Tag: tourist

Student discounts you can get on holiday travel and at tourist destinations

Loknath Das

Book flights and hotels in advance, travel in the shoulder season and take the DIY approach. We are all familiar with such travel tips to keep our vacation budgets under control. However, there’s more money to be saved during family holidays if you have a school or college-going child. You can grab student discounts on entry fees to heritage sites and airfare. Then there are additional benefits like special travel cards that are designed exclusively for students. These discounts should not be confused with concessions that are offered to children in general.…

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Duped With Tourist Over Work Visas, 14 Indians Stranded In Saudi Arabia

Loknath Das

Twelve of the 14 stranded in Saudi Arabia are lodged in the jails of the nation (Representational) Shimla:  Fourteen Indians are stranded in Saudi Arabia with most of them in the country’s jails after two local travel agents allegedly sent them to work in the Middle East nation on tourist visas, police said. Now, their tourist visa has expired and they do not have work visas, they added. Of the 14 people stranded in Saudi Arabia, 12 hail from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district while two are from Punjab. Twelve of…

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Visitors to New Zealand will have to pay tourist tax from 2019

Loknath Das

New Zealand has announced plans to introduce a tourist tax and increase other fees for international visitors to fund infrastructure development in the face of a tourist boom. Tourism numbers in the country of 4.5 million have surged by nearly a third in the past three years to 3.8 million in April this year. “This rapid growth has impacted the costs and availability of publicly-provided infrastructure,” said tourism minister Kelvin Davis. “Many regions are struggling to cope and urgently need improved infrastructure, from toilet facilities to car parks.” A tax…

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Planning a trip to Amsterdam? A proposed tourist tax hike could make it more expensive

Loknath Das

In an effort to attract big spenders and curb “falafel-eating” tourists, who spend most of their holiday loitering around the red-light district, Amsterdam’s city officials are considering a tourist tax hike that could make visits to the Dutch capital more expensive. Currently, visitors pay 5% of their room rate in the city centre, which is expected to rise to 6% next year. But if Alderman Udo Kock has his way, that could rise to as much as €10 per night in 2019, according to local newspaper Het Parool. Because while the…

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Are you a responsible traveller? Read the United Nations manual on tourist etiquette to find out

Loknath Das

Learn to speak a few words in the local language and make sure your purchase isn’t made with endangered plants or animals. These are some of the tips from the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s new “Travel. Enjoy. Respect” handbook. It is part of a global public awareness program that comes with a manual on how to be a responsible tourist. The launch comes amid a tourism crisis in Europe this summer, where locals across Spain and Italy have been staging anti-tourism protests in response to unsustainable visitor numbers, and incidents…

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Despacito effect: Puerto Rico’s La Perla is the new tourist hot spot. Here’s why

Loknath Das

“The gringos are coming!” Outsiders were afraid to venture in before, but since Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s megahit, tourists from all over the world are descending on the narrow streets that wind among La Perla’s brightly coloured houses. “Despacito?” they inquire. And the barrio’s residents obligingly point out the locations where the video was filmed: the rocks facing the sea where Fonsi sings the refrain, the sea wall where ex-Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera strolls, the little plaza where men play dominoes — the tables and chairs just as they…

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‘Game of Thrones’ locations witness massive increase in tourist interest

Loknath Das

Due to the popularity of the Game of Thrones show, themed tours which showcase the most famous filming locations have surged in almost every destination, says a report compiled by TripAdvisor. “They offer a new and entertaining way to discover popular destinations, with the Game of Thrones Walking Tour of Dubrovnik in Croatia as the most booked tour to date,” it says. Trsteno Arboretum, Croatia- Game of Thrones Filming location. (Shutterstock) “Pop culture and television can have a powerful influence on travel and our data reveals that the ‘Game of…

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From NYC to Paris: Why be a tourist when you can explore like a local?

Loknath Das

In London, the most popular attraction for tourists is The Tower of London. For locals, that changes to Borough Market. In New York, tourists are more likely to check in to the Hard Rock Café. But when it comes to eating at a restaurant chain, locals in the know prefer eating at the burger joint Shake Shack. That’s according to a breakdown by TripAdvisor, which created a chart comparing the most popular places of interest among tourists and locals in cities around the world. For the lists, analysts looked at…

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Visit Indonesia records 262,000 Indian tourist arrivals in 2015

subhadip

The Ministry of Tourism of Indonesia is targeting 350,000 Indian visitor arrivals in 2016 after managed to attract 262,000 visitors in 2015. It continues to aggressively promote “Wonderful Indonesia” in the Indian market which is considered as one of potential markets for Indonesian tourism. India is the 9th major market for Indonesia, said Vinsensius Jemadu, Assistant Deputy for Market Development for the Asia Pacific Region. Arief Yahya, Minister of Tourism, Indonesia took the initiative to ask the Ministry of Transportation authorities to open direct flights from and to the pockets…

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Indian tourist visas: e-visa scheme extended to British travellers

Dona Smith

From August 15, Britons will be one of 113 nationalities who will be able to apply for India’s “e-Tourist visa”, making the process of obtaining correct entry documents cheaper and quicker. UK passport holders will be able to apply and pay for an online visa using the Indian government’s tourist visa website, removing the need to book an appointment at the outsourced visa processing agency, or make a laborious postal application. The cost will be reduced from the current fee of £89.44 to $60 (£39), and rather than book an…

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