Britain launches new initiative to attract Indian tourists

September 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Five-star resort Venetian Macau, owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp and located in Macau, China, will open offices in major Indian cities in a bid to attract more Indian tourists. "We will open offices in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore by the year-end.

September 3rd, 2009 LADAKH - To attract more tourists, a 15 day long festival commenced in the polo ground of Jammu and Kashmir's Ladakh region on Tuesday. Union Tourism and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja, while inaugurating the festival, said that this event would help showcase the rich culture, heritage and lifestyle of Ladakh, as the modern-day tourist is travelling to experience the local culture and heritage and not just for sightseeing.

August 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Meghalaya Governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary called on Union Tourism Minister Kumari Selja here today and told here that Megahalaya has vast tourism potential both for domestic as well as foreign tourists. He said, leave travel concession to the Central Government employees to visit the north-east has made Meghalaya quite popular among tourists.

August 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and Singapore Tuesday signed a joint action plan which, officials said, would help both countries attract more tourists. According to the plan, tourists visiting Singapore will be offered an option to include a four-five day trip to India in their itinerary, thus adding variety to their holiday.

July 29th, 2009 Mexico City gives medical insurance to touristsMEXICO CITY — The Mexico City government has launched a program to provide medical insurance to cover tourists who face health problems while visiting the capital. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard says the program was proposed during the April swine flu outbreak that battered the tourism industry in the city, which is visited by about 7 million tourists each year.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India expects to attract 10 million foreign tourists by 2011 and is taking a number of steps in this regard, the Lok Sabha was informed Friday. Minister of State of Tourism Sultan Ahmed said the working group on tourism for the 11th Five Year Plan has set a target of 10 million international visitors by 2011.

July 20th, 2009 PANAJI - Former Goa law minister Francis D'Souza Monday said that the state government should desist from promoting foreign charter tourism and focus more on attracting domestic tourists to the state. I agree we see a lot of foreign charter tourists coming to Goa.

July 18th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Punjab administration upgraded doll museum to promote international tourism in Chandigarh. Established in 1985, the international doll museum has got a toy train and beautiful dolls representing 35 countries.

May 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India needs to attract more foreign tourists, whose number has dipped after the Mumbai terror attack and due to economic depression, Tourism Minister Kumari Selja said Saturday. "The tourism sector has a lot of challenges apart from attracting foreign tourists to India.

May 28th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Haryana's tourism department will organise a shopping festival at Gurgaon in December, the state's tourism minister Kiran Choudhry said here Thursday. The state has planned the event keeping in mind the increased number of foreign tourists expected to visit India for the Delhi Commonwealth Games next year.

April 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Switzerland sees no let up in the inflow of Indian tourists to the European country and hopes to attract even budget tourists in the coming season with accommodations at relatively inexpensive apartments, loaded with Indian food. 'In the past few years we have seen major influx of Indian tourists to Europe in general and Switzerland in particular,' said Swiss Ambassador Philippe Welti, launching a major promotional aimed at the tourists from this country.

March 24th, 2009 GANGTOK - Keen to improve tourist inflow into the State, the Sikkim Government recently launched a casino. With an annual increase of 20 per cent in tourist inflow in recent years, Sikkim is the only state in the country offering land based live casino facilities and complete casino gaming to tourists.

March 15th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - As the general elections approaching fast, the Congress party has opened internet kiosks launching e-campaign in Gujarat to woo young voters. The kiosks have laptops to show the achievements of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

January 9th, 2009 PANAJI - The number of foreign tourists flying into Goa fell by nearly 13 percent this holiday season, say the police. Russians have now become the second largest group of foreign tourists flying into the coastal state, after the British.

January 7th, 2009 CHENNAI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday launched a new initiative, the Global Indian Network of Knowledge, or Global INK, to bring India closer to its 25 million diaspora in 130 countries in the area of knowledge. The network initiative is aimed at providing opportunities for overseas Indian professionals and organisations to engage as partners in the development projects in India, the prime minister told delegates at the inauguration of the seventh Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here.