Domestic tourist arrivals on the rise in Sikkim

October 7th, 2009 GANGTOK - Tourist arrivals in Sikkim record an increase due to its natural beauty and peaceful environment. Around 2,80,000 tourists visited Sikkim in the first five months of 2009, which is nearly 35 percent more than the last year.

September 17th, 2009 GANGTOK - Travel agents in Sikkim are a worried lot, as they fear a dip in domestic tourist arrivals in the state following the tension that prevails after reports of Chinese incursion and aggression along the international border. "From the tourist point of view the tourism movement...there seems to be lot of fear amongst the countrymen especially the domestic tourists because no body likes to go to a war zone," said Satish Bardewa, proprietor, Yak and Yeti Tour and Travel.

May 16th, 2009 GANGTOK - Counting of votes cast for elections to the 32 assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat of Sikkim began Saturday morning, poll officials said. Counting began at 8 a.m.

April 25th, 2009 GANGTOK - With an aim to give a fillip to the pilgrimage tourism in Sikkim, a Buddhist hub, the royal Bhutan Airlines has started a service between Bhutan and West Bengal has decided to link Sikkim, benefiting the Buddhist Circuit area. Lukendra Rasaily, General Secretary, Travel Agents Association Of Sikkim (TAAS), said that with the promotion of the Buddhist Circuit a lot more tourists would visit Sikkim.

April 15th, 2009 GANGTOK - At least 21 tourists from Kolkata were attacked in Sikkim by some assailants wielding swords because they refused to give way to the attackers on a narrow stretch of road, the police said Wednesday. The tourists were on their way to Lachung, a tourist getaway in north Sikkim mountains, when they came under the attack Tuesday night from some suspected political party activists who were canvassing in the area.

April 4th, 2009 GANGTOK - Bhutan's flagship carrier Druk Air will launch a new flight April 18 connecting Bagdogra in West Bengal with Paro in Bhutan and Thai capital Bangkok, it was announced here Saturday. An Airbus A-319 aircraft will fly the Paro-Bagdogra-Bangkok route twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays, Druk Air chief executive Tandin Jamso told reporters here.

March 30th, 2009 GANGTOK - Sikkim is blooming these days with ongoing orchid flower festival 2009'. The flower show commenced on March 21 at the exhibition center of Gangtok.

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 22nd, 2009 GANGTOK - Creative minds from across India came up with diverse paintings at a weeklong art festival in Sikkim. The festival started on March 16 and will end on March 23.

February 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The global meltdown, coupled with the Mumbai terror attacks, considerably impacted the foreign tourist arrivals in India and their number rose only 5.56 percent last year against the expected growth of 14.56 percent, the Rajya Sabha was informed Tuesday. 'The global meltdown has affected those countries that are our primary source of tourist arrivals.

February 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Tuesday denied media reports that it had reached an electoral alliance with the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Sikkim. The CPI-M said in a statement here that a party member, who attended a meeting where it was announced that the three parties were joining hands, does 'not represent the views of the Sikkim committee of the party'.

February 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Tourist arrivals to India were down by more than 17 percent in January due to the global economic crisis, Tourism Minister Ambika Soni told the Rajya Sabha Tuesday. Soni said there was a decline in foreign tourist arrivals to the country in the months of December 2008 and January 2009.

January 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The global meltdown and the terror attacks, especially the 26/11 Mumbai strike, has had no impact on foreign tourists' arrival in India as an estimated 5.37 million travellers came to the country in 2008, a statement issued by the tourism ministry said Monday. According to the latest tourism ministry figures, an estimated 5.37 million tourists came to India as compared to 5.08 million in 2007.

January 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Engineering and construction major Punj Lloyd has secured a Rs.2.64-billion contract from Airports Authority of India to construct a new airport in Sikkim, the company announced Tuesday. The project -- at Pakyong in East Sikkim and expected to be completed in 24 months -- includes the construction of a 30 metre wide runway of 1.7-km length, taxiway, apron drainage system and electrical work on the airport.

December 31st, 2008 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - All four and five-star hotels in Kerala have been asked to prepare a detailed layout plan and undergo a security audit, a state minister said Thursday. 'This has been undertaken in the aftermath of the recent Mumbai terror attacks.