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Goa's tourism season 2025-26 kicked off on Thursday with the arrival of a charter flight from Russia, at Manohar International Airport in North Goa during wee hours. Passengers of the first international flight of the season were given a traditional welcome by the state tourism department. Director of state tourism Kedar Naik was present at the airport located at Mopa in North Goa to welcome the travellers. A senior tourism department official said that this season will witness the introduction of three new weekly flights from Novosibirsk city in Russia which will land at the Mopa airport. "These additional services, together with the existing flights from Yekaterinburg and Moscow, will increase Aeroflot's operations to nine flights per week, highlighting the strong demand for Goa as a preferred tourist destination," he said. The second 158-seater charter flight from Novosibirsk will land in Goa on October 3 at 6 am. Yekaterinburg will connect to Goa with B737-800 flights carryin
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in the city has handled over 5 million international arrivals in the January-August period this year, primarily driven by passengers from the UAE, UK, and Thailand, private airport operator MIAL said on Saturday. The facility has witnessed the international arrivals at the airport clocking a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21 per cent in the past three years, reflecting the city's ever-burgeoning prominence on the global travel map and echoing the spirit of World Tourism Day that celebrates the power of travel in connecting cultures and economies, it added. Every year, September 27 is observed as World Tourism Day globally. Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is run under a joint venture, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), which is 74 per cent owned by the Adani Group and the remaining 26 per cent by the Airports Authority of India. Between January and August this year, arrivals rose steadi
Forty projects worth over Rs 3,295 crore and spanning 23 states have received nod from the Centre for developing lesser-known destinations into iconic sites and promote a more balanced distribution of tourists across the country. As per the directives of the Department of Expenditure, the Ministry of Tourism issued operational guidelines for Special Assistance to States/Union Territories for Capital Investment (SASCI) for the development of iconic tourist centres, officials said. The Ministry of Tourism circulated the SASCI guidelines to the state governments with a request to formulate and submit the project proposals to the ministry, which are iconic in nature and can create impactful destinations, they said. By the last date of submission, October 15, 2024, a total of 87 project proposals were received costing more than Rs 8,000 crore, a senior official in the ministry said. Thereafter, the Ministry of Tourism in line with the guidelines and as per the procedure or criteria, ...
A total of 1.92 crore foreign tourists visited India last year, a jump from 10.54 lakh in the pandemic year of 2021, according to the Tourism ministry. Responding to a question in Lok Sabha, Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat gave data of foreign tourist visits (FTVs) to India from 2021 to 2023. According to the data, 1,92,45,817 foreign tourist visits were recorded in 2023, while the number stood at 85,87,562 in 2022, and 10,54,642 in 2021. Delhi saw a remarkable rise from 1,00,178 FTVs in 2021 to an estimated 18,28,116 FTVs in 2023. Similarly, Goa's foreign tourist arrivals jumped from 22,128 in 2021 to 4,52,692 in 2023. Maharashtra experienced one of the highest increases, with FTVs growing from 1,85,643 in 2021 to an estimated 33,87,739 in 2023. Smaller states and UTs also reported significant growth. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands saw an increase from 1,687 FTVs in 2021 to 9,025 in 2023. Arunachal Pradesh, which had only 182 FTVs in 2021, welcomed 4,496 i
Over 1.35 crore tourists flocked to famous destinations in Gujarat during this summer vacation, marking a 17 per cent increase compared to the previous year, the state government said on Wednesday. From April 1 to June 10 this year, more than 1.35 crore tourists visited 12 prominent attractions and pilgrimage sites in the state. This is a notable rise from the 1.14 crore tourists who visited during the same period in 2023, a government release stated. Key tourist spots included the Statue of Unity, Atal Bridge, Riverfront-Flower Park, Kankaria Lake, Somnath Temple, Ambaji Temple, Pavagadh Temple, Dwarkadhish Temple, Science City in Ahmedabad, Vadnagar, Gir and Devalia Safari Parks, and Ahmedabad Metro Railway. Ahmedabad district and Ahmedabad city, which has been declared India's first UNESCO World Heritage City, emerged as top tourist destinations in the financial year 2023-24. Ahmedabad district welcomed 4.26 crore visitors, while the city itself attracted 2.25 crore tourists, th
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday flagged the issue of couples opting for destination weddings abroad and said people should be encouraged to "Wed in India" so that wealth remains within the country. Virtually addressing the foundation laying ceremony of the Khodaldham Trust Cancer Hospital to come up in Gujarat's Amreli city, the PM also appealed to the people to help promote domestic tourism. Modi said his government has taken steps to ensure that people do not face difficulties in the treatment of cancer by setting up around 30 new hospitals for providing medical care for the disease and ensuring the availability of medicines at affordable prices. More than 1.5 lakh 'Ayushman Arogya Mandirs' (health centres) have also been built at the village level to help in the early diagnosis of the disease, he said. Addressing the gathering of members of the Leuva Patidar community which manages the Shri Khodaldham Trust-Kagavad, Modi said, "Is it appropriate to hold marriage abroad? .
More than 7.2 million foreign tourists arrived in India this year till October, the government said on Monday. Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said this in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha. He was also asked if the government is developing some tourist destinations for the promotion of tourism and attracting foreign tourists. Reddy shared data on foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) during the five years since 2018. Foreign tourist arrivals stood at 10.56 million (in 2018), 10.93 million (in 2019), slipping to 2.74 million (in 2020), 1.52 million (in 2021) and 6.44 million (in 2022), according to the data sourced from the Bureau of Immigration. In 2023, the (provisional) foreign tourist arrival figures till October stood at 7.24 million. "The (Union) Ministry of Mines has taken up the proposal to develop infrastructure/facilities of erstwhile Bharat Gold Mines Limited (Kolar Gold Fields) into tourist destination/site with the Ministry of Tourism," Reddy added. In
Five key priorities of the G20 tourism track, including green tourism, digitalisation and destination management, were "endorsed by all G20 countries" for achieving a sustainable, resilient and inclusive growth in the sector, officials said on Wednesday. A Goa Roadmap and Action Plan and a ministerial outcome document came out at the end of the G20 ministerial meeting here. The meeting was preceded by the Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting here. About 130 delegates from countries such as the US, the UK, Spain, South Africa, Russia, Mauritius, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, Nigeria, Oman, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, and top international organisations took part in the ministerial meeting. The delegates were greeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via a recorded video message in which he welcomed them to "Incredible India". Later, official sources said, the members arrived at a "broad consensus" in the Goa Roadmap and Action Plan and the ministerial communique. Unio
The Centre will soon declare a national tourism policy and is also planning a global tourism investment summit, Union minister G Kishan Reddy said on Monday. He, along with Union minister Jitendra Singh and India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, was addressing a press conference at SKICC here after the culmination of a side event on 'Film Tourism for Economic and Cultural Preservation' as part of the three-day third Tourism Working Group Meeting of the G20. "We are going to soon declare national tourism policy for India. We are planning global tourism investment summit," Reddy, the minister for Culture and Tourism, said. He said the Centre is allowing 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in tourism. "Our idea is that without private investment, we cannot become a global destination," he added. Reddy said the Union government and the Ministry of Tourism are closely working with all the ministries and the state governments to encourage tourism. "The government of India is also wo