About India Outbound Magazine
India Outbound, a bi-monthly print magazine with dynamic web and social media presence focused on outbound travel from India, is published by Media India Group. Distributed all over India, and in all the top tourism events across the world, India Outbound caters mainly to the tourism professionals and is looking to develop new and innovative circuits and promote new destinations to the high-end travellers.
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 click to read the latest issue
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MGTO engages actress Fatima Sana Shaikh to showcase Macao
Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has recently initiated a social media led influencer campaign with Indian actress and influencer Fatima Sana Shaikh titled ‘Fun, Food & Fashion with Fatima’. The campaign aims to attract the independent and young women travellers of India to explore the destination renowned for its unique east-meets-west charm. The influencer campaign focuses on bringing alive what the city has to offer as culture, heritage, art, cuisine, adventure and the various attractions in Macao to the Indian tourists.
Fatima kick-started her Macao Moments exploring the various forms of art at the ongoing ‘Art Macao’ - a mega international and cultural art festival showcasing numerous paintings, sculptures, multimedia presentations that is being held until October at various locations in Macao. She also visited some of the iconic and must-visit monuments of Macao like the UNESCO heritage site Ruins of St Paul’s, one of the oldest religious A-Ma Temple and 3,700-square metre public plaza at the Historic Centre of Macao called Senodo Square. She also savoured local delicacies like the Portuguese’s custard Egg Tarts and almond cookies.
The city is also easily accessible from India and known as one of the safest destinations in the world. All these factors make it an ideal destination for Indian women travellers who want to enjoy a stress free and fun holiday.
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Taiwan allows selective visitors to spend a night at Presidential office
In celebration of its 100th anniversary, the Presidential Office Building in Taipei is offering select individuals the opportunity to spend the night there, as part of its ongoing campaign, “Spend a night @ Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building”. Visitors will stay in the Lih Xing Building and get to enjoy a Taiwanese breakfast and a guided tour of the compound.
Registration for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is open until August 31. All applicants must provide the relevant links to their personal social media profile, total subscriber/follower numbers and key engagement statistics. Selected visitors are also expected to upload a short video of their stay in Taiwan, which has been voted as the friendliest country in the world by expat network InterNations.
A panel of judges, including social commentator Wei-Hsiung Chan, travel writer Ugur Rifat Karlova and travel blogger Alston Hsu will evaluate all applications.
“Spend A Night @ Taiwan’s Presidential Office Building” has been made possible by a partnership between the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) and the General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC).
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Thailand waives off visa-on-arrival fees for Indians till April 2020
Thailand has been attracting tourists from India and other nationalities by offering them free visa-on-arrival (VoA) for quite some time now. Since this move has paid off well, in terms of numbers, Thailand has once again decided to extend the date of this deal. In its latest move to attract more travellers, Thailand has now waived off visa fees for Indian travellers till April 2020.
This means if you are planning a trip to Thailand during this timeframe, you get the option to save approximately INR 4,659 on VoA fees.
Thailand is keen to amp up its game by luring tourists for a travel experience as it has waived visa fees for 18 other countries. This gives a chance to travellers, who have already visited popular tourist spots in Thailand, to explore offbeat places such as Koh Tao, Thale Noi, Wat Phumin, and much more.
Latest reports state that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha referring to this development said that the cabinet approved the extension of fee waivers until April 2020, which is claimed to be a smart move to cover the Lunar and Thai New Year.
Other countries to be exempted from paying the VoA fees for this extended period till April 2020 are Bulgaria, Cyprus, Mauritius, Andora, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Fiji, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, San Marino, Latvia, Kazakhstan, China, Ethiopia, Bhutan, Malta and Papua New Guinea.
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Jordan sees 8.6 pc rise in tourism revenue
Latest figures show that Jordan’s tourism saw an 8.6 pc increase in revenue hitting USD 3.2 billion from around the world within seven months of 2019 (January- July 2019). The total number of tourists to Jordan has increased by 9.8 pc as compared to 2018 for the same period.
This year Jordan will further confirm its status as one of the most attractive holiday destinations by making visa-on-arrival process easy. The Queen Alia International Airport, Amman has recently introduced 12 new visa processing, purchasing counters for non-Jordanian passengers for entry visa.
Commenting on the increase of tourism revenue, Dr Abed Al Razzaq Issam Arabiyat, managing director, Jordan Tourism Board said, “We are very pleased to see a notable increase in the tourism revenue and it will definitely spill over in remaining months of 2019 and into 2020 as well. Aqaba has recently unveiled its first Underwater Military Museum with 19 decommissioned pieces of military hardware at the bed of Red Sea coast which will help us attract more visitors.”
“We look forward to welcoming even more tourists especially from India as it is an emerging market with a huge population and a growing economy, especially in the IT sector, which caters for the potential in the Indian market for MICE tourism, faith tourism, weddings, and movie production,” he added.
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Australia to include India in its working holiday visa programme
Australia plans to expand its 'Working Holiday Maker' visa programme to over a dozen countries, including India, to recruit workers to regional areas and solve its labour shortages particularly on farms, said immigration minister David Coleman. The Australian government is in discussions to extend the scheme to include backpackers from 13 countries to find workers wanted by regional businesses to work on farms.
The Australian Government's 'Working Holiday Maker Programme', which includes the 'Working Holiday visa and the Work and Holiday visa', is a cultural exchange programme which enables young travellers to have an extended holiday and earn money through short-term employment.
Coleman said the government was working on expanding work and holiday visa conditions in an effort to recruit workers to regional areas, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Under the current programme that allowed backpackers to work while they stay was witnessing a decline thus creating workers shortage issue in regional parts of the country.
"We know that working holiday-makers travel further into regional areas than most other international visitors," he said, adding "They also spend substantial amounts, helping to boost regional economies."
For being eligible for the visa, applicants must meet minimum requirements, including having a functional level of English and they must hold or be studying towards tertiary qualifications, said Coleman.
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