As Shivratri approaches, FlixBus, a leading global travel tech company, has announced its initiative to facilitate journeys of devotion for devotees seeking spiritual experiences. FlixBus is set to connect devotees across various sacred temples, offering seamless travel experiences and ensuring comfort and safety throughout the journey. This Shivratri, devotees can embark on a spiritual voyage from Delhi to Rishikesh, experiencing the divine Neelkanth Darshan and visiting the revered Temple of Daksha Prajapati Shiv Temple in Haridwar. Alternatively, travelers can choose to journey from Delhi to Varanasi, where they can pay homage at the illustrious Kashi Vishwanath Temple. For those seeking an extended pilgrimage, FlixBus offers routes to Gorakhpur, providing a gateway for devot...
Read MoreMonth: March 2024
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for January 2024 global passenger demand indicating a strong start for the year. Total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), was up 16.6%; total capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), was up 14.1%; and the load factor was 79.9% (+1.7pt) International demand rose 20.8%; capacity was up 20.9% and the load factor remained at 79.7% (+0.0pt) Domestic demand rose 10.4%; capacity was up 4.6% and the load factor was 80.2% (+4.2pt) “2024 is off to a strong start despite economic and geopolitical uncertainties. As governments look to build prosperity in their economies in the busiest election-year ever, it is critical that they see aviation as a catalyst for growth. Increased taxes and ...
Read MoreForeign visitor arrivals register 87.83 per cent growth Vagamon to host paragliding event from March 14-17, surfing fest at Varkala from March 29-31 Scripting an all-time record in domestic tourist arrivals, Kerala attracted 2,18,71,641 visitors from within the country in the calendar year 2023, registering a significant 15.92 per cent increase as compared to the previous year. In 2022, Kerala registered footfalls of 1,88,67,414 domestic tourists. Significantly, domestic tourist arrivals recorded an increase of 18.97 per cent when compared to the pre-COVID year of 2019, Minister for Tourism and Public Works P A Mohamed Riyas told a press conference on Monday. In 2023, Ernakulam district witnessed the highest influx of domestic tourists with 44,87,930 visitors, followed by Id...
Read MoreThomas Cook India & SOTC Travel focus on the growing segment of customers seeking new experiences # Darshans and Pilgrimage Plus Holidays cover destinations like Rishikesh, Dwarka, Varanasi and Rameshwaram with hand-picked local experiences, food and sight-seeing # Diversity of spiritual locales: Char Dham, Jyotirlinga Tours, Varanasi & Prayagraj, Shirdi Darshan, Rath Yatra, Madurai-Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari, Ramayana Anant Yatra, Dwarkadhish The pandemic influenced YOLO (You Only Live Once) sentiment has created a strong impact on the Indian traveller. The New Age traveller prefers to immerse into a destination and experience it like a local. Spiritual locales are no longer restricted to only sacred sites but also experiences - adventure, wellness, food, culture and hist...
Read MoreEnjoy the new ‘Hong Kong Flavours’ menu offerings, latest elevated selection of authentic local culinary delights while flying Cathay Pacific is bringing its customers a whole new curation of “Hong Kong Flavours” to enjoy, as part of the airline’s extended collaboration with Michelin-starred Hong Kong restaurant, Duddell’s. Following the successful launch of its partnership with Duddell’s in February 2023, Cathay Pacific is delighted to once again work with the esteemed restaurant to present the next iteration of menus showcasing authentic Cantonese and regional Chinese specialties along with refined classic comfort dishes. These are available to customers travelling in First and Business class on selected long-haul flights departing from Hong Kong. The latest menus are among...
Read MoreCambodia’s multiple award-winning conservation lodge, Cardamom Tented Camp, has joined The Long Run, an international grouping of sustainable nature-based tourism businesses dedicated to conservation, community, culture and commerce. By joining The Long Run as a “fellow member”, the camp commits to work towards the status of a “Global Ecosphere Retreat” – GER – one of the most rigorous sustainability standards in the international tourism industry and one recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. To date, The Long Run has 11 elite GER members, 32 fellow members and 22 travel partners. Collectively, their conservation tourism helps protect around 9.3 million hectares (23 million acres) of forest, grasslands, desert and mountains on six continents. Cardamom Tented C...
Read MoreResearchers in the Amazon have discovered the world's largest snake species - an enormous green anaconda - in Ecuador's rainforest that split off from its closest relatives 10 million years ago though they still nearly look identical to this day. A video shared online shows the scale of these 20-foot-long (6.1-meter-long) reptiles as one of the researchers, Dutch biologist Freek Vonk, swims alongside a giant 200-kilo (441-pound) specimen. It was thought that there was only one species of green anaconda in the wild, the Eunectes murinus, but the scientific journal Diversity this month revealed that the new "northern green anaconda" belongs to a different, new species, Eunectes akiyama. "What we were there to do was use the anacondas as an indicator species for what kind of dam...
Read MoreOne by one, the crate doors swing open and five Arctic foxes bound off into the snowy landscape. In the wilds of southern Norway, the newly freed foxes could struggle to find enough to eat, as the impacts of climate change make the foxes’ traditional rodent prey more scarce. In Hardangervidda National Park, where the foxes have been released, there hasn’t been a good lemming year since 2021, scientists say. That’s why the scientists breeding them in captivity are also maintaining more than 30 feeding stations across the alpine wilderness stocked with dog food kibble – a rare and controversial step in conservation circles. Two white Arctic foxes play after mating, inside their enclosure at the station near Oppdal, Norway, March 21, 2023. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner “If the food is ...
Read MoreA giant statue dating back about 2,500 years has been restored to Sicily's Valley of the Temples, an archeological site which ancient Greek poet Pindar described as "man's finest city." The 8-metre high representation of the mythological giant Telamon once supported the temple of Zeus, one of the famed Doric constructions on the site that art historians consider the principal ancient Greek historical record outside Greece itself. "Telamon will become ... the new international ambassador of an archaeological site with no equals worldwide", said Sicily's cultural heritage councillor Francesco Paolo Scarpinato. The stone statue returned to guard the temple on Thursday, following 20 years of restoration work. In ancient times the giant was one of numerous Telamon statues that wer...
Read MoreResearchers have found water vapour in the disc around a young star exactly where planets may be forming. Water is a key ingredient for life on Earth, and is also thought to play a significant role in planet formation. Yet, until now, we had never been able to map how water is distributed in a stable, cool disc — the type of disc that offers the most favourable conditions for planets to form around stars. The new findings were made possible thanks to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner. “I had never imagined that we could capture an image of oceans of water vapour in the same region where a planet is likely forming,” says Stefano Facchini, an astronomer at the University of Milan, Italy, who led the stud...
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