Distinction in travel journalism
Is independent travel journalism important to you?
Click here to keep it independent

8 Nov, 2013

Major Upgrade for Incredibleindia.org to Enhance Functionality, User-Friendliness

=========

Ministry of Tourism, 07-November, 2013 – Ministry of Tourism has added three more services on its website www.incredibleindia.org to provide more comprehensive information to tourists at one place. The objective of the new changes is to put the entire gamut of tourism services online, from the initial planning of the trip to the final visit to the places of interest.

1. Travel Planner: Prospective tourists begin their vacation process by planning their visit. Google has devised a unique travel planner for Incredibleindia.org which is going live today, making Incredibleindia.org perhaps the only national tourism website to offer this facility. Prospective tourists are asked to choose:-

(a) Season;

(b) One out of six regions of India at a time (or a specific city); and

(c) One out of 13 areas of interest (e.g. adventure, beaches, wildlife, spirituality, etc.)

After that, when the potential tourist clicks the enter button, the map of India gives a choice of places related to that interest. When a specific red dot is clicked, five kinds of information will appear on the screen:

(i) A video showing what the location looks like;

(ii) Still photographs of that location;

(iii) A short write-up about the location;

(iv) The current temperature of that location; and

(v) How to get there.

(2) Visas: The second thing the prospective planner wants is information about Indian visas. Incredibleindia.org already has the “India Visa Online Button” as well as a button leading to information about “Tourist Visas on Arrival” for selected countries.

(3) International Flights to and from India: International tourists then want to plan their flight to an international airport in India. At present they can plan journeys to three international airports namely, Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi.

(4) Flights within India: International as well as domestic tourists next want to book tickets between one airport and another within India. They can do so on all five domestic airlines through Incredibleindia.org.

(5) Trains: The next thing that many tourists want to do is to travel by train to places not served by airports and also to places served by airports. They can book tickets through the IRCTC by clicking a button on Incredibleindia.org.

(6) Buses: Travellers within India can now book bus tickets within selected States through a facility devised by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and available on Incredibleindia.org.

(7) Hotels: On reaching their destination travellers need a hotel. The Incredibleindia site allows travellers to go to the sites of the three major hotel associations, which in turn direct the traveller to individual hotels and hotel groups.

(8) Directions within a city: The website Incredibleindia.org offers directions within a State not only through a map but also through virtual walking tours. This facility is being provided by WoNoBo.com. It has launched 12 walking tours in five cities earlier this month.

(9) 360° views: Having found directions, visitors now reach the place they have come to see. Google has already put short 360° views of several sites on the Travel Planner mentioned above. WoNoBo.Com is working on 360° views and virtual tours within another 100 monuments. Both projects have been made possible by the Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

(10) Sound and Light Shows: Incredibleindia.org is the only website in the world to offer complete audios of upto 60 minutes each of 15 Indian Sound and Light Shows in stereophonic sound.

(11) Audio Guides within monuments: Free audio guides shall be provided on most kinds of smart phones through an alliance with M/s Audio Compass. M/s Google, WoNoBo.com and Audio Compass have entered into Memorandums of Understanding with the Ministry of Tourism in response to an Expression of Interest (EOI) floated by the Ministry earlier this year. All three are providing their services free of charge to Incredibleindia.org and, thus, to the consumers.