Mumbai-Pune Chopper Service May Start Soon

Mumbaikars could finally take a sigh of relief as the financial capital of India may soon catch the country's first regular helicopter service. Presently, the Government is examining the possibility of starting a regular helicopter service between Mumbai and Pune.

The state-run Pawan Hans would be launching the service to make flying between the two cities reasonable since airline fares are pretty high in this short route at present. A team of officials from DGCA and Pawan Hans will be in the city this week to examine the viability of the chopper service and also to explore a site for a heliport in south Mumbai.

Pawan Hans has planned to build a heliport in the sea which would be the first for India. A senior official told that there can be a regular service from south Mumbai heliport to CSIA, which takes about 2-hours from here. As the second airport is planned to be built in Navi Mumbai, there is actually a call for chopper connection.

Kingfisher To Start Bangalore- San Francisco Flight From Nov 08

On 2 Sep' 2008, Vijay Mallya announced that India's leading private carrier Kingfisher Airlines is all set to start its direct flight from Bangalore to San Francisco connecting India's IT hub with the Silicon Valley in US. The direct flight will commence from Nov 1, 2008. According to the UB Group chief, as there is an open-sky policy in the US, Kingfisher will face no difficulty in getting operational clearances after its acquisition of new Airbus aircraft (A330-200) for the long-haul flights. At present Mallya has a fleet of five brand-new Airbus aircrafts to roll out its international operations from Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and other metros.

According to industry estimates, Bangalore-San Francisco is a lucrative route as about 12,000 passengers fly between these cities every month and their is a dearth of direct flights between the two 'Silicon Valleys'. The Airline's Chairman and Managing Director, Vijay Mallya is also planning to start direct flights to Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai and Maldives in the coming months. With the recent amalgamation of Kingfisher and low-cost carrier Air Deccan, Mallya has the largest fleet of Airbus aircraft to operate on the profitable international routes and across metros in the domestic market. From 3 Sep 2008, Kingfisher is making its international debut with a non-stop daily flight on the Bangalore-London route.

Bangalore is home to about 1,600 IT firms, including over 600 multinational firms, generating huge international inbound and outbound air traffic from corporate, business and leisure travelers round the year.

Chopper Service for Manimahesh Pilgrims in Himachal

Finally, there's good news for devotees who are unable to trek to reach the Holy Abode of Lord Shiva, Manimahesh. As the Himachal Pradesh government started a helicopter service to carry devotees to the Manimahesh Lake in Chamba district on 2nd Sep' 08, just 5 days before the conclusion of holy pilgrimage, the ardent devotees took a sigh of relief.

Speaking on the launch of helicopter service, Naresh Kumar additional district magistrate of Chamba revealed that the four-seater chopper will carry devotees between Bharmour tribal valley and Gauri Kund, which is sited near the Manimahesh Lake. The helicopter fare for one trip is Rs 9,000 per person. The Manimahesh pilgrimage commenced on Aug' 24 and will conclude on the event of Radhaastami, Sep' 8. Thus far, over 300,000 devotees have taken a dip at the holy lake.

Air Arabia To Introduce Daily Service To Hyderabad

On September 9, 2008, Air Arabia made an announcement of launching its daily flight services to Hyderabad from October 27, 2008. Air Arabia is the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa. It is based in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Currently, it provides direct services to many Indian cities including metropolitan cities like Chennai, New Delhi, etc. Air Arabia had started its operations about five years back in the month of October. Since then it has emerged as one of the largest destination network in India of any Middle East-based carrier.

Hyderabad will be Air Arabia’s 43rd global destination and its 12th in India. For Hyderabad, Air Arabia will depart from Sharjah daily. A large number of the 1.5 million emigrant Indians in the UAE hail from Andhra Pradesh, and Hyderabad, being the capital city, will connect them well. Hyderabad, also known as 'The City of Pearls', is one of the most developed Indian cities and is a 'Mecca' of information technology and biotechnology in India.

JP Morgan & Yes Bank To Launch Global Travel Card

J.P. Morgan, in collaboration with Yes Bank, will soon launch its first pre-paid travel card in India. For this purpose, the former has gone into a one-year agreement with Yes bank­ — India's new-age private sector bank. Moreover, this travel card would serve as a substitute of traditional currency and travelers' cheque transactions across the world for Yes Bank's customers.

The card would be initiated with Visa-affiliation and will carry the features of a debit card. The card will also be available to those who do not possess a Yes Bank account for a one-time charge of Rs 150. It will provide customers with added security and convenience to make a purchase while traveling. In addition, the card can be used outside India, Nepal and Bhutan to withdraw cash in local currency at ATMs displaying Visa marks.

J.P Morgan is a leader in wholesale financial services and is part of J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a global financial services firm with assets of over $1.6 trillion. J.P.Morgan provides prepaid card services to more than 1,000 clients globally and has operations in 60 countries. The Yes Bank will act as a launch pad to set up joint venture partnerships for the latter in the domestic wind energy market as the former had recently entered into an agreement with Australian company Wind lab for its wind-energy projects.

Him Darshan by IRCTC

To lure tourists from distant areas like Kerala, West Bengal, Gujarat and Lucknow, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has planned a 'Him Darshan' package, including destinations like Shimla, Dharamshala, Pathankot and Manali. The corporation aims to tempt the frequent travelers and those bored of the much-offered tourist destinations to cash the potential of hill tourism. The IRCTC intends to start the packages from the winters since it's the perfect time to visit the hills, as told by IRCTC Chief Regional Manager Aneet Dulat.

The company also has plans to involve private national online tour operators for the Him Darshan project. For securing larger operations, efforts are also being made for tie-ups with hotel chains and Himachal Tours Corporation. The corporation further intends to widen its base among low-budget travelers. Moreover, to make certain that the services rendered are up to the standard, it has made a plan that each hotelier has to attach a feedback form filled by the tourists with the bill receipt to get the payment for its services.

Air India To Resume Flights To Yangon

With the festive season getting closer, Air India has declared that it will resume operations from Kolkata to Yangon from the first week of October. Since May 2008 the flights had been stopped because of bad weather and dearth of passengers. The services will be recommenced from October 3 and two flights will operate weekly, on Monday and on Friday. On Mondays, the flight will directly reach Yangon, whereas will take a route via Gaya on Fridays.

AI will also operate an additional flight on September 29 on the Kolkata-Yangon-Kolkata sector seeing the rush of pilgrims during this time of the year, told Sameek Bhattacharya Air India Corporate Communications Manager. It will also restart its service to Bagdogra five days a week w.e.f. September 1. Moreover, AI has also decided to operate additional flights on the Kolkata-Bagdogra-Kolkata sector between September 14 and November 9 this year considering the further rush during the festive season.

Tourism Ministry To Market Monsoon Tourism

What earlier had been the lean season for the tourism industry in India is today marketed as a pretty good season for traveling by the Ministry Of Tourism. Recently, at "National Seminar on Monsoon Tourism'', Leena Nandan, joint secretary of the ministry of tourism, reported that the ministry is working with various states to develop promotional packages for monsoon season which will be announced soon. She told that foreign tourist influx in India has increased by 14.3 % within a year, so it's time to attract tourists during the lean season as well.

Prime packages offered at this time could be honeymoon packages, Ayurveda rejuvenation holidays, houseboat cruises and rain walks. Moreover, West Asia, Europe and the Unites States pose good markets for promoting monsoon tourism, she added. Ashwani Lohani, managing director of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (MPTDC), said that the state's beauty can be cashed in during the monsoon season. He listed out few selling points like good roads, good signages, a 24x7 control room for distressed tourists and tax incentives to entice more and more tourists during monsoons.

M P Bezbaruah, earlier tourism secretary, said in his welcome address that the monsoon rains can be a major tourist attraction in India and imaginative packaging is the key to entice tourists. Following the idea of Bezbaruah, Subhash Goyal, chairman of Stic Travels Pvt Ltd, mentioned that Goa was the first Indian state to promote tourism during the monsoon season. He proclaimed that state's hotels have 100 per cent occupancy in monsoons. Goa's monsoon initiatives, together with successful monsoon promotions by Kerala emphasizing Ayurveda packages, confirmed that it is possible to mete out with the lean season too.

Paramount Airways To Start Flights To Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune And Goa

Paramount Airways - a Madurai-based leading business-class airline — plans to expand its operations to western India with flights to Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Goa. As reported by the company sources, Paramount is soon launching a flight between Chennai and Ahmedabad. And shortly it will also start flights to Mumbai, Pune and Goa. The Chennai-Ahmedabad service would begin from Sep' 2008.

The airline at present operates 1,600 flights a month across South India. Being a premium business-class airline, Paramount Airways offers distinct features such as exclusive lounge access at airports, valet services, extra comfortable seatings, etc, to its passengers. The new routes in the Western region have been opened up to make the most of the existing demand in the sector, told MD Paramount Airways, M Thiagarajan.

South East Asia Most Sought-After Destination for Indians

As per the Nielsen India Outbound Travel Monitor 2008 conducted in affiliation with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), more and more Indians are traveling abroad for leisure or business and Asian countries have emerged as the most sought-after destinations by the Indians. In the coming 12 months, Singapore would emerge as the most common travel destination for Indians (24%), followed by Dubai, Australia, and Malaysia at second place with 17% each.

Considering the budding outbound dynamics of the India market, Malaysia is ready to secure its position as India's preferred travel getaway with its strategic tourism initiatives. Tourism Malaysia is focused on the Indian market and is targeting 500,000 Indian arrivals to the country in 2008, of which around 30% is estimated to come in through the MICE (meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition) tourism route. Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi are one of the most favored destinations for Indian travelers.

India is among the top 10 tourism generating markets of Malaysia. While Malaysia was visited by 422,452 Indians in 2007, it observed a 32% growth for the January-August 2008 period with 377,011 visitors. Malaysia Tourism Board is now aiming beyond Kuala Lumpur, offering short breaks to Langkawi, Penang, Pangkor, Tioman, Sabah and Sarawak, to fetch more visitors from India. This new strategy will focus on active tourism indulgences, eco-tourism, driving holidays, soft adventure and island retreats as well.

The rate of hotels and resorts is also one of the reasons why Malaysia attracts so many Indian travelers. Hotels in Langkawi, for example, are quite reasonable in their pricing. A five star hotel in Langkawi like Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort starts from 151 US$, which is way less than almost all the 5 star hotels in India. You can actually book a 4 Star hotel like Holiday Villa Beach Resort & Spa Langkawi in Langkawi for just 78 US$.

Botanical Garden At Ooty Expects World Heritage Site Status

The Botanical Garden located at Ooty (Udhagamandalam ) is looking forward to be awarded with the 'World Heritage Site' status, by UNESCO. The garden is already home to 16 heritage properties, which include a 20 million-year-old "kal maram" (fossil). The Botanical Garden, maintained by the State Horticulture Department, has applied for the global status. Backing the global recognition of the garden is the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), which has erected a board naming the garden heritage site on the garden premises.

INTACH, a network of Nilgiris NGOs, Universal Affectionate Foundation, Primitive Toda and Kota tribal communities and Badagas Association, has urged UNESCO to declare the garden as a heritage site before the coming summer. It believes that global recognition will help enhance the tourism economy of the city. M Prakasam, Assistant Director of Horticulture - Botanical Garden, feels that the 16 heritage sites located at the one-and-a-half century-old garden are enough to make it eligible for the status of 'World Heritage Site'.

Air India’s New Flights From Toronto To Amritsar Via London

Air India has announced that it will run three flights per week from Toronto to Amritsar, via London, starting from October 26 2008. According to the details given to the media by Ram Kolipakam, the spokesperson of the airline, the flights will ply on the route every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. He also said that airline has introduced special introductory fares for traveling to London, to promote the destination. The new schedule of flight from Toronto to Amritsar, via London, is an addition to the existing daily flights operated by Air India to New York and the ones plying on Delhi-London route.

The Tuesday flights will leave Toronto from Terminal 1, at 9.50 pm, and arrive in London at 8.30 am, the following morning. They will arrive in Amritsar at 11:55 pm the following morning. The Friday and Sunday flights, on the other hand, will leave Toronto at 11.30 pm and reach London at 10.15 am, the following day. The arrival of flights, operated on Friday and Sunday, in Amritsar will be 1.35 pm, the following day. While returning, the flights will depart from Amritsar at 6.40 am on Tuesdays and Fridays, arriving in Toronto at 3.35 pm. The flights scheduled to leave on Sundays will depart from Amritsar at 9.15 am and arrive in Toronto Terminal 1, at 6.15 pm.

India To Develop 20 Places As Short-Halt Tourist Destinations

The tourism in India is set to take a new turn, with the development of 20 more tourist attractions designated as short-halt destinations. Aimed to increase the footfall of foreign tourists, the plan is estimated to cost Rs 500 crore. Tourism Minister Ambika Soni made this announcement at the first Great Indian Travel Bazaar-2008, held in Jaipur city of Rajasthan. She told the reporters that the central government would provide an aid of Rs 25 crore for each monument, which will be used to beautify it.

As per tourism ministry's statement, the aim behind development plan is to enhance the tourist inflows in the specified areas. This, in turn, will lead to economic development and employment generation in and around these places. For the purpose, enhanced investments and an integrated approach have been proposed. With their help, the mega destinations will be developed in such a way that they are able to maximize their potential.

The main sites included in the mega development project are Taj Mahal (Uttar Pradesh), Varanasi-Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh), Bodhgaya-Rajgir-Nalanda (Bihar), Monuments of Delhi (Delhi), Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), Puri-Bhubaneswar-Konark-Chilka (Orissa), Haridwar-Rishikesh (Uttarakhand), Hampi (Karnataka), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Ajmer-Pushkar (Rajasthan) and Kurukshetra (Haryana) Gangtok (Sikkim).

Other sites designated for this mega project include Charminar area of Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Jagdalpur-Tirathgarh-Chitrakoot-Barsoo (Chhattisgarh), Dwarka (Gujarat), Churches of Goa, Ganga Heritage River Cruise Circuit (West Bengal), Vidarbha Circuit (Maharashtra), Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Amritsar (Punjab). As much as, Rs. 1 billion has already been sanctioned for the project.

Ayurveda Village To Open In Poovar Island Resort

Based on 'a resort within a resort' concept, Poovar Island Resort has developed 16 cottage resort called 'Ayurveda Village' at Kovalam Beach. Talking with media professionals, M R Narayanan, MD of Poovar Island Resort said that the highlight of the village is that we have 16 cottages which are made of mud and has insulated roofs and walls so as to keep the heat away and no air-conditioning is required.

According to Narayanan, spreading into 20,000 square feet, the Ayurveda Village is the largest ayurveda spa in the country. Also, it has a very big lounge and 10 treatment rooms. Accordingly, there has not been any dilution of the basic tenets of ayurveda and each room has water bodies, a private garden and enough light and air coming in so that Ayurvedic treatment could be carried out smoothly and efficiently.

The Rs.60 million worth ‘Ayurveda Village’ is an ambitious project from traditional hub of ancient Indian medicare. Admittedly, the Poovar Island Resorts concept came into limelight almost seven years ago when the country’s first floating cottages were launched in the backwaters of Kerala, and currently, there are 16 floating cottages. The Ayurveda Village will start working from Nov 1.