Te Aroha – a holiday in the hills

Mukteshwar (Uttarakhand): Nestled in Dhanachuli village, a few kilometres from this popular destination, is the Te Aroha resort.

A summer house converted into a boutique luxury hotel, Te Aroha offers its guests traditional architecture and contemporary comforts. The surroundings are breathtaking, thanks to snowcapped mountains and the serenity of the place.

It is the brainchild of Sumant Batra, a lawyer, writer and…

New Zealand focuses on Indian business travellers

A new approach focusing on increasing the number of Indian business travellers to New Zealand has been adopted by the country’s tourism board, which is all set to push into the business events and incentives market.

Mischa Mannix-Opie, Tourism New Zealand’s regional manager, South and South East Asia, said that the expanded focus will not affect the promotion of New Zealand…

Australia to lure Indian tourists

Sydney: Buoyed by the number of Indian tourists flocking to Australia, an influential tourism promotional body has asked the Australian government to invest $1 billion to attract more visitors from India and other Asian countries in the next decade.

Besides India, the Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) has also urged the federal government to focus on Australia’s top visitor resource country…

A journey to Ajmer Sharif

Ajmer: From Mughal emperor Akbar who came praying for a son to a relentless stream of around 12,000 people who throng every day to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, the pull of the 12th century Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer remains undiminished.

The marble-domed tomb of the Sufi saint, located 145 km from Jaipur, in the middle of…

Indian tourism upbeat despite tight budget

Although India’s latest budget has increased the allocation for tourism by less than 10 per cent, the tourism ministry remains hopeful that it can bring in at least seven million foreign tourists to the country during this fiscal year, an increase of one million when compared to the six million figure of the last year.

Some ministry officials hope to go even higher to almost 10 million tourists for 2012….

Foreign tourists flock to Himachal

New Delhi: The number of foreign tourists visiting Himachal Pradesh has doubled in the past five years, the state govenment said Sunday.

‘The number of the international travelers has rapidly increased from 2.07 lakh in 2005 to 4.85 lakhs in 2011,’ the statement said.

The number of international tourist is likely to exceed 500,000 in 2012.

While 4.53 lakh foreign tourists flocked to…

An evening in Paris!

The French capital is charming its way to Indian hearts. Paris breached the landmark figure of 300,000 in Indian tourist arrivals in 2011, recording a growth of over 200 per cent in the last decade.

This was revealed by Paul Roll, managing director of the Paris Visitors and Convention Board, who expects the growth in the number of Indian tourists visiting Paris to continue at the same pace of about…

Egypt woos the Indian traveller

New Delhi: With its tourism industry badly hit due to the political turmoil in the country, Egypt is now planning to launch aggressive campaigns in India with special corporate packages and is starting direct flights from Delhi.

Cairo is even wooing Bollywood and has an interesting package for youngsters.

Kicking off a new promotional campaign for Egypt in India at the SATTE…

Solang Valley – The destination for adventure sports

Manali: Winter sports are no longer confined to the breathtaking locales of Jammu and Kashmir. Solang Valley in Himachal Pradesh is fast turning into a popular destination for skiers and comes alive when much of northern India retreats into the warmth of well-heated homes.

Foreigners and locals throng the snow-capped slopes of the picturesque valley snuggled between the Beas Kund and…

Ireland beckons Indians

With monastic structures that date back over a millennium and some picture-postcard settings of its countryside, Ireland has more to offer to visitors than its Guinness, whiskeys and pubs it is otherwise famous for.

Formally called the Republic of Ireland- with a population of some 4.6 million people, occupying about a five-sixth of the island located northwest of continental Europe, with…