Sports Tourism in India is blossoming in full bloom

To define sports tourism in India may have been an alien concept to strive through in the earlier times but in the last five years, our very beloved nation has progressed rapidly in the sports tourism industry and so, experts have happily predicted the inevitable. Although sports tourism in India can be called a niche segment, the estimated expected sports tourism development in the country which is at the rate of 10 to 20%, clearly shows that India has immense potential of blooming out as one of world’s best adventure sports tourism destinations.  

Wondering what is sports tourism in India like? Just imagine you and your friends backpack and land up on this wonderful land of and get to witness some of world’s most spectacular, frenzy filled and super-exciting sporting events. Cricket, for example, is one of the sports in India which has a massive fan following all over the nation, starting from the remotest desert villages to the Himalayas!!

So, if you are sports freak too you can just buy your tickets and land up in the stadium to catch the live ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 between India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka or simply take full fledged opportunity to visit India to witness the crazy fans and the passionate game during a T20 tournament. If you are not a cricket guy or a gal, sports tourism in India has loads of other options for you in the form of formula one races and so on and on and on as long as the list of games is on.

Studies on sports tourism in India has revealed that sports enthusiasts are so passionate about this whole concept of conjugating sports and tourism together that they are more than ready to spend “top dollar” to set out on their sports tourism globetrotting mission and experience the real thrill of LIVE sports. What comes on the platter of sports tourism in India is that they simultaneously get to enjoy the various tourism hotspots and not to mention their lip smacking cuisines, great hospitality and shopping to ecstasy.

Adventure sports tourism is another segment of the sports tourism industry of India and people who love the sudden rushes of adrenaline in their body would love what the country has on offer. Some of the best enjoyed adventure sports in India encapsulate scuba diving, paragliding, ziplining, caving, bunjee jumping, trekking and river rafting to name a few while adventure tourist destinations in India to die for certainly include places like Uttaranchal, Andaman and Nicobar, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

Sports tourism development in India has thus, experienced a remarkable rise in the number of travellers from abroad as well as the mushrooming of Indian tour agents for promoting and inviting the tourists willing to come and experience the thrill of sports tourism in India. Way to Go India!!!

Picture Sources:

indialine.com

thesportstourist.blogspot.com

tourindiadetails.blogspot.com

coastaltourism.in

southasiafair.com

Exclusive Honeymoon Tips for a Romantic Honeymoon (Part I)

If you are reading this blog, chances are fair you badly want some honeymoon tips to impress your would be. So, whether you are soon to get married or you have just tied the knot and now looking for honeymoon tips for spending a romantic honeymoon with your soul mate, here are some exclusive and ultra romantic tips for honeymoon to get you and your sweetheart sailing smoothly on this sweet journey of love. But before we begin to discover these secret honeymoon tips, pack away all your stress and worries of your wedding day and relax. Now….enter the world of deep love and intimate romance and create a world of perfect fantasy with these exciting tips for honeymoon…

Romantic honeymoon tips I - When you are lost in seclusion with your soul mate…what will you choose? Seduction of course! Seclusion and seduction go hand in hand like you and your soul mate and they rhyme too!! And, one great way to seduce your way to your sweetheart’s killing bareness is to master the art of massage. Well, well… mastering massage techniques to become a perfect masseuse may not possibly happen in few hours or few days but you can secretly learn some easy honeymoon tips for massaging your soul mate to end up the night in a “guaranteed satisfaction”!!!

Romantic honeymoon tips II – Now that you are here to learn the most romantic tips for honeymoon, let me also tell you the importance of massage oils and lotions. For creating the perfect world of fantasy and enamoring your sweetheart in your charming love massage, pack in some Lavender, Jasmine, Patchoul, Cedarwood and Ylang Ylang oils in your vacation bag and mix them with the massage oil or lotion before the massage. The last thing you will want is to ignorantly pick up some meditation oils and drive your partner to a spiritual sleep!!!

Romantic honeymoon tips III - How can my tips for honeymoon night be complete without mentioning music? If you are fond of blues and jazz and mind numbing metallic, detach from them for some time and add that air of romance in the environment with some personally collected soft and melodious romantic favorites of yours and your sweetheart. This is the best way of setting the mood for getting intimate.

Romantic honeymoon tips IV - What better way to ignite the passion of love than candles? This is one of my favorite honeymoon tips I love to share. Get lots and lots of candles in different aromas like Jasmine, vanilla, strawberry and make special arrangements with the hotel staff or yourself for arranging them in your room before the two of you get there. A combination of white and red or simply white vanilla candles is often just enough to set the spark of romance. But I promised exclusive tips for honeymoon night in this blog and so I will share another secret, what many forget or never care to mention. They are arranging pink, red and/or white fragrant flowers and flower petals along with the candles, while you scatter loads of them on the bed (this time not with the candles though!!!!)

Romantic honeymoon tips V –Now, it’s time to share the secret honeymoon tips for bride. These are the special honeymoon tips for girls because when it comes to catch the man of your dreams off guard and kill him with your mischievous bare essentials look, there is no playing wrong with the lingerie. Silks and satins are the best fabrics for bridal lingerie which you can pick in gorgeous pink, sassy black, beautiful white or ravishing red.

Romantic honeymoon tips VI –To make the best of your steamy romantic night together, wear your spouse’s favorite cologne or perfume and this, I bet friends, will drive your sweetheart crazy and make them fall in deep deep deeeeep love with you all over again. (But that’s not all, there are more honeymoon tips coming up, so watch this space)

Picture Sources:

rockwatersecretcoveresort.com

uniquereview.net

Goa Tourism Minister Writes Letter to Centre Requesting Visa Rules Relaxations

Experiencing a steep drop in the influx of international tourist, the minister of Goa tourism has made a request to the Centre to make arrangements for relaxing the visa rules and regulations by offering special concessions to the International travellers willing to tour Goa. The Goa tourism minister, Nilkant Halarnkar, wrote a letter to P Chidambaram, the Union home minister, to introduce relaxations in the India travel visa norms for the travellers visiting Goa, the beautiful coastal state of India.

According to the Goa tourism minister, most of Goa tourists comprise repeat visitors, who are now travelling to the Non-Indian coastal hotspots like Thailand and Sri Lanka, as both these countries are offering visa on arrival to their tourists. According to the Indian visa travelling norms, the international tourists need to wait for 2 months before they can re-visit the country, against the earlier Indian visa norm which was valid for the traveller for six months and the international visitors could come to and leave the country whenever they wished, and for that period of 5 to 6 months, Goa would become their preferred travel destination in India, while they also kept the surrounding destinations of Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand in their itinerary. Later again, they would again travel to Goa to spend the rest of their winter holidays.

This however, has become quite difficult in the Goa tourism scene in the recent times with the enforcing of the stringent India visa norms. So, while only 288 charters touched the soils of Goa in December 2010 against the 700 odd charters that landed in previous years, the hotels of Goa have experienced a dip of 30% dip in their revenues per room! Thus, like the minister of Goa tourism, we too would be eagerly expecting to bring some relaxation in the Indian travel visa rules and regulations so that tourism in Goa starts looking up again.

Image Credits:

goa-holidays-india.com

atriptogoa.com
outlookindia.com

Ten Hilton Worldwide hotels to add up to the India portfolio by 2011 end

The Hilton Worldwide Group which is currently operating three luxury hotels in India namely – Hilton Mumbai International Airport, Hilton Garden Inn New Delhi and Hilton Chennai are now planning to add up seven more accommodation facilities to this list of existing hotels and the project is hoped to be completed by the end of 2011. Presently, the Hilton Group has a total of 19 hotels in India, all of which are under different developmental stages. While two of these hotels will be under the operation of Conrad brand, three will be operated by the Hilton Garden Inn brand, while four of them will be under the Hampton brand and the rest of the five hotels will be under the operation of Hilton and Double Tree brands.

The President of Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide, Martin Rinck, was quoted as saying that he feels India has phenomenal growth potential and an enormous market despite there being several challenges and thus, dreams to introduce five of the ten Hilton Worldwide brands to the country. The President has also named the metros of Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and happening cities of Kochi, Jaipur, Goa, Pune, Hyderabad and Chandigarh as the places where the group is expected spread its wings. This sure exudes an aroma of luxury waves throughout the nation and luxury tourism in India will surely benefit and boost up international tourism in India.

Image Source:

travel.exportfocus.com

asiarooms.com

Magh Bihu 2011 – Festivals of Assam

The Magh Bihu 2011 was held from 14^th January to 16^th January. The Magh Bihu 2011 festival was celebrated with great pomp and show with an assorted foods prepared from the fresh harvests. The Assam Magh Bihu festival is also popularly known as Maghar Domahi or Bhogali Bihu, which means, Bihu of enjoyment. This harvest festival of Assam marks the end of the winter harvest season and is the Assamese way of celebrating Sankranti with grand feasts and merry bonfires that last for an entire week.

Magh Bihu Uruka

During the Magh Bihu festival in Assam, youths build up makeshift huts called meji ghar with the help of thatch, leaves and bamboo and inside these huts; they enjoy the feast in the gathering of their friends and families. Similar huts called Bhelaghar are also built. Both types of huts are built usually near a river on a rice field on the eve of Magh Bihu called Uruka. The entire festive night of Uruka is kept alive with bihu songs, which are played in tune with the rhythmic beats of the musical instrument “dhol,” similar to the drum. These huts are then, ritually set aflame on the next morning after the Magh Bihu feast. People gather around the meji ghar huts and throw rice pastries or pithas and betel nuts to the fire after setting the huts aflame. This is a ritualistic way of offering prayers to the Agni Dev or Fire God to mark the end of the harvest season. The next day is followed by celebrations when relatives visit each other, gather up in a community and distribute rice cakes and pastries made from coconut, til, rice and jiggery, to everyone.

Magh Bihu Entertainment

The Magh Bihu celebration is also marked by exciting games and activities such as pot-breaking competition called tekeli bhonga, bird fighting and buffalo fighting. Dance and music are also an integral part of the Magh Bihu festival in Assam.

Magh Bihu in other regions of India

The Assamese Magh Bihu festival is equivalent of the Makar Sankranti or the winter solstice cum harvest festival celebrated in South India as Pongal, Lohri in North India and Makar Sankranti in Central India.

Image Sources:

jpgmag.com

kavitasaharia-myroom.com