Tourist – Central News Hub

Kerala partners with IRCTC for new tourist packages

Apart from Indian tourists, there are plans to transport international travellers from Kerala airports, again using IRCTC air ticket booking service…reports Asian Lite News

With a view to expand its business and boost its revenue, the Kerala State Road Transportation Corporation is coming up with new ideas and packages. The PSU is in talks with the Government-run Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation to introduce affordable inter-State and international tour packages.

It is expected that KSRTC’s Budget Tourism Cell will launch such packages by December. Under these KSRTC buses will pick-up passengers and tourists from other States from railway stations and also drop them at the respective stations after the tour. This will be part of a pre-arranged single-ticketing system.

Apart from Indian tourists, there are plans to transport international travellers from Kerala airports, again using IRCTC air ticket booking service.

Hospitality sector

BTC is also thinking of making a foray in the hospitality segment. Elaborating on this, BTC State Coordinator Prasanth Vijay said: “We are planning to introduce ‘KSRTC Fresh’ with accredited hotels in Kerala to provide food to the passengers during long trips. An online food delivery service is also under consideration, by which passengers can order food at a destination and, by the time they reach there, food will be delivered.”

Interestingly, BTC was launched on November 1, 2021 and has completed a record of over 2,500 trips and handling over 1.20 lakh passengers. “The target for the first year is Rs 10 crore and we have crossed Rs 8.5 crore by September,” informed Vijay.

IRCTC medical tourism

To enhance the bouquet of its travel and tourism offerings, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has recently started online medical tourism packages for customers.

With this aim of providing a holistic experience of medical value, travel coupled with various other elements such as travel and accommodation arrangements, road transfers and optional wellness packages after the treatment, IRCTC has partnered with a medico-technical online services company on a pilot basis which will provide the entire back-end services to the customers availing various medical and wellness packages.

For availing of the medical tourism services, a customer has to log in to the tourism portal of IRCTC ‘www.irctctourism.com/MedicalTourism’ and fill up a basic enquiry form detailing his need for treatment. Once the enquiry is generated, the IRCTC team will call up the customer and explain to him the treatment options for the ailment as per the convenience and budget of the customer and will further enable the customer to take up the treatment handling all back-end arrangements.

With a substantial network of hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostic centres empanelled with its technical partner, IRCTC is offering medical treatment and wellness packages to its customers at highly competitive prices.

The company is aggressively marketing its medical tourism initiative through the network of its Pan India offices and has also conducted a product sensitization session for its officers and staff working in various zonal and regional offices.

It is worth mentioning that India is one of the most sought-after destinations in Asia for Medical Value Travel. The country has enormously progressed in the field of modern medicine in the last few decades and has created a unique ecosystem for holistic health which combines the best of modern healthcare, alternative medicine, and wellness.

According to data from the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), approximately 6.97 lakhs medical tourists visited India in 2019 alone for medical treatment. By 2023, India will account for 6% of the global medical value tourism (MVT) market share.

With the growing presence of medical facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes and diagnostic centres across the country, a need is felt to guide and assist the customers in opting for the medical facilities for treatment of their ailments as per their choice, convenience and budget. (indianarrative/ANI)

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‘The Tourist’: Engaging drama with unique approach

The series is the journey of this man trying to figure out who he is and why he is in this situation…reports Troy Rebeiro

Series: ‘The Tourist’ (Streaming on Lionsgate Play); Duration: 57 minutes per episode (Six Episodes)
Directors: Chris Sweeney, Daniel Nettheim, Cast: Jamie Dornan, Danielle Macdonald, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Damon Herriman, Alex Dimitriades, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Danny Adcock, Kamil Ellis, Damien Strouthos, Greg Larsen, Victoria Harlabidou, Alex Andreas (Rating: ***1/2)

At the very onset, be warned that you would need some patience to watch this stylishly mounted slow burn ‘Hero’s Journey’.

With a fascinating set of characters in a quirky situation in the wilderness of Australia’s threatening landscape, ‘The Tourist’ has all the trappings of an engaging drama that is unique in its approach.

This six-episode series begins with a man driving off into the scenic countryside after fuelling his car. We do not know who he is or where he is going. A truck on the road moving at a menacing speed closes up to him, threatening to crash into him, and it does crash into the car after a long-detoured chase.

The man in the car lands in the hospital with amnesia, but after another blatant attempt on his life, he wonders, “why would someone want me dead?”

The series is the journey of this man trying to figure out who he is and why he is in this situation.

Jamie Dornan plays the man, an Irish Tourist stranded in Australia with no memory and on the run. With his easy and sincere charm, and ruthless disposition of a lost man trying to find his identity, he brings plenty of intensity to the role. He is aptly supported by Danielle MacDonald, as the probationary police constable Helen Chambers, who is involved with the situation. As his “only friend,” she is pretty charming and engaging. Her character brings out the warm human element in the otherwise cold narrative.

Olafur Darri Olafsson as the intimidating mercenary Billy along with Shalom Brune-Franklin as the opportunist who changes her identity depending on the situation, Damon Herriman as the rogue Agent Lachlan Rogers, and Alex Demitriaates as the extremely wealthy and powerful Artist with nefarious International Business interests; are all interesting foil characters who deliver solid performances.

Similarly, Greg Larson as Helen’s older, demanding boyfriend Ethan Crumb, succeeds in portraying the most irritating character in the series.

The plot moving at an uneven pace may appear undramatic at first, but gradually you would notice the crafty twists and contrasting cliff-hanger moments between comedy, suggested romance, and some dark evil deeds of what human beings are capable of. The first four episode moves coherently. The fifth episode takes the stoner route after the hero accidentally over-doses himself with LSD, bringing on snatches of disjointed memory recall. And the last episode smoothly wraps up the narrative in the most unexpected ways.

The series is beautifully shot by cinematographers Ben Wheeler and Geoffrey Hall. Their wide-angle lens captures the emotions of the characters, the heat, and the bleak nature of the terrain stunningly.

Overall, the series is intriguing and engaging.

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