Sunday, 28 December 2014

Jai Mahal Palace - Five Star Luxury Hotel in Jaipur. Jai Mahal is Situated at Jacob Road, Civil Lines, Ganpati Nagar,Jaipur.

Saturday, 15 November 2014

Jai Mahal Palace - Five Star Luxury Hotel in Jaipur. Jai Mahal is Situated at Jacob Road, Civil Lines, Ganpati Nagar,Jaipur.

Thursday, 30 October 2014

Thailand Vegetarian Festival -2014


Monday, 14 April 2014

Air India offers special summer baggage rates

Easing passengers' excess baggage-related woes, Air India, the national carrier of India, has announced new affordable rates for travellers in the summer schedule.

The airline has launched a special offer in which the excess baggage rate for only the first 10kg (1-10kg) of additional baggage, over and above the free baggage allowance, will be at a slab equivalent to only USD40 (OMR16). This rate will be the same for journeys boarding ex-Oman to their final destination in India and ex-India to Muscat. 

Currently, the rates are double or triple this tariff.

"During the summer holidays, we find families travelling to India and carrying additional baggage in the form of gifts for their loved ones back home, and this leads to excess baggage, which is currently calculated at 1.5 per cent of the highest normal direct on-way economy class fare. So, through this new offer, we have set special rates on excess baggage on the Muscat/India/Muscat sectors," said Amreesh Choudhary, country manager at the Air India Muscat. "For Goa/Mangalore bound passengers, the discount levels would be approximately 60 per cent. Similarly, for passengers travelling to Guwahati, Raipur, Ranchi and Vishakhapatnam, the discount would be close to 65 per cent," the country manager said further.


This summer, the airline is also all set to offer a series of delights to its passengers, apart from offering special fares, airport upgrade options and holiday packages. Currently, the airlines offers 30kg free baggage allowance for every adult or child passenger, irrespective of the point of sale or from which direction the journey is originating. 

Apart from this, Air India also offers 7kg of free hand baggage.

With 24 flights a week, the airline offers daily direct flights to Delhi and Chennai apart from Mumbai and thrice weekly to Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Source:/www.timesofoman.com

Sunday, 6 April 2014

Goa needs to look beyond beach tourism to attract tourists

Goa tourism will have to look beyond the current mantra of 'sun, sea and sand' if it wants to attract tourists from other countries besides Russian and Europe - this eye-opening suggestion was offered by many buyers at the Goa International Travel Mart 2014.

Claiming that beaches in Goa hold no attraction to tourists in South-East Asia or other eastern countries, Lim Suat Keow, Malaysia marketing manager attached to Asia Pacific Tourism & Cultural Council Pvt Ltd, claimed that Malaysians would be interested to travel to Goa only if they are offered anything 'different' other than beaches. "Malaysia has beaches like Goa. So the beaches hold no attractions to Malaysians. I think Goa should promote more of its eco-life, wild life and adventures tourism," he said.

"I don't see why travelers from Australia or New Zeeland would visit Goa for beaches when they have their own beaches. More importantly, they can get better deals if they visit Bali, Singapore, Malaysia and any other country in that zone," he added.

Irvinder Singh, a travel agent based in Singapore, was frank enough to point out that Goa does not stand a chance in attracting tourists from South-East Asian countries if it does not open up its other sides to the world. "Goa is concentrating too much on beach tourism. Also, water sports activities and boat cruises are quite expensive compared to similar services offered in Kerala. I don't mind bringing my clientele here if Goa is ready to look beyond beach tourism and offer something different," he said.

A senior tourism official said their efforts are on to advertise all other facets of the state that have never shown to the world. "Goa has variety of things to offer besides over-crowded beach belts. For instance, we have 30,000 old human civilization in the form of rock carvings located in the hinterland of Sanguem. There are people who are willing to pay visit to such sites," he said.
Source(Timesofindia.com)

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Railways takes down curtains from third AC coaches

Citing safety reasons, the railways has decided to remove curtains put on pathways of all air-conditioned three-tier (3 AC) coaches of trains.
However, the curtains from windows of 3 AC coaches will continue, officials said.
Decision to remove curtains was taken on recommendation of Commissioner of Railways Safety (CoRS) following its enquiry into causes of last year's fire in Bangalore-Nanded Express train, that left at least 26 people in Andhra Pradesh.
"Railway Board had on March 12 decided to remove all curtains put on pathways of 3 AC coaches. All zonal railways have been instructed to remove them," a senior Railway Ministry official said.
The zonal railways will remove the curtains as and when a train undergoes general maintenance works, he said.
Though the curtains were made of fire-retardant material, but considering CoRS recommendation, the board has decided to remove them, the official said.
A major fire had ripped through a third AC coach of the Bangalore-Nanded Express train, killing 26 people, including two children, in sleep and injuring 13 others in the wee hours of December 28, last year in Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh.
In order to further improve fire safety mechanism in rolling stocks, railways has called a two-day international conference from April 24-25 on fire safety technologies here. Participants from Germany, France, Italy, the US and the UK will be attending the conference, he said.
The railways had in 2009 decided to put curtains in aisles of all air conditioned three-tier coaches, in order to give more privacy to passengers.
Earlier railways has taken back some of its decisions - extra side middle berth in sleeper train coaches and use of 'kulhar' (earthen pots) after it received flak from travellers.
In order to accommodate more passengers, former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad had in 2008 approved "high capacity coaches" with extra side middle berth seats for sleeper class. The facility was later extended for third AC coaches.

The high capacity sleeper coaches had 81 seats as against 72 in then (and now) existing sleeper class coaches. Whereas, modified third AC coaches had 72 seats as against 64 in then (and now) existing 3A class.
The project had to be rolled back in 2009 after passengers complained of inconvenience due to the restricted sitting and sleeping space, the official said.
Similarly, Lalu's pet project of introducing 'Kulhars' by removing plastic cups also did not get many takers.
Lalu had in July 2004 introduced 'kulhars' which slowly vanished from trains and platforms. However, there is no ban on selling beverages like tea and coffee in 'Kulhars', the railway ministry official explained.

 (source:rediff.com)

DGCA asks SpiceJet to immediately stop Re 1 ticket offer

Terming SpiceJet's offer of rupee one fare across its domestic network as "predatory" and a "malpractice", aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday came down heavily on the no-frill carrier and asked it to stop such pricing immediately.


Hours after SpiceJet offered fares as low as rupee one valid for domestic travel till next year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shot off a strongly-worded directive to the airline asking it to stop the three-day offer "immediately".
Such pricing was "not only predatory", but it amounted to "malpractice" under Rule 135 of the Aircraft Rules relating to air tariff, official sources said.

The fact that only one or two seats were being offered on each flight at the rate of one rupee amounted to "deceiving the travelling public", they said, adding that the airline was making such an offer for 91 sectors across the country.

Rule 135, under which the directive was issued, says: "When the Director General (of Civil Aviation) is satisfied that any air transport undertaking has established excessive or predatory tariff...or has indulged in oligopolistic practice, he may, by order, issue directions to such air transport undertaking." 

The sources also reminded that such one rupee tickets were earlier offered by the erstwhile Air Deccan, which was making losses and was later bought over by liquor baron Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines that has now folded up.SpiceJet, which posted a Rs. 171 crore loss in the December quarter, has been virtually leading a fare war in the aviation sector since January by making similar offers, forcing other airlines to follow suit.


Apart from the latest rupee one offer, the airline also announced two special schemes, offering the travellers Rs. 799 and Rs. 1499 ticket prices, excluding taxes and airport fees, with a booking window of three days, starting Tuesday.
The travel period for the tickets booked under these schemes would remain valid till March 28 next year from this July.

SpiceJet offers customers airfare at Re 1.

(source:http://www.hindustantimes.com)

SpiceJet offers customers airfare at Re 1

The Re 1 airfare discounts are back on domestic travelling as low cost carrier Spicejet airline, on Tuesday announced a ' limited seat offer'. However, the statutory taxes and fees are to be borne by passengers, the airline stated in a statement.
The Re 1 airfare trend was initiated by Capt GR Gopinath promoted Air Deccan, resulting in aviation revolution in the country. The cheap airfares made air travelling accessible to the middle class, who so far shied away due to exorbitant high airfares earlier.
A SpiceJet airline spokesperson said that the offer is valid only on bookings made between April 1- 3 for travelling during the period between July 1, 2014 to March 28, 2015. The offer is valid on the new sector network announced by the airline. The airline spokesperson however, refused to divulge out the number of seats available under this offer.
 “These fares will allow families to plan their vacations and weekend trips at costs that lower than train fares, now that the pressure of March school exams is finally over. But they need to move fast as seats are limited,” said Kaneswaran Avili, chief commercial officer, SpiceJet Ltd, who assumed his role as CCO of SpiceJet on Tuesday.

Since last over three months, the domestic airlines in India have been trying to undo each other in order to fill their seats during the off season which lasts till April and also as a pre curser to entry of Air Asia.
Aviation industry insider state that this eventually lead to heavy strain on Air Deccan’s financial health. Liquor baron Vijaya Mallaya led Kingfisher airlines which took over Air Deccan  later, too is believed to have made a hole in his finances, due to the debt it brought to the books.
Sharat Dhall, President, of travel portal yatra.com said, “This is an attempt to target leisure bookers with extremely attractive advance booking fares, a tactic that has been successfully used by LCCs across the world. SpiceJet is looking to pick up a significant share of these forward bookings, which could also insulate them from the threat of higher competitive activity that is expected later in the year. The sale has been extremely well received by travellers and within hours of the sale announcement, we are already seeing bookings that are four times the normal. We envisage that other airlines will follow suit pretty soon.”
Source:(dnaindia.com)

Monday, 3 June 2013

Rajasthan Tourism Festival Calendar 2010 to 2015

Fairs and Festivals Place 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Camel Festival Bikaner 30-31 Dec.09 18-19 Jan. 8-9 Jan. 26-27 Jan. 15-16 Jan. 4-5 Jan.
Nagaur Fair(Ramdeoji Cattle Fair) Nagaur 22-25 Jan. 10-13 Feb. 30Jan.-2 Feb 17-20 Feb. 6-9 Feb. 26-29 Jan.
Desert Festival Jaisalmer 28-30 Jan. 16-18 Feb. 5-7 Feb. 23-25 Feb. 12-14 Feb. 1-3 Feb.
Beneshwar Fair Beneshwar(Dungarpur) 26-30 Jan. 14-18 Feb. 3-7 Feb. 21-25 Feb. 10-14 Feb. 30 Jan-3 Feb.
Braj Festival Bharatpur 2-4 Feb. 2-4 Feb. 2-4 Feb. 2-4 Feb. 2-4 Feb. 2-4 Feb.
Elephant Festival Jaipur 28 Feb. 19 Mar. 7 Mar. 26 Mar. 16 Mar. 5 Mar.
Kailadevi Fair Karauli 12 Mar. 31 Mar. 19 Mar. 7 Apr. 28 Mar. 17 Mar.
Gangaur Festival Jaipur 18-19 Mar. 6-7 Apr. 25-26 Mar. 13-14 Apr. 2-3 Apr. 22-23 Mar.
Mewar Festival Udaipur 18-20 Mar. 6-8 Apr. 25-27 Mar. 13-15 Apr. 2-4 Apr.
22-24 Mar.
Mahaveerji Fair Mahaveerji 24-30 Mar. 12-18 Apr. 1-6 Apr. 20-25 Apr. 8-15 Apr. 28 Mar.-4 Apr.
Summer Festival Mount Abu 26-28 May 15-17 May 4-6 May 23-25 May 12-14 May 2-4 May
Teej Festival Jaipur 12-13 Aug. 2-3 Aug. 22-23 July 9-10 Aug. 30-31 July 17-18 Aug.
Kajli Teej Bundi 26-27 Aug. 15-16 Aug. 4 Aug. 22-23 Aug. 12-13 Aug. 31 Aug.- 1 Sept.
Dussehra Festival Kota 15-17 Oct. 4-6 Oct. 22-24 Oct. 12-14 Oct. 1-3 Oct. 21-22 Oct.
Matasya Festival Alwar 15-16 Sept. 4-5 Oct. 22-23 Oct. 12-13 Oct. 2-3 Oct. 21-22 Oct.
Marwar Festival Jodhpur 21-22 Oct. 10-11 Oct. 28-29 Oct. 17-18 Oct. 7-8 Oct. 26-27 Oct.
Pushkar Fair Pushkar
(Ajmer)
13-21 Nov. 2-10 Nov. 20-28 Nov. 9-17 Nov. 30 Oct.- 6 Nov. 18-25 Nov.
Chandrabhaga Fair Jhalawad 20-22 Nov. 9-11 Nov. 27-29 Nov. 16-18 Nov. 5-7 Nov. 24-26 Nov.
Bundi Utsav Bundi 24-26 Nov. 14-16 Nov. 1-3 Dec. 20-21 Nov.
Kumbhalgarh Festival Udaipur 21-23 Dec. 21-23 Dec. 21-23 Dec. 21-23 Dec.
Winter Festival Mount Abu 29-31 Dec. 29-31 Dec. 29-31 Dec. 29-31 Dec. 29-31 Dec. 29-31 Dec.