Category: Asia

The Indonesian island of Bali has bowed to the inevitable and will remain closed to foreign tourists until the end of 2020. For months, local government officials have insisted Bali would reopen to overseas tourists on September 11. It began allowing domestic tourists to visit on July 31, Sydney Morning Herald has reported. Earlier this month the Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan had supported the reopening, though he subsequently back-tracked. Bali’s economy is heavily reliant on foreign tourists and has been smashed by the coronavirus pandemic with hotel occupancy rates dropping by up to 95%. The decision to keep ... Read more

The executive chairman of Trip.com Group, Asia’s biggest online travel agency, says he wants to see Japan and China reopen their borders to each other for leisure travel “later this year,” projecting a strong recovery in tourism demand despite the coronavirus pandemic. A recovery in domestic travel would come first once infections start to ease, and the “next question” would be when Japan and China can reach an agreement about reciprocal travel, Co-founder and Executive Chairman James Liang in a recent video interview. “I hope this kind of agreement can be reached later this year,” Liang said from the Chinese ... Read more

Bangkok tourist destination Khao San Road is usually heaving with people on weekends, its cheap beer bars, tattoo parlours, street vendors, hostels and buzzing nightlife drawing budget travellers and tour groups alike. On a recent Saturday evening, the street was deserted except for a few dozen locals who wandered past boarded up shops, ignoring restaurant staff calling out meal and drink deals, news agency Reuters reports in its industry feature. Khao San Road clearly shows the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Bangkok, the world’s most visited city for four consecutive years before a ban on international travel. “I have ... Read more

Thailand’s tourism ministry aims to introduce its “Safe and Sealed” tourism plan in Phuket by October 1, while operators in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai are teaming up as a northern hub for long-stay travellers, Bangkok Post has reported. Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said the ministry will join a meeting with Public Health, Interior, Foreign and Transport ministries on August 27 about the plan to open the country to tourists from low-risk cities or provinces who seek an excursion to Thailand. After a plan is developed, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) must approve it before launching the scheme. ... Read more

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is expecting tourism revenues in September to grow by 20% compared to the same month last year, after the government approved September 4 and 7 as compensation holidays for this year’s Songkran Festival. The festival was postponed due to the pandemic. TAT’s governor has said the long weekend in September will stimulate people to take advantage of the ‘Rao Tiew Duay Kan’ (We Travel Together) tourism stimulus campaign. September normally has no national holidays, and schools nationwide are already open. In addition, the TAT aims to organise a fair to stimulate the tourism sector this month. ... Read more

Singaporeans will be given $320 million in “tourism credits” to spend domestically as part of a campaign to prop up local businesses, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced on Monday. The credits will be called SingapoRediscovers Vouchers, named as part of the $45 million campaign launched last month to drive local spending at Singapore’s eateries, shops, hotels and leisure attractions, Straits Times has reported. Heng, who is also Finance Minister, noted in his ministerial statement that foreign visitor arrivals have dried up due to travel restrictions. “Many Singaporeans love to travel but are unable to do so now. Local consumption ... Read more

The Singapore Tourism Board has partnered with Tripoto to launch a microsite within the latter’s website in an effort to keep Singapore in the minds of the Indian audience. The microsite is a one-stop guide for Indian travellers with content that encourages them to ‘Rediscover Now, Travel Later’. One of the key content features of the microsite is the ‘Singapore@home’ which invites the audience to explore the virtual experiences of some of the best attractions of Singapore and tourist offerings. There is also a collection of edutainment series ‘Try this at home, Tips from Singapore’ which features various Singaporean personalities ... Read more

Penghu, the archipelago to the west of Taiwan’s main island, received more visitors in July than during the six previous months combined. As the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) in Taiwan lessens while overseas travel remains difficult, more Taiwanese are traveling around the country, often heading for small islands such as Green Island and Orchid Island in the south-eastern county of Taitung. Holidaymakers are also headed in the other direction, traveling by ship or plane to Penghu County, in the middle of the Taiwan Strait, Channel News Asia (CNA) has reported. The islands welcomed 290,000 visitors in July compared to 182,860 ... Read more

Bali, Indonesia’s famous holiday island, is set to reopen to international tourists in September. Bali had officially reopened to domestic tourists on July 31, as part of its three-step plan to resume travel activities. As outlined by Bali governor Wayan Koster in July, the provincial government is expected to re-evaluate the plan on opening the border for international tourists “by the end of August” for an  opening date of September 11. These plans have been given a further shot-in-the-arm following comments by Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. During an address to the Jakarta Foreign ... Read more

India has signed an air bubble agreement with the Maldives, making it the sixth country in a growing list of places where Indians can travel to.  The first flight to Male will leave from here on August 18. An air bubble between countries allows citizens to travel freely between specified nations without having the need to undergo on-arrival quarantine. India currently hasallowed travel to the US, the UK, Germany, France and Kuwait, and is in talks with Canada for a similar travel arrangement. The agreement with Maldives was inked during a video conference between External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and his Maldives ... Read more

Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality is extending its efforts to provide creative solutions for residents impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.  With the coronavirus outbreak proving particularly challenging for the cultural sector worldwide, outdoor initiatives are representing almost the sole solution for cultural events.   Last week, Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality’s Arts and Culture Division, in partnership with municipal companies: Tel Aviv Cinematheque, Expo Tel Aviv and Sport Palaces of Tel Aviv-Yafo invited residents to park up, sit back and enjoy the nostalgia as the city’s famous drive-in theatre was opened. Each movie screening was opened to 200 cars at the Shlomo Group Arena parking lot ... Read more

The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) deputy governor for international marketing, Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, has said there was “no talk of a timeline issued for reopening the country to inbound or outbound leisure travel”. He said he doesn’t expect Thailand to welcome tourists until at least 2021. He noted that discussions about potential re-openings had been very “risk averse”. “The Christmas period, usually the high season, is in jeopardy and I’m looking horribly even to Chinese New Year in February, which is an iffy proposition at best now. Unfortunately, this is not a rosy picture.” Earlier plans for travel ... Read more

KT Corp., South Korea’s largest telecommunications company, will develop virtual reality (VR) entertainment service for air passengers jointly with Jin Air and Hanjin Information Systems & Telecommunications (HIST). KT signed an agreement with Jin Air, the only widebody low-cost carrier operation in South Korea, and HIST for the new VR service optimized for air safety, security and other special in-flight needs. The nation’s top telecom company will provide its VR service platform, Super VR, for Jin Air passengers to access to its massive immersive media content. “We can enjoy a new experience of entertainment based on VR contents not just at home or places ... Read more

Maldives’ five eco-tourism zones, to be built with grant assistance from India, have been launched. The contract award ceremony was held on Monday as part of Delhi’s neighbourhood first policy. As the implementing agency for these projects, Addu City Council (Maldives), is responsible for steering the entire project cycle including tendering, tender-evaluation, award of contracts, monitoring and execution of the projects. Addu is a city in Maldives that consists of the inhabited islands of the southernmost atoll of the archipelago. It is the second largest urban area in Maldives. The five eco-tourism zones, under this project, will come up in ... Read more

Pattaya’s famous Walking Street nightlife district is now open to vehicular traffic around the clock, but not everyone is pleased. Business owners in the Walking Street area are asking the Pattaya City government to extend the current trial allowing vehicles onto the street to all hours of the day. The trial was proposed as international borders are still closed due to the COVID-19 crisis, leading to a lack of tourists. An estimated 60% of its businesses remain closed, although some nightclubs are still popular, even with reduced traffic. The opening event on Friday night was led by Pattaya City Deputy Mayor ... Read more