Saturday, March 12, 2011

Delhi's Airport Metro makes you Fly, Marvel Passengers

Mohammad Kamil, a 42-year-old non-resident Indian returning from Saudi Arabia, is in complete awe of the Metro Express that takes one from the New Delhi railway station to the international airport in just 20 minutes.

"I can't differentiate between Saudi Arabia and India right now. The speed, comfort and the time and money I save by using it - it's just fantastic value. With such developments, I feel proud to be an Indian," Kamil told IANS.
 As more and more people get to use the new Metro line, they are loving the ambience, the speed, and its super efficiency. Proud residents say the Delhi Airport Metro Express will play a pivotal role in transforming Delhi into a world class city.

According to officials of the Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt Ltd (DAMEPL), around 7,000 travellers are using the service on a daily basis.

The airport express line commenced operations Feb 23 and is Delhi Metro's first public-private partnership project. Delhi Metro is responsible for the civil work and Reliance Infrastructure will operate the line for 30 years and share the revenues.

The 20-km journey takes 20 minutes and LCD screens display flight information inside the train coaches. The distance otherwise takes over an hour to cover by road.

"I took the Metro from the New Delhi railway station and it should have taken 20 minutes to reach here, but the journey was completed in just 19 minutes," said an amazed Nazir Iqbal, who had come to drop his sister at the airport.

According to Sharad Sahni, the new Metro line is a wonderful alternative to other modes of transport like taxis and uncomfortable auto-rickshaws.

"You have the luxury to travel air-conditioned at half the price of other public transport and minus the jams, heat and smoke," said the second-time traveller.

"The speed at which it is travelling - I read it is 105 km per hour - you get the feel of an aircraft and with the superb amenities at the stations, our air journey begins the minute we enter the Metro station!" Sahni added.

However, some travellers opined that the tickets could have been cheaper and direct baggage check-in from the station should be introduced as soon as possible. Officials say this will be possible in a few months. The travel from the New Delhi railway station to the airport costs 80 and the full journey up to Dwarka Sector-21 costs 100. 

Source: www.siliconindia.com

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Friday, January 7, 2011

10 great places for travel bargains in 2011

Even if your budget is stretched, 2011 can still be a year of travel. It's just a matter of choosing the right place.

Far from resenting your presence, local business owners are glad to have you there filling hotels and restaurants. Leffel shares his tips for this year's bargain vacation spots with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY.
Mexico
Although drug-related violence has been concentrated near the U.S. border, many travelers have avoided the entire country. That means incredible bargains in Cancun, Cabo San Lucas and other resort areas.
Nepal
You don't have to be a mountain climber to experience the home of Mount Everest. Visitors can take fascinating cultural tours out of Kathmandu.
The Asian country has been a bargain destination for a decade, and there's no reason that will change in 2011, Leffel says. Resort islands like Bali are easy to reach, and although the country is popular with Australians.
Honduras
With first-class diving and Mayan ruins, Honduras has long been a bargain vacation spot. But tourists have stayed away since a political power struggle in 2009.
Vietnam
Whether you're a backpacker looking for $5-a-night flophouse, or a high-end visitor seeking a luxury hotel, you'll find bargains here. Vietnam is one of the few Asian countries where the dollar gained value in 2010.
This Mediterranean country has been attracting tourists for millennia, and despite its recent debt crisis, that's not going to change. But the protests and strikes, compounded with the recession that has cut the number of European visitors, means there's excess capacity now.
Ireland
It's likely the Emerald Isle's financial crisis will bring travel discounts this year, Leffel says. The country added scores of hotels during its recent economic boom, and now hoteliers are reporting trouble filling rooms.
Ethiopia
Not only does this African nation have incredible ruins and scenery, but its currency dropped more than almost any other — nearly 30% against the dollar in 2010. Ethiopia suffers from its location next to troubled Somalia.
Hungary
This Eastern European nation has all the charm of its western neighbors at lower costs. The country hasn't yet adopted the euro, and its currency fell more than 10% against the dollar in 2010.
The USA
Few people realize what a travel bargain they have at home. Look for deals in places that depend on conventions, such as Las Vegas and Orlando. If you stay away from holiday and peak travel periods, you can find great deals.
More at: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/10great/2011-01-06-travel-bargains-2011_N.htm
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Sunday, October 10, 2010

Alex Salmond travel to Delhi Commonwealth Games

Scotland's first minister is to travel to Delhi this week to support the Scottish Commonwealth Games team.

Alex Salmond is also expected to make an announcement about Scotland forming closer ties with India in areas such as business and tourism.

The trip will run until Thursday's closing ceremony, during which the official handover of the Games to Glasgow will take place.

The city is due to host the next Commonwealth Games in 2014.

The Scottish government said the first minister would visit the athletes' village to meet members of Team Scotland.

Officials said Mr Salmond would also announce "significant" Indian investment and job creation in Scotland and hold "high level" ministerial meetings with the Indian government.

Mr Salmond said: "Our athletes are performing fantastically well in Delhi, all of Scotland is behind them, and I am proud to attend the Commonwealth Games to show support for their achievements.

"I would also like to wish the Scottish cast at the closing ceremony the best of luck.
"They will be great ambassadors for the country as Scotland assumes host nation status."

Mr Salmond said Scotland already had very strong ties with India.'Emerging markets'
He added: "We have one of the most thriving Asian communities in the world - food, the arts, business and religious tolerance and diversification have all benefited enormously from the 35,000 Indian people who call Scotland home.

"As an emerging global economic power, India is an essential partner for Scotland."

The first minister said 11 Indian companies had made investments of £700m in Scotland during the past five years, employing more than 3,200 people.

An estimated 4,000 Indian students also study at Scottish colleges and universities.

Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, said there were "tremendous opportunities" for Scottish companies to develop trade and investment partnerships with their Indian counterparts.

VisitScotland's chief executive Malcolm Roughead said this week presented an opportunity to showcase Scotland on a world stage.

He said: "Tourism from India is worth around £15m to Scotland and is one of the emerging markets with greatest growth potential.

"Engaging with travel agents, trade contacts and the media face-to-face in India will allow us to capitalise on this potential."

Source: bbc.co.uk

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Saturday, October 2, 2010

New Travel Guide App for iPhone

A unique travel guide application has been launched on the iPhone. The mTrip Travel Guides launched on the iPhone on June, 21. The mTrip application launched with city guides for nine US and European cities. mTrip aids in planning your itinerary to guiding you around the city. It also describes and show tourist attractions, hotels and many places of interest. The nine cities that are on the application are London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, New York, San Francisco and Chicago. The application comes in English, French, German, Spanish and
Italian.


New Travel Guide App for iPhoneThe mTrip iPhone application has the automated itinerary planner. This is done by suggesting a personalised trip based on the travellers interest, trip dates and other useful information. It can plan the time and pace for the Tourist based on an advanced algorithm.

The world travel guide also comes with a lot of tourist attractions. Falk CIS, one of Europe’s leading travel content providers provide all the expert information on the application. From this you can pick quality restaurants, view their pictures and even their ratings.

The travel guide pinpoints the exact location of the traveller automatically. It then displays the best route to navigate to where you want to go. The traveller also has the option of viewing any places of interest in his current location. This can be done in offline mode causing no roaming fees.

Without connecting to the internet, the user of the application can also view tourist attraction in an area at a heightened, surreal view.

You can also stay in touch with others on the application. You can send postcards through Facebook and personal emails. Sharing is free and limitless.

“Travel preparation, sightseeing and trip sharing are completely re-defined with the arrival of travel applications. Apps should support the traveller in a quick and easy way with rich, updated information and clever offline functionalities for the most optimal trip experience. With this first series of city guides, we have brought together expert content, traveller’s feedback and the latest technologies available on the market,” says Frederic de Pardieu, CEO and Founder of mTrip. “We want travellers to remain stress-free, enjoy discovering new attractions and almost forget that they are even using a guide,” says de Pardieu.

Source: Businessservicenews.com

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Saturday, July 17, 2010

Facebook Buys Travel Guide Start-Up

It’s not just Google that’s interested in firms that work in the travel industry. Social networking giant Facebook has bought NextStop, a startup that allows users to create their own travel guides and share it with others who are not familiar with the places they’re visiting, reports ComputerWorld.

The move is inline with Facebook’s current development of providing location-based services to its users. Though the company has not disclosed the price of the acquisition, it has also bought most of NextStop’s assets.

As a result, NextStop’s website will be closing down on September 1 of this year. Users will have time to export their content with tools that will be provided by NextStop.

It will make its content available on the Internet under a Creative Commons CC-BY license allowing other services to make use of it. Users who do not wish their content to be included in “public sharing” can write NextStep. Users will also not have to worry about their personal information as it will not be shared to Facebook.

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