Travel in Nepal

It’s impossible to tell how big the black eagle really is until it alights on the oak tree in front of me, making the branches droop and creak as it clings to its perch like an elephant on a tightrope. With a wingspan of around three feet, this giant bird of prey is far less graceful on its talons than it was a moment ago, when it was gliding in broad arcs over the rippling green valley. As I clasp a cup of chai on a terrace 1,800 metres up in the Kumaon Hills, I’m close enough to see its peppercorn-coloured wing tips.

The peak hiking seasons in Nepal and Bhutan are February to March and October to November, with clear skies and moderate temperatures. In the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, March to April and September to October offer the best weather without excessive heat. In most areas, views vanish during the rainy monsoon season (June to September). Trekking in deep winter (December to February) can be a bitterly cold experience, best left to accustomed hikers.

On May 29th, 1953, legendary mountain climbers Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest by navigating the extreme terrain of Mount Everest, a feat no human had ever achieved. To celebrate this monumental accomplishment, the Chinese watch brand that’s racked up more awards than many of its Swiss competitors, CIGA Design, has just released the U Mount Everest Homage Edition watch to celebrate this anniversary and showcase what is, arguably, the pinnacle (pun intended) of mechanical watchmaking: the central tourbillon.

On May 29th, 1953, legendary mountain climbers Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest by navigating the extreme terrain of Mount Everest, a feat no human had ever achieved. To celebrate this monumental accomplishment, the Chinese watch brand that’s racked up more awards than many of its Swiss competitors, CIGA Design, has just released the U Mount Everest Homage Edition watch to celebrate this anniversary and showcase what is, arguably, the pinnacle (pun intended) of mechanical watchmaking: the central tourbillon.

Global guests involved in mountain tourism and outdoor sports met in China’s mountainous rich Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture unveiled the 2023 International Conference of Mountain Tourism and Outdoor Sports, or MTOS, in Xingyi city on Saturday. This year’s meeting aims at exploring the deep integration of mountain tourism and multi-industries, promoting the high-quality development of mountain tourism, and providing high-quality tourism experiences for tourists.

Editor’s Note: Monthly Ticket is a CNN Travel series that spotlights some of the most fascinating topics in the travel world. In September, we’re celebrating superlatives as we look at some of the world’s biggest, tallest and most expensive attractions and destinations.

Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO, spoke at the IATA World Financial Symposium in Barcelona, where he noted that aviation delivers enormous value to the global economy, contributing some $2.4 trillion to GDP, carrying over a third of world trade by value and supporting some 58 million jobs including aviation-related tourism. Historically, however, aviation has not had an equivalent level of success creating value for its equity investors. Tyler highlighted four areas where industry stakeholders have opportunities to set a path toward long-term financial sustainability: Smarter Regulation; Rebalancing the Value Chain; Innovation; and Efficient Processes.

Japan has been knocked off the top spot for the world’s most powerful passport for the first time in five years.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is to halve the $200 daily fee it charges tourists in an effort to boost a sector still struggling to recover a year after the end of Covid-19 restrictions.

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Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, April 4. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Thailand-based Minor Hotels will launch its luxury Anantara brand in India with Anantara Jaipur Hotel in the north Indian state of Rajasthan, scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2023. The hotel will feature 150 guest rooms and suites, including four terrace suites with private plunge pools, and a 160-square-meter royal suite with a large terrace and private pool. Besides bars and restaurants, other facilities will include a spa, beauty salon, gym, semi-outdoor pool, kids’ club, and event spaces. The hotel will be able to cater to weddings of up to 2,500 guests with its collection of indoor and outdoor venues. “Jaipur is one of India’s most vibrant destinations, with a huge destination wedding potential, and I look forward to working with (owner) Ajay Gangwal and his team to launch our first Anantara in India, which is a significant strategic step for Minor Hotels,” said Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels. Minor Hotels currently has a portfolio of more than 530 hotels and resorts in 56 countries across its brands, which include Anantara, Avani, Elewana, Oaks, NH, nhow and Tivoli. In other developments, Hilton announced that it, too, has an interest in Jaipur, where it will debut its luxury brand, the Waldorf Astoria. Radisson, too, is thinking luxury, and announced on Wednesday that it would be debuting its luxury lifestyle brand, Radisson Collection in India with the signing of the first hotel in Hyderabad.

Marriott plans to have 250 properties across India by 2025, including hotels that are open and in the pipeline. “We’re in 40 cities today, that should be 50 cities or more by 2025,” said Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano, adding that this would help create 10,000 new jobs in the country. Capuano, who was visiting India last week, spoke about his meeting with the Indian tourism minister during which they discussed the importance of continuing to tell the story about the rich and diverse set of experiences that the country offers. “And we want to make sure we have lodging options in all of those diverse destinations,” Capuano said. Reiterating Marriott’s “relatively simple” development strategy of providing the right product in every market the travelers want to visit for any type of trips, Capuano said the hotel group would continue to stay focused on India’s “strong and growing” domestic market. However, he did mention that the hotel group is a long way off as far as opportunity for luxury in India is concerned. “I think we’re in our infancy of growing our industry portfolio in luxury. That’s probably an area where we’ll continue to focus on,” Capuano said. True to Capuano’s statements, global hotels brands have been exploring the potential of India’s luxury market with Hilton’s last week announcement of the debut of the Waldorf Astoria brand in India and Radisson announcing the launch of its Radisson Collection in the country. Capuano also went to to talk about India witnessing a strong traction for branded residential properties, which Marriott launched in the country early this year. While 2020 and 2021 were the two most challenging years in the history of the hospitality business, interestingly, these were the two strongest years in the history of Marriott’s branded residential business, said Capuano. “The launch of Homes & Villas, allowed us to keep our customers within the Bonvoy ecosystem and it’s not coincidental that we saw our volume of listings grow more than 20-fold over the two years of the pandemic,” Capuano said. And when asked to choose his favorite India-based hotel brand, Capuano couldn’t resist naming the Taj. “Taj is an iconic brand on a global basis. They have generated some of the world’s most extraordinary leaders who have taken their expertise global,” Capuano said.

India’s domestic air traffic has hit a record high with 456,082 passengers flying on a single day, the civil aviation ministry said in a tweet. The ministry’s data shows a total of 456,082 passengers flew via 2,978 flights on April 30 and there were a total of 5,947 flight movements. “Indian domestic air travel hits new high, surpasses pre-Covid average,” it tweeted. The ministry referenced the May 1 numbers, said 448,248 passengers had taken to the skies via 2,936 flights. The rebound in India’s aviation industry comes after heavy losses faced by the industry in the past Covid-hit years. The global airline trade body, the International Air Transport Association’s latest market analysis report shows India is in the process of becoming a key global aviation market outpacing other thriving markets like the U.S., China, and Japan in passenger load factor at 81.6 percent in February 2023. With India’s air passenger traffic expected to reach 395 million in 2023-24, the country seems to have solidified its position as the world’s third largest aviation market. Credit rating agency ICRA had also recently revised its outlook on the Indian aviation industry to stable from negative due to the fast-paced recovery in domestic passenger traffic. Indian airlines have witnessed an annual growth of 51.7 percentin passenger traffic during January-March 2023 as compared to the corresponding period last year, according to Indian aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Domestic airlines carried 375.04 lakh passengers between January-March 2023, as against 247.23 lakh in the same period last year. 

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Indian bankruptcy court National Company Law Tribunal has granted bankruptcy protection to cash-strapped airline Go First and a full moratorium on its assets and leases. The order prevents the airline’s lessors — some of which include Sky High XCV Leasing, ACG Aircraft Leasing Ireland, and SMBC Aviation Capital — from taking back aircraft. “This is a historic ruling as an application of insolvency has been admitted so fast. The order prevents a viable airline from becoming an unviable one. The purpose of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has always been revival,” said Go First CEO Kaushik Khona. This means there are chances that the airline might end up protecting some of its assets under the bankruptcy code to ensure its survival, as all its assets and properties remain as it is till the completion of the bankruptcy. The tribunal, in its order, said that an interim resolution professional would take over the airline management with immediate effect. The current operation of the airline’s 27 aircraft is also expected to continue and no employee of the company would be laid off, the Indian tribunal ordered. Earlier this month, the airline filed for bankruptcy, blaming “faulty” Pratt & Whitney engines for the grounding of about half its fleet.

Nearly 51 percent of Indians have fallen victim to online scams while trying to book holidays to save money, according to digital security company McAfee Corp’s Safer Summer Holidays travel report. Amid the financial pressures of today’s economic environment, Indians are more likely to seek out a bargain deal online (54 percent), move quickly to snap up a deal (50 percent), try a new booking site (44 percent) and even a new destination (47 percent), to save money, the report said. Travel scams can take many forms, with the report finding 27 percent of Indians have been tricked into making payments through fraudulent platforms and 36 percent have had their identity stolen when booking online. Of this portion, 13 percent entered passport information and 23 percent provided other personally identifiable information to a fake website, it said. Overall, 59 percent of Indians are estimated to be more concerned about digital threats than physical ones, such as being pickpocketed, and 94 percent of Indian adults hold either some or high concern about their identity being compromised as part of their travel, the report noted. The report is based on a survey of 7,000 people across seven countries, including 1,010 from India. Earlier in March, the Google pages of many hotels — including premier properties — in the Himalayan hill towns of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal were defaced.

A giant Hotels.com advert on the side of one of the oldest, mix-used buildings in downtown Los Angeles is hard to miss.

Intrepid Travel CEO James Thornton says he doesn’t just want to pay a so-called living wage – he wants to exceed it. That goes for the company’s own employees as well as all the workers involved with its tours and services on five continents.

Having revised the salary structure for flying staff in April, Tata Group-owned Air India has now initiated a revamp of employment contracts and compensation for its non-flying workforce in India.

Indian tourists to France will be able to pay for tickets to the Eiffel Tower and other attractions in rupees after both the countries agreed to use the Indian government’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI).