Category Travel

New Zealand is latest destination for Indian tourists

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By Neena Bhandari

Auckland (New Zealand), 10.02.2008 (IANS): An increasing number of Indian tourists are visiting New Zealand, known as the land of the long white cloud. In 2006-2007, as many as 20,946 Indians spent an average of 13.8 days in New Zealand, showing a growth of 8.3 percent over the previous year.

Most visitors are choosing to stay in 4- or 5-star hotels, luxury lodges and boutique accommodation on an average spending NZ$3,425 (Rs.105,782), excluding airfare, per person per trip – higher than the average of NZ$3,115 (Rs.96,304) spent by tourists from other countries. Continue reading →

A passionate Aussie campaigner for India’s ‘toy trains’

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The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Photo Credit: Shekhar Ghoshal

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 28.10.2007 (IANS): Sydney, Oct 26 (IANS) : An Australian professor’s childhood fascination for trains combined with academic conviction has made him a passionate campaigner for some of India’s most romantic mountain railways.

Robert Lee, an associate professor at the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of Western Sydney, has been instrumental in two Indian railways – the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the Nilgiri Mountain Railway – winning World Heritage status in 1999 and 2004 respectively.

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More and more Aussies soaking up ‘Incredible India’ experience

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 23.09.2007 (IANS): While Australia is becoming a favoured destination for Indians asking “Where the bloody hell are you?”, Aussies are going in steadily large numbers for the “Incredible India” experience. With only 50,000 Aussies travelling to India in 2003, the number shot up to 106,000 in 2006 and this year has seen an increase of about 18 percent.

“We are hoping to see 130,000 Aussies visiting India by the end of this year,” says the regional director of the Indian Tourism Office in Sydney, Shanker Dhar. “We are hoping to see 130,000 Aussies visiting India by the end of this year,” says the regional director of the Indian Tourism Office in Sydney, Shanker Dhar.

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