India launches app to clean up tourism sites

#INDIA has launched an app which the government hopes will improve the cleanliness of its tourist destinations. 

The Swachh Parayatan mobile app will allow the public to lodge complaints about rubbish at tourist sites across the country. Initially, 25 monuments protected by Archaeological Survey of India have been included in the app, but this will be- scaled up to include more sites in future.

The app enables people to take photographs of the trash and upload them to the app, along with their comments. The app sends a text message to the person responsible for the site, who will arrange to have to rubbish cleared. A confirmation will be then sent to the complainant by SMS.

The app is already available for Android devices, and will soon be rolled out for Apple and Microsoft smartphones.

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk

All your holiday needs: IN PRINT - ON-LINE - DiGiMAG - SMARTPHONE -TABLET - BLOG - TWITTER - G+ - FACEBOOK

Make-over for Cox’s Cave

ONE of the most historic underground spaces in England is being transformed before being re-opened to the public at Easter. 

Cox's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset – discovered in 1837 – is getting a make-over with the aim of re-establishing it as a must-see attraction.

It comprises seven small grottoes joined by low archways, offering a natural, atmospheric setting of calcite sculptures and mirror pools.

Access to the cave will continue to be included in the general admission price of a visit to Cheddar Gorge. 

The make-over is part of a £400,000 investment plan at Cheddar Gorge and Caves for 2016.

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk

All your holiday needs: IN PRINT - ON-LINE - DiGiMAG - SMARTPHONE -TABLET - BLOG - TWITTER - G+ - FACEBOOK

They’re there to help

#MALTA’S tourism authority (MTA) has trained and employed a team of students whose job is to assist holidaymakers. 

Armed with tablets loaded with location maps and information about places of interest, they are there to answer tourists’ questions and to approach tourists and offer assistance when it is thought necessary.

They are covering, initially, the main tourist sites in #Valletta, the Sliema Ferries, #Mdina, and St George’s Bay in St Julian's.

The MTA’s chief executive Paul Bugeja said: ‘This is one of the initiatives we are taking in direct support of tourists visiting our islands. We are combining the personal contact together with technology, always with the intention of providing the best possible service.’

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk

All your holiday needs: IN PRINT - ON-LINE - DiGiMAG - SMARTPHONE -TABLET - BLOG - TWITTER - G+ - FACEBOOK

Picture Credit: Malta tourism authority, http://www.flickr.com/photos/50112037@N00/14817693704">Gate to Mdina</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)

Found – the man who settled Virginia

THE remains of the four leaders of Jamestown – the first permanent and successful English colony in #America – have been discovered in the historic Virginia settlement.

The find was made in the burial grounds of a 16th century church in Jamestown by archaeologists from the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation at Historic Jamestowne and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The identification of the remains unearths new information about the colony, the role of religion, and the lives of the leaders, who were: The Reverend Robert Hunt, who arrived with the first settlers and was the first Church of England Minister at Jamestown; Captain Gabriel Archer, who was involved in much of the in-fighting that characterized the colony's early years; Sir Ferdinando Wainman, a kinsman of the colony’s governor, Lord De La Warr, and who was put in charge of the colony's horse troops; and Captain William West, who was killed in fighting against native Americans in 1610.

‘The presence of the artefacts and the location of the graves in the church's most sacred space, the chancel, both indicate the high status of the four men and their importance to the early history of the Jamestown venture,’ says Dr William Kelso, Director of Archaeology at Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation.

Historic Jamestowne, the archaeology site where these discoveries were made, is open to the public and provides visitors with the chance to talk to the archaeologists and to learn more about the colony.

To find out more about Historic Jamestowne, visit www.historicjamestowne.org

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk

All your holiday needs: IN PRINT - ON-LINE - DiGiMAG - SMARTPHONE -TABLET - BLOG - TWITTER - G+ - FACEBOOK

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7605418@N07/4921211187">Columbia</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)