Category: Asia

Korean Girls Performing in Restaurant (Photo Courtesy: CNN) Recent shift in the national focus of North Korea, from nuclear arms to economic development, is prompting optimism in Chinese tourism sector, especially in the bordering Chinese region of Dandong. As per reports form the travel agents, the tourism industry is showing increased interests in investing in the region, which was affected by the UN sanctions to North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong UN’s economic reform plans and his recent visit to Beijing has helped to increase the confidence in the tourists from across the borders to travel between the countries. ... Read more

Myanmar will grant free visa allowances to Chinese, South Korean and Japanese nationals from August 1 onward in a bid to promote eco-tourism, according to U Ohn Maung, Minister of Hotel and Tourism, during an economic seminar organised last week by the Thai embassy in Yangon and the Thai Business Association in Myanmar. The initiative has taken considering the decline in visitors from the West, who have cut short travel to Myanmar in view of the refugee crisis in Rakhine. The ministry of tourism hopes the free visa to Asian countries could compensate the downfall in tourists from the western ... Read more

Malaysian tourism sector is in a revival mode after the slow pace in inbound tourists during the first four months of the year. The fortifying factor was the increased number of Chinese tourists during the last two months of the first half of the year. The information was revealed in the report of Maybank Investment Bank Research. The report says drop in the total visitor arrivals for the first four months was due to shortfall in the main sources of tourists, Singapore and Indonesia.  This deficit was offset by the vigorous growth in Chinese visitors’ arrivals, which is expected to ... Read more

Bernadette Romulo Puyat, Secretary, Philippines Tourism  As per the statistics of the Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT), foreign visitor arrivals reached an all-time high of 3.7 million for the first half of 2018. In a statement, the DOT said inbound tourists from January to June this year rose by 10.4 per cent when compared to the 3.3 million arrivals recorded in the same period in 2017. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said “Our continuous marketing promotions, belligerent actions to create new air routes and develop new tourism products, travel facilitation, and confidence in tourism investments boosted the industry and resulted ... Read more

Nithin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport, Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, said  that discussion are on with Singapore to develop cruise tourism at various locations in India. “We are keen on promoting cruise tourism on a mega-scale in the country. Mumbai alone is expected to have 950 cruise vessels in the coming five years,” added the minister who was addressing the delegation from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in Delhi on 18th July 2018. “Around one lakh Indians visit Singapore every year for cruise tourism. We have large scope for developing cruise tourism in India, with our 7,500 kilometers ... Read more

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is planning to focus on the secondary cities in India to enhance its tourism revenues. STB has conducted a road show in Coimbatore on 18th July 2018, to propagate their different packages to the travel and tourism industry and to the general public. As per statistics, Singapore has been witnessing a steady growth of 16 to 17 per cent during the past years in terms of tourist arrivals from India. STB records says 6.1 lakh tourists from India had visited Singapore from January to May 2018. However, most of these tourists are from the metro cities. That ... Read more

Travelling of Malaysians to India will be expensive as the India’s eVisa charges increased from RM200 (Rs 3,400) to RM 320 (Rs 5,440), and is valid for four months. The new charges came into being on June 25 2018; scraping the cheaper six-month visa that was priced at RM194.56 (Rs 3,308). Over-the-counter visas are now priced at RM462.56 (Rs 7,865), excluding service charges. Validity is one year. The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) member Gopalan Mariappan said the price increase will adversely affect the inflow of Malaysian tourists to India “The stoppage of the cheaper six-month visa ... Read more

From the beginning of July, citizens from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy will get visa exemptions for the next three years, until June 30, 2021. Vietnam has first offered visa waivers for citizens from five European countries in July, 2015. The policy has been updated annually and would have expired at the end of June. Vietnam is among those countries which has strictest visa policy in Asia. The country currently offers visa waivers to visitors from 24 countries and territories, including the ASEAN member countries. Vietnam has tried to improve the situation with an e-visa policy which is now available ... Read more

Sri Lanka is trying to woo more Chinese tourists to the island nation. As part of its marketing efforts, the Minister of Tourism Development John Amaratunga has held talks with Chinese tourism and airline officials to encourage more visitors to Sri Lanka from China. The talks were held during a visit to promote the island at the Shanghai World Travel Fair held at Shanghai Exhibition Centre in China. The team has conducted a series of promotional events and meetings across major cities in China, including Shanghai, Nanjing and Chengdu, during the past week. The Sri Lankan tourism minister has held talks with Xu Weiwan, ... Read more

With an aim to attract more Chinese travellers, Nepal has launched an interactive tourism website, in Chinese language to attract more Chinese tourists. Nepali Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari launched a customized website www.welcomenepal.cn which is an initiative of Nepal Tourism Board, the main tourism promotion body, to communicate in Chinese language. The website has information on various tourism destinations of Nepal, photos and videos, different activities and things-to-do, and necessary information for the Chinese nationals visiting the country. Appreciating the role and contribution of China in Nepal’s tourism, the country has prioritised promotion of Nepal ... Read more

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is offering a 5 night-six day tour package covering Russia starting from Rs 97,100. IRCTC’s tour, titled Charming Russia, is set to depart on June 1. The package includes night stay of 03 nights at Saint Petersburg and 02 nights in Moscow. The package allows the tourists to visit Palace Square, Winter Palace, Peter and Paul Fortress, Petroff Palace in Saint Petersburg. Along with this the tourists will also get a chance to visit and enjoy the world famous Moscow Circus, sightseeing of Lenin’s Tomb, Saint Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square, and enjoy the bullet ... Read more

RoBoHon is not just another robot. It can hold short conversations with humans and can even take pictures and tell you about the locations you pass. This humanoid robot is believed to have the capabilities to be the next iPhone. RoBoHon is available for rental at Haneda Airport for US$12 per day, with marginal discounts for longer rentals. The other famous humanoid robots Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri focuses on giving you information, such as providing weather data and news, but, RoBoHoN, manufactured by Sharp, is made to be a companion to you. This spiffy robot is outfitted with GPS and can track your whereabouts ... Read more

Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has recently organised a destination showcase for Maldives in Mumbai, India, branded as Maldivian Night. More than 200 travel professionals from the two countries attended this exclusive event, hosted at the Four Seasons, Mumbai. Maldivian Night was conducted as a business networking event, where Maldivian hoteliers and Travel agents had the opportunity to meet with more than 150 prominent travel agents and tour operators from India. Around eight Maldivian companies took part in the business networking event. The event was concluded with an entertainment evening, to promote and feature Maldives Travel Awards. ... Read more

Israel is becoming a favourite tourist spot for tourists and the initial statistics affirm this. As per reports, Israel had 1.36 million visitors from January-April this year. In this, 4,08,000 tourists alone visited Israel in April 2018 when compared to 3,50,000 last April, recording a 17%hike. The Ministry of Tourism claims that the revenue from tourists in April had exceeded NIS 2.1 billion. Out of all tourists visited Israel in April, 2,38,000 were from Europe. France, UK, Germany, Poland and Italy were the main contributors. The rise in European tourists is attributed to the Giro d’Italia bicycle race. Tourists from ... Read more

IRCTC comes up with a striking escapade for everyone on this summer. The IRCTC tourism is offering a 6D/7N air package which will have the beautiful destinations Chandigarh, Shimla and Manali. The trip that starts on May 26th will include stays at deluxe hotels, breakfast, dinner and return airfare on Air India, as reported by IRCTC Tourism on their website. The starting fare of package is priced at Rs 32,937 per person. This rate is for triple occupancy, and the rates of double and single occupancy are priced at Rs 34,710 and Rs 45,660 per person respectively. Kufri, Shimla The ... Read more