of Indian heritage. “Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya opens doors of knowledge, ideas, and experience for coming generations. Facing the challenges, every prime minister has tried to take the country forward. These are all things of public mem...

Go First on Friday got the bilateral rights to operate Srinagar-Sharjah flights which the airline said it will restart in the next few days. Go First had stopped operating the Srinagar-Sharjah flights on March 27 due to the lack of bilateral rights, which are granted under air services agreements signed between two countries to operate scheduled international passenger flights. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had inaugurated Go First’s Srinagar-Sharjah flight on October 23 last year, connecting Jammu and Kashmir with the United Arab Emirates after around 11 years. Since then, till March 26, Go First was operating these special flights under a coronavirus-induced air bubble arrangement between India and the UAE. The measure was removed when India resumed scheduled international passenger flights on March 27. On Friday, a Go First spokesperson told PTI that the airline has got the bilateral rights to operate five flights per week on the Srinagar-Sharjah-Srinagar route. “We will resta...

By MP Deepu, Throughout our lives, we are in a rat race to excel and fulfill all our responsibilities optimally. As we enter our silver years, the sole aim is to lead the rest of our lives happily and at peace. To achieve this aim, one of the best ways is to explore the world by travelling.  Travelling: The perfect Rejuvenation for Seniors As much as the elderly might avoid and refrain; travelling is the perfect resort for them to rejuvenate themselves and finally enjoy life the way they want to! Just like kids or the young, even they need a vacation for a variety of reasons- the primary one being that it boosts their physical, mental, and emotional health.  Uplifts Mood and Changes Perspective A vacation to a serene destination can uplift their mood and bring about a shift in their perspective. The comfort of home and routine are indeed bliss. However, a change in location helps them explore life and gives them a chance to view situations holistically from different angl...

As COVID-19 related international border restrictions gradually ease over recent months, Indian travellers are planning their next trip abroad with almost three-quarters of respondents looking to do so in the foreseeable future, according to a survey by online accommodation platform Airbnb. A vast majority of Indians surveyed, 75 per cent, reported having plans to travel internationally in the foreseeable future. More than a third of those (34 per cent) plan to do so in the next six months, Airbnb said in a statement. The survey commissioned by Airbnb took response of 1,019 Indians by YouGov between April 13-21, 2022. In terms of destinations, the survey found that almost 50 per cent of Indians were considering travel to Asia Pacific destinations, with Australia, Thailand and Indonesia topping the chart as the most searched destinations. Over two years since the beginning of the pandemic, Airbnb said Indian travellers are now dreaming about their next international trip and “more th...

Radisson Hotel Group plans to add 100 hotels in India by the end of 2025 as part of its ambitious plans for expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, according to its CEO Federico Gonzalez. “In India, we should surpass 100 hotels this year. If I look at India, I don’t know why we should not have 200 hotels there by 2025,” he told PTI on the sidelines of the World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit in Manila, capital of the Philippines. “We are looking at India’s development and the speed of change in India. If India is growing at 7 per cent, that means more GDP than many European countries,” he said. Radisson group has 1,200 hotels in operation worldwide and 400 are coming up, Gonzalez said. By 2025, that number will double, he added. “In the last two years, we have had the largest number of signings ever in the company. Last year, we signed over 200 hotels. Our plan is to double this size of 1,600 hotels by 2025,” he said, adding most of that growth will come from Asia. The group...

A unique experience along the India-Pakistan border, perseverance of security forces and memories of war victories are set to enthrall visitors as the Tanot-Bawlianwala Border in Jaisalmer Rajasthan. It is an initiative of the Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan and Ministry of Tourism, Government of India with support of Border Security Forces. The Tanot Mata temple, Kishangarh Fort, Longewala war memorial and scenic villages amid the vast desert terrain are major tourist attractions in the area. Gayatri Rathore, Principal Secretary Tourism, Government of Rajasthan said, “The border and associated history lay irresistible charm on tourists. Development of the Tanot Mata Tourist Complex by BSF shall assure of safe, comfortable visit while showcasing difficult life of Borderman, in addition, the aura of India-Pakistan border in the background of rich historic grandeur gives tourists a memory to cherish for a lifetime.” Longewala is the most known border point of India, prou...

Thai Airways and a Chandigarh private ticket booking firm have been directed by the Chandigarh Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission to pay Rs 17,000 after a vegetarian Panchkula resident was served a non-vegetarian meal. According to Ashok Kumar Vig, he had booked an air flight ticket through the firm to travel from Delhi to Melbourne on September 21, 2018, which had a layover in Bangkok. He added that the ticket specifically mentioned that he was to receive a vegetarian meal but after having a few bites, he realised that something was wrong and when he asked the fight staff, he was told that the food served was a non-veg meal. Vig said that he was deeply hurt because of his religious sentiments and then filed a complaint at the Consumer Commission of Chandigarh against the airlines. Thai Airways International in its reply submitted that the complainant’s booking included an option for an Asian Vegetarian Meal and as per the request made to the crew of airlines, he was informed duly...

Featuring bands like Indian Ocean, a music festival in Ladakh seeks to celebrate our soldiers from India Today | Leisure https://ift.tt/ex3XKo0

In recent times, we all have heard about issues such as climate change, water conservation, fresh air, green buildings, etc. The metropolis of Gurugram is moving ahead on the path of development with large-scale construction but with the rise in global temperatures, people living in mega cities like Gurugram are craving for more space and sustainable homes. In the meantime, keeping these things in mind, we reached Ahuja Residences hotel in Gurugram – AIR Conscious Living by Ahuja Residences, which is due for its Green Building certification soon.   This green building hotel is situated in the peaceful tree-lined avenues of DLF Phase 2 in Gurugram. ‘AIR’ , which is the name on Google, is located on MG Road, within less than one km distance from Sikandarpur metro station. Being an example for many across the industry, setting up of a green building in the heart of Gurgaon gives a lot of clams and a sense of neighborhood to the traveler, who are traveling for business and touri...

India has suspended tourist visas issued to Chinese nationals, global airlines body IATA told its member carriers on April 20. India has been raising with China the plight of approximately 22,000 Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities who are unable to go back for physical classes. However, the neighbouring country has till date refused to let them enter. These students had to leave their studies in China and come to India when the COVID-19 pandemic began in the beginning of 2020. In a circular issued on April 20 regarding India, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said, “Tourist visas issued to nationals of China (People’s Republic) are no longer valid.” It said the following passengers are allowed to enter India: nationals of Bhutan, India, Maldives and Nepal; passengers with a residence permit issued by India; passengers with visa or an e-visa issued by India; passengers with an overseas citizen of India (OCI) card or booklet; passengers with a persons of...

By Shubhangi Shah “It was Henri Cartier-Bresson,” said professor Parmanand Dalwadi about who was behind his ‘trip to France’ in the 1970s. A National Institute of Design (NID) alumni, Dalwadi (82) accompanied Bresson, the legendary French photographer on his trip to India in the 1960s. In return, Bresson got him to Paris where he spent nine months, capturing France, its people, their lifestyle and society on camera. Among the “plenty of pictures” that Dalwadi took, 50 are being showcased as a part of the exhibition ‘A Trip to France’ at the ongoing Bonjour India 2022. The event is organised by the Embassy of France in India, Institut français India (French Institute in India), Alliance française and the consulates of France. The exhibition is being showcased across 11 cities in India, including Delhi, where it’s open till April 30. Once in Paris, the now octogenarian photographer explored much of the city on foot. “Walking is the most important thing,” he said. “While walking around,...

Book review | 'Love Marriage' by Monica Ali from India Today | Leisure https://ift.tt/zZelrFN

Shadow Circus: How some Tibetans once took up arms to fight China from India Today | Leisure https://ift.tt/pb9zNvO

PSYCHE: An online exhibition that lays bare the human mind from India Today | Leisure https://ift.tt/cSHFKlG

Moving Focus: A new compendium of modern and contemporary Indian art from India Today | Leisure https://ift.tt/8P2kZwN

Arjun Rampal: Playing a detective in London Diaries has been an intense experience from India Today | Leisure https://ift.tt/OWTSVDx

IPO-bound travel tech firm OYO on Thursday said more than 8 lakh bookings were made primarily through its app and website over the April 11-17 period, with Manali, Haridwar, Amritsar, Goa and Mysore emerging among the most sought-after leisure destinations. With relaxation of pandemic-related curbs, high vaccination rates, increase in air travel, school holidays, and pent up travel demand, there has been a significant rise in travel bookings during the summer season. “Industry experts expect the demand for summer travel to rise by an average of 60 per cent in the coming days. Celebrated across different parts of the country, the festive fervour around Vishu, Baisakhi and Easter between 14-17 April contributed to this growth. This trend further reveals that people are keen to travel every chance they get,” the company said in a statement. A majority of the bookings for patron hotels and homes came from OYO’s direct channels, mainly the OYO app, website and corporate bookings. Moreov...

Vietjet on Wednesday said it will operate six flights between India and Vietnam in a phased manner starting April 29. In a statement, the airline said flights on the Delhi-Hanoi route and Delhi-Ho Chi Minh City route — which were operating before the COVID-19 pandemic — will resume on April 29 and April 30, respectively. The carrier announced new flights on the Mumbai-Hanoi route and Mumbai-Ho Chi Minh City route from June 3 and June 4, respectively. The flights on Mumbai -Phu Quoc route and New Delhi-Phu Quoc route will start from September 9, it noted. India resumed scheduled international passenger flights from March 27 after a two-year-long hiatus due to the pandemic. During this period, only limited international passenger flights were operating to and from India under air bubble arrangements formed with specific countries. India had no such air bubble arrangement with Vietnam. Vietjet Managing Director Dinh Viet Phuong said,“With flights of just over five hours per leg, and a c...

In the West, it is pretty normal for families to own a caravan or even rent one for a road trip or a vacation. It is no news that caravan tourism is immensely popular in foreign countries, but the good news is, that this caravan culture has found its way in India as well! In fact, state governments are now pushing for it, especially with the ongoing pandemic. Kerala recently introduced caravans and caravan parks to promote tourism in the state.  V R Krishna Teja, director, Kerala Tourism revealed that as of now, about 150 people have registered for bringing in 350 caravans and around 90 people for bringing in around 120 caravan parks. Kerala opened its first caravan park in Vagamon, a hill station, as part of the state government’s new Caravan Tourism policy. Earlier, Maharashtra and Goa had also introduced the concept of caravan tourism. Needless to say, this unique tourism model is all set to be a major eye-catcher in the tourism sector. But what is this caravan tourism and wh...

Climate change is a real thing and there is enough significant evidence that suggests we are heading towards a global climate crisis. Thus, sustainability is not just a choice but the need of the hour. People now realise that immediate action is required to take control of the situation, and this has recently been established in the 2022 Sustainable Travel Research Report by Booking.com. The report states that 94% of Indian travellers have confirmed that sustainable travelling is important to them and 68% have cited that climate change has influenced them to make more sustainable travel choices. So what exactly do these sustainable travellers want? Let’s find out. Transportation that reduces carbon footprint Flying leads to CO2 emissions. Keeping that in mind, 31% of Indian travellers said they chose to travel to a destination that is closer to home, only to reduce their carbon footprint. Another 31% indicated that they researched the options for taking public transport including ren...

With maximum states experiencing soaring temperatures across India, it is time for you to book your next flight to a cool spot as soon as possible. But travelling requires planning and, travelling within budget requires months of saving and even more planning! But this time, you don’t need to wait months to book an economical vacation, and here’s why. India’s full-service carrier, Vistara Airline, has announced a “Summertime Sale” across its domestic and international network. Vistara is offering discounted airfare on all three classes of travel – Economy, Premium Economy, and Business. The sale is open for domestic bookings for a period of 72 hours from 0001 hours of April 19th, 2022 to 2359 hours of 21st April 2022. The sale includes one-way all-inclusive fares starting at Rs 2,499 for Economy class, Rs 3,459 for Premium Economy class, and Rs 9,999 for Business Class. All-inclusive return fares for international bookings start at Rs 12,999 for Economy class, Rs 17,249 for Premium ...

A majority of Indians admit that they do not know much about the country’s history, culture, destinations, nature and food, with many of them unaware of facts such as Gir being the only natural habitat of Asiatic lions or Khajuraho festival is celebrated in Madhya Pradesh, according to a study by Mahindra Holidays. The knowledge and awareness of different facets of India appears to be the lowest in cuisine, as per India Quotient research — a light-hearted study conducted to mark Mahindra Holidays’ 25th anniversary, the company said in a statement. Stating that there is a “surprising lack of knowledge of our own country, its diversity, vastness, culture, heritage, and cuisines”, the company said as per the study,”60 per cent of the respondents admit that they don’t know much about Indian history, culture, geography/destinations, nature, food etc.” “The India Quotient, which indicates the knowledge and awareness of different facets of India, appears to be the lowest in cuisine. In fac...

As more and more South East Asian countries open international boundaries and ease restrictions, even with varying Covid-19 testing norms, the travel industry is set for a revival. Indians in significant numbers are choosing South East Asian regions for luxury vacations.  The overall air traffic on February 2022 including both domestic and international flights was up by 115.9 per cent compared to February 2021 according to data tracked by International Air Transport Association (IATA). The improvement is by large margins compared to January and February travel figures. Compared to pre-COVID February 2019, however, traffic was down 45.5 per cent. Domestic air travel saw a more significant upswing than international travel. It was up by 60.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2021 but is 21.8 per cent low compared to the pre-pandemic era, latest in 2019. In domestic markets, U.S has seen a significant revival but countries like Japan, and Australia is still down by mo...

No-frills airline SpiceJet on Monday announced the launch of new and additional non-stop flights on its domestic and international routes, starting April 26, to meet current and emerging demands.The flights, which are being launched in a phased manner, include services connecting Ahmedabad with Muscat; Mumbai with Dhaka; Kozhikode with Jeddah and Riyadh; and Mumbai with Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, SpiceJet said in a statement. On the domestic network, new flights will be launched to Goa, Bagdogra and Shirdi from Ahmedabad, while Tirupati and Guwahati will be connected with Mumbai, it said. In addition to this service, frequencies are being enhanced on Delhi-Jabalpur, Delhi-Leh, Ahmedabad-Dehradun, Hyderabad-Shirdi, Mumbai-Goa and Mumbai-Srinagar routes, SpiceJet said. Bookings for all new and additional flights are already open, it stated.”With the economy reviving from the pandemic slump, this will help us to enhance our presence in the aviation industry domestically as well ...

Hong Kong has banned Air India services till April 24 after three passengers on one of its flights tested positive for COVID-19 post arrival on Saturday, a senior government official has said. Passengers from India can arrive in Hong Kong only if they have a COVID-19 negative certificate from a test done 48 hours prior to the journey, according to rules issued by the Hong Kong government, said the official on Sunday. Moreover, all international passengers are required to take a post-flight COVID-19 test at the airport premises in Hong Kong. “The three passengers on Air India’s AI316 Delhi-Kolkata-Hong Kong flight on April 16 tested positive for COVID-19 post arrival,” the official said. Air India flights from New Delhi and Kolkata have been banned till April 24 by the Hong Kong government, the official added. Air India did not respond to the PTI’s request for a statement on this matter. Regular international flights resumed in India on March 27 after a two years’ hiatus induced b...

Over 33,000 people have so far registered themselves for the annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir, officials said on Sunday. The devotees are making a beeline for designated bank branches to secure a permit for undertaking the journey to the cave shrine in Lidder valley of south Kashmir Himalayas and paid obeisance to the naturally-formed ice-Shivlingam. The 43-day yatra is scheduled to start on June 30 after the coronavirus pandemic enforced break of two years. “As many as 33,795 pilgrims have registered for the yatra till Saturday,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), Nitishwar Kumar told PTI. Kumar, who is personally monitoring the arrangements, said 22,229 pilgrims have been registered through online mode and 11,566 through offline mode (banks). During the 43-day yatra, the journey to the cave shrine will begin from the twin routes — the traditional 48-km from Nunwan to the cave shrine from Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s A...

By Monidipa Bose Dey The Jaigarh Fort located on the top of a peak in the Aravalli range stands directly about 400 m above the Amer Fort, and was built with the primary objective of guarding the Amer fort, which was then the chief residence of the Kachhwaha royal family. Jaigarh, which was the chief defensive structure, was connected to the Amer fort by a series of interlinked fortifications, and the two forts were under the Kachhwaha dynasty from around 10th century onwards. In the 17 th  century Jaigarh held a highly productive cannon foundry, owing to the presence of iron ore mines near the fort. This foundry in the Jaigarh held a huge wind tunnel that would pull in air from the surrounding hills into its furnace, and the air blast would help create temperatures as high as 1320 °C for melting metals. The molten metal would then be passed onto a reservoir chamber from where it would go into cannon molds in the casting pit. The massive Jaivan Cannon, now on displa...

By Pradeep Chamaria Every year, the world observes April 18 as the World Heritage Day. Also known as The International Day for Monument and Sites, it is an internationally recognised day to raise awareness about preserving the history, diversity, and vulnerability of world heritage sites and monuments. The idea behind celebrating this day is to encourage local communities and individuals to consider the importance of cultural heritage in our lives and to promote awareness about the efforts required to protect and conserve it.  The idea was floated on 18 April 1982 during a symposium in Tunisia by The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). The idea was approved by the UNESCO General Conference at its 22nd session in November 1983, and since then it has been traditionally been called the World Heritage Day, and aims to celebrate the heritage of the entire human race.  On this day, the world also aims to recognise the efforts of all involved in the reservation,...