Travel News India
Indian destinations, Agar and Sikkim have bagged positions top travel destinations list
Agra and Sikkim now feature in the‘ 52 Places to go to in 2017’ list by New York Times
Tourism in India might have greater chances of inbound traffic now, with Agra and Sikkim featuring in New York Times’ list of‘ 52 Places to go to in 2017’.
While Agra has ranked third in the list, Sikkim has bagged the 17th position among the top travel destinations for this year.
Interestingly, these tourist destinations in the country have left behind popular tourist hubs like Australia, France, Thailand and others.
Air India will start reserving seats for solo female travellers
The Press Trust of India( PTI) reports that the national carrier will set aside six seats per aircraft for women on all its domestic routes from next week.
The third row of economy class – three seats either side of the aisle – would be designated for female travellers. This applies to the airline’ s domestic flights operated using its fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft. The move comes into force on 18 January 2017.
The policy only applies to solo female travellers, and not to women travelling with other family members.
A UN-funded project has just introduced 12 new coastal spots in Maharashtra
If tourism in Maharashtra has been progressive, this new development will mark another milestone in boosting the industry. The state now has 12 new coastal tourist locations, identified through a project funded by United Nations and the Centre.
These new tourists sites have been identified along the 121 km coast of Sindhudurg, as part of the efforts to reduce excessive tourist traffic in the region. So far, majority of the tourist activities were concentrated in the Malvan area of the district which in turn were impacting marine life adversely.
The new locations, within 10 kms from the coast, were scouted with fundings from United Nations Development Programme and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and an interim report submitted to the state on October 30, 2016.
While this new move echoes the world-wide thrust on Responsible Tourism, the state is also banking on the clear waters and marine life as the USP to attract more number of arrivals to the region.“ The water there is the clearest along the coast and there is a diverse range of corals. Near Vengurla, there is a very high diversity in fish, which includes rare predator fish,” Chief Conservator of Forest( CCF) N Vasudevanwas quoted saying by The Indian Express. Besides, these new sites will also offer various sea water activities like scuba diving and snorkelling to further divert tourist pressure from Malvan.
Local residents too will be having their fair share of impact of this strategy. A report prepared on these lines anticipate employment generation for close to 3000 people in various capacities. The first batch of people in Sindhudurg, who were affiliated with the state, were reportedly earning at least Rs 40,000.
Sindhudurg recorded around 13 lakh tourist arrivals last year owing to the affordability and variety of water sports that the region offers.
10 | Travelnjoy | January 2017