The travel recovery in India is driven by religious fervour, reveals the latest edition of OYO Cultural Travel 2022 Roundup Report. The report highlights that Varanasi is the top religious destination for bookers across India followed by Tirupati, Puri, Amritsar and Haridwar. Alongside these cities, Shirdi, Rishikesh, Mathura, Mahabaleshwar and Madurai are the other strong spiritual tourism destinations in India, witnessing maximum growth in bookers over the past year. Varanasi is one of the top pilgrim cities for both Hindus and Buddhists which explains its popularity among the religious tourist destinations across India. With rising interest in community experiences across India, a lot of travellers are now looking forward to exploring rich cultural destinations, lesser-known locations, royal palaces and spiritual or wellness destinations. Post the festive holiday season this year, Global hospitality technology platform, OYO reveals interesting insights on spiritual and pilgrimage travel across India. As per OYO’s booking data insights, August, received the maximum demand for pilgrimage destinations. As per OYO’s booking data analyzed between August to October 2022, Varanasi emerged as the top destination with the maximum number of bookings across spiritual destinations in India. Interestingly, the city observed maximum footfall on the 13th of August due to the festive holiday season in India. While Varanasi scored on the maximum bookings and high growth, the maximum increase in bookings have been observed across Shirdi, Tirupati and Puri at 483%, 233% and 117% respectively. Amritsar and Haridwar also witnessed strong growth. Alongside these cities, Mathura, Mahabaleshwar and Madurai are emerging spiritual tourism destinations in India, witnessing maximum growth over the past year. Top 10 spiritual tourism destinations in India Growth in 2022 VS 2021 Varanasi 56% Tirupati 233% Puri …

The Sultanate of Oman is a land of breathtaking natural beauty that is linked together with a myriad of mythology and historical events. Oman is the ideal destination for anyone looking for an authentic Arabian experience since it is the oldest independent state in the Arab world. The Sultanate has embraced modernity and progress, while preserving the fundamental elements of its culture and tradition. Oman is the only country in the world whose primary natural resources are rocks from the Earth’s mantle and oceanic crust. Oman’s heritage and history of seafaring, trading, and discovery are ingrained in its culture. Omanis are hospitable to foreign visitors, which is seen in the lavish hospitality shown to them. Oman is home of one of the world’s biggest underground caverns, the Majlis Al Jinn. Located in the center of Mount Hajar on the northern plateau of Salma, is quite enormous. It is 340 meters long, 128 meters broad, and more than 120 meters high. The Al Hajar Mountains, also known as The Stone Mountains, are one of Oman’s most breathtaking areas, while Jabal Al Akhdar, also called Green Mountain, is a climb away at 2,000 meters above sea level and overlooks a magnificent gorge, surrounded by The Hajar Mountains. Muttrah Souk is the oldest marketplaces in Oman. It is a center of the country’s trading past for goods coming from the Middle East, Europe, China, and other countries for centuries as they went via the port of Muscat. It remains as bustling as ever, selling traditional fabrics, apparel, jewellery, incense, pipes, pottery, handicrafts, fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices. Dhofar, Ẓufār in Arabic, enjoys extraordinary climatic conditions, which effects the southwest coast and hilly terrain. …

One of the advantages of reaching early at airports is being able to spend some quality time at the lounges. The havens of luxury, equipped with gourmet food, wellness and spa, make airport lounges worth acquiring. From helping customers reduce travel anxiety to making their spending time at the airport more pleasant, airport lounges have become a blessing in disguise for travellers. Encalm Hospitality Private Limited, which is already established as a pioneer in creating delightful airport experiences, has introduced a new lounge at IGI Airport Terminal 3 to provide seamless travel experiences and elite lounging facilities.   Encalm Lounge at International Terminal 3— a culmination of the best of aviation & hospitality Founded in 2021, the hospitality and meet-and-greet service provider is redefining and developing new benchmarks of airport hospitality. Encalm has already established a level of excellence with its existing lounge at Terminal 1 Departure and with the launch of the new lounge at Terminal 3 the brand is scaling newer heights. Located at Mezzanine Level, Terminal 3, International Departures, IGI Airport in New Delhi, the magnificent Encalm lounge is spread over 12,238 sq. ft of floor space with a seating capacity of 245. From uninterrupted WiFi and gourmet and international cuisines to beautiful aesthetics and comfort, Encalm is for travellers who prefer the best of hospitality. Retaining the world-class service commitment, which has now become identical to ‘Encalm’, the brand is focused on delivering memorable lounge services, wherein the bar & dining area gives fulfilling and wonderful airport experiences to travellers in India.   Talking about how Encalm is working towards providing the utmost comfort to travellers, the company’s CEO, Mr Vikas Sharma said, “Encalm aims to deliver …

Bali, the stunning Indonesian island, attracts millions of global travellers every year, particularly Indians! That’s because not only is it affordable, it also shares several cultural similarities with India, making it the perfect destination for Indian weddings. To cater to this very special customer base, AYANA Estate, a 90-hectare integrated luxury resorts in Jimbaran, Bali, and home to four luxury hotels, AYANA Villas Bali, AYANA Segara Bali, AYANA Resort Bali and RIMBA by AYANA Bali, has announced alluring customised wedding at some of its magnificent and dreamlike wedding venues. Guided and inspired by Tri Hita Karana, a Balinese philosophy for life that evokes harmonious living with inner-being, other human beings and nature, AYANA Estate offers ideal venues to solemnize the union of a lifetime. With AYANA’s legendary five-star service and personalisation, it allows guests to create a romantic wedding celebration that is truly exclusive for the guests and their loved ones, while offering a Bali wedding experience of a lifetime. The estate comes with 15 lavish and breath-taking venues, with indoor and outdoor options, that looks straight out of a fairy tale. For an intimate wedding, look no further than the iconic Rock Bar. Within eleven years of opening, Rock Bar has blossomed into a legend in its own right. Situated at the edge of paradise, within meters of the Indian Ocean’s sapphire waters, Rock Bar offers Bali’s foremost al fresco wedding reception destination. For a truly unique wedding reception experience surrounded by shimmering seas, AYANA’s exclusive KISIK Pier is the only private pier in Bali available for hotel wedding receptions. Other venues boast sizeable area for a glorious Indian wedding with hundreds of guests. The AYANA Villas spread across …

A strong contingent of top Bollywood Production Houses such as A strong contingent of top Bollywood Production Houses such as, Raju Hirani Films , Red Chillies , Lyca ,Reliance Entertainment and CEO of Producers Guild of India  amongst others, were recently hosted in Turkiye for a familiarisation tour. The trip spanning 2nd to 7th December witnessed the crème de la crème of Bollywood. Turkiye and Bollywood have had a long-standing strong relationship, and their collaborations have always been fruitful. Prior to the pandemic, major blockbusters such as Race 2, Dil Dhadakne Do, and Ek Tha Tiger were shot in Turkiye, showcasing the country’s picturesque beauty and enthralling magnificence. After the pandemic, once the travel restrictions were uplifted, Indian superstars Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif visited Turkiye to finish filming on their upcoming movie in 2023, Tiger 3. The title track of the film was shot in the breathtaking sceneries of Istanbul and Cappadocia, with even Turkish actors being a part of the film for an action sequence. Despite the pandemic, Indian Production Companies have consistently shown significant interest in filming movies in Turkiye. This familiarisation tour allowed Production Houses to explore Turkiye’s renowned and famous cities. During their five-day trip, representatives of these production houses explored Antalya and Istanbul from a film location perspective. The visitors were given a chance to interact and conduct one-on-one meetings with the local line producers to get better clarity on the filmmaking process in Turkiye. A key highlight of this FAM was the discussion of these Bollywood representatives with the Turkish General Directorate of Cinema about the incentives available to the Production Companies, in case they plan to shoot their upcoming projects in Turkiye. …

Akasa Air, India’s youngest airline, today inaugurated its maiden flight from Visakhapatnam, its tenth city, marking the airline’s foray into the state of Andhra Pradesh. Akasa Air will offer double daily flights on the Visakhapatnam-Bengaluru route; the second frequency with the added benefit of an early morning option will start from December 12, 2022. This launch to Visakhapatnam, a city playing a key role in India’s aviation growth story, further reiterates Akasa Air’s commitment towards enhancing regional connectivity and strengthening important transportation links in our country. The airline’s operations from Visakhapatnam will cater to the increased demand for travel from the city while offering its signature warm and reliable service to passengers on the most affordable fares. Earlier in December, Akasa Air announced the addition of Lucknow as the eleventh destination on its network, with flights connecting the city with Bengaluru and Mumbai, scheduled to commence from December 25, 2022. Since its launch in August this year, Akasa Air has been progressively scaling up its operations and by December end expects to cross over 500 weekly f lights on a total of sixteen routes across 11 cities – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Guwahati, Agartala, Pune, Visakhapatnam and Lucknow. It will continue to grow its network to establish a strong pan-India presence focusing on the metro to tier 2 & 3 route connectivity, using a fleet expansion plan that adds one new aircraft every 15 days. Akasa Air’s fleet size will be 18 aircraft by the end of March 2023 and over the next four years, the airline will add 54 additional aircraft, taking its total fleet size to 72 aircraft. Bookings for flights on Akasa Air are available …

Business travel has made a strong comeback in India after two years post pandemic. OYO has recorded an 83% year-on-year uptick in bookings in business cities, between April and November this year. According to the company’s Business Travel Trends Report 2022, Delhi emerged as the most-booked business city. 

A unique integrated limited validity tourist pass has been introduced by the Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal in Association with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to facilitate easy and convenient access initially to 21 places of tourist interest across Kolkata for both domestic and international tourists visiting the city of joy. This project has been initiated by the Department of Tourism as part of the FAITH policy recommendations and will soon be made available online or obtained through recognized tour operators or at any other authorized POS. The access and the validity of the pass will be managed digitally through a specially designed QR-based application. The visitor can pick and choose the places of interest and obtain the same through an online payment. Truly an effective and meaningful initiative and I am super delighted to be part of this project.

The Kerala government is planning to create a woman-friendly tourism network with over one lakh women travellers and entrepreneurs as members, said state tourism minister P A Mohammed Riyas. More than 1000 women have already registered in the programme. 

This popular excursion to Mt Titlis transports visitors to a world of ice and snow. The iconic revolving cable car, Rotair, takes visitors 3062m above sea level to the summit where panoramic views await them. This webinar will highlight the Titlis excursion along with its various offerings. Attend all webinars for a chance to win a trip to Switzerland in 2023. For more information, write tojaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.