The Goa government has decided to introduce green concept in all its forthcoming projects to preserve the coastal state's scenic beauty, State Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar said today. "For last 8-9 months we have been trying to introduce green concepts in our projects. We will continue doing that in our future projects," Parulekar told a conference organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Goa today on 'Riding the Next Wave of Green Practices'. The minister said that "green toilets" would be constructed by the ministry in tourist spots.

The Gujarat government is considering a new tourism policy to create the required tourism infrastructure for meeting the need of the sharp rise in tourist visiting the state, as per a TOI report by Rajiv Shah. This entails setting-up special tourism development authorities to cope with the problem. "While the proposal is being finalised, these authorities or zones will be on the lines of Special Investment Regions (SIRs) or urban development authorities," a senior official said.

Institute of Hotel & Tourism Management, MD University (IHTM–MDU), Rohtak organised one day national seminar on ‘Managing Sustainable Tourism Development’ on October 01, 2012 at IHTM-MDU Campus Rohtak. The seminar focused in the six theme areas for sustainable tourism development - HR development; economic impact of tourism; environmental management; infrastructure development and investment; facilitation of travel; and regional and sub regional cooperation.

The Kerala government will implement a Rs 250 crore northern circuit development project in Malabar to develop the tourism prospects of the region, A P Anilkumar, Minister of Tourism, Kerala has said, as per a TOI report. The Minister after

Demand for air transport continued to slow in August this year, with significant regional variations. Freight volumes shrank as business and consumer confidence continued to slip. However, compared to the previous year, demand for air travel expanded by 5.1 per cent in August 2012, according to International Air Travel Association (IATA).

Tourism New Zealand and Christchurch International Airport have launched a culinary tourism guide to New Zealand (NZ) to meet he needs of Halal travellers. The New Zealand Halal Guide to NZ provides general tourism information and a list of Halal classified restaurants and cafes.

Arunachal Pradesh recorded a substantial increase in flow of both domestic and foreign tourists in the past three years, state's Tourism Minister Pema Khandu said. "An amount of 1.65 crore was earned as revenue by the department from tourists in the period,"

Arunachal Pradesh recorded a substantial increase in flow of both domestic and foreign tourists in the past three years, state's Tourism Minister Pema Khandu said. "An amount of 1.65 crore was earned as revenue by the department from tourists in the period," Khandu said in reply to a question raised in the Assembly on Friday.

A 325-metre long 18th century open air tunnel, connecting Amber Palace to Jaigarh fort in Jaipur, was today inaugurated by Rajasthan tourism minster Bina Kak after its excavation and renovation. "It is being inaugurated before the beginning of tourism season here and I hope that it will attract tourists, and also help elderly people to reach Jaigarh fort from Amer in a convenient manner in the carts,"

India Tourism, Mumbai in collaboration with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), will organise a tourism and cultural event to highlight the destinations of Maharashtra, at Phoenix Market City Mall, Kurla (Atrium No 6), from October 4 to 7, 2012. The resources of the state will be up for display with colorful stalls depicting Maharashtrain culture, dance,

The Sindhudurg Guide, an initiative launched by Nitesh Narayan Rane, Chief of Swabhimaan Sanghatana, earlier this year to promote and sustain tourism in Sindhudurg district and provide employment to the local youth, introduced four products on World Tourism Day on September 27 this year. At the launch of the new products, Rane inaugurated the Malvan Tourist Facility Counter at Malvan beach to provide assistance to tourists for booking hotels, cars, guides, water sports and sightseeing services. With 50 trained guides, The Sindhudurg Guide also launched their website -

The Centre today urged the Supreme Court to allow regulated, low-impact tourist activities in up to 20 percent of the core/critical tiger habitat in the country as part of the exercise to promote tourism. In the fresh guidelines formulated for states following the the apex court's interim ban imposed on July 24 on all tourist activities in the core areas of areas of tiger reserves, the government also said that to protect the tiger population, no new tourism infrastructure should be created.

The Central Dooars Ecotourism Information Centre, initiated by the Association for Conservation and Tourism (ACT) - Central Dooars Committee in collaboration with local tourism associations in Jaldapara National Park, Buxa Tiger Reserve and Chilapata Sanctuary, was inaugurated last week at Madarihat on National Highway 31A, Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal. The guests of honour Anil Adhikary, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Falakata, and Wilson Champramari, MLA, Kalchini, inaugurated the centre. Dr Amal Kanti Roy, Sub-Divisional Officer, Alipurduar, was the special guest, while Soumyadeep Dutta, Founder of Nature Beacons, was the chief guest. ACT has provided Rs 25,000 to the Central Dooars Committee to arrange the interiors of the office and put up necessary display boards.

Kingfisher Airlines is in talks with foreign carriers to sell a portion of its stake, Vijay Mallya, Chairman of the airline said today, as per an Economic Times. However, Mallya did not disclose the name of the foreign carriers or the exact stake the ailing airline plans to offload,

Amadeus, a transaction processor and provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel and tourism industry, recently signed a long-term partnership with Taiwanese international airline EVA Airways. The airline has selected the Amadeus Altéa suite to manage its international passenger load. The partnership comes after the airline’s application for membership was accepted by Star Alliance, for which Amadeus is the preferred IT platform provider.

The three-day Mini Retreat organised by World Travel & Tourism Council, India Initiative (WTTCII) at Bekal in North Kerala recently explored the common meeting grounds for development of tourism in the Southern region. Tourism representatives, including Tourism Ministers and top decision-makers of the state governments of the Southern region participated in the deliberations. They exchanged ideas on various issues affecting inter-State Tourism Circuit Development, like the new tourism products/policy that each state is planning to bring to the fore, the necessary infrastructure, policy and other interventions needed to make these initiatives a success.

Parvez Dewan, IAS, will replace Rajen Habib (R H) Khwaja as Secretary - Tourism, Government of India. A 1977-batch IAS of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) cadre, Dewan will assume office from first week of October 2012 in the Ministry of Tourism. Dewan has been Secretary in Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs before this.

Odisha Tourism has identified 44 properties under the ownership of Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) to be leased out to private investors with experience in the field, as part of their tourism infrastructure development programme. These properties are in addition to the 33 properties that the state tourism had leased out to private businesses last year. The 44 properties identified include Tourist Complexes, Wayside Amenities, Tourist Accommodation Units, etc., spread across 24 different projects. While 30 of these properties will be leased out in packages, comprising more than one property in it, the rest will be leased out as individual properties.

The Ministry for Civil Aviation is considering a plan to relax the minimum requirements for Indian carriers to fly overseas and it will shortly approach the Cabinet, informed Ajit Singh, Minister for Civil Aviation, Government of India.

Iqbal Mulla, National President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) along with Subhash Verma, President, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) and Subhash Goyal, President, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) were invited recently to Madhya Pradesh (MP) by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister (CM) for a discussion on the new Tourism Policy of the state. According to a report in the Hitavada, Sunil Notani, National Working Committee member, TAAI was also present for the meeting which included officials of the Tourism Development Corporation of MP. Notani informed that several issues were discussed at the meeting.