CHINA - Foreign tourists to China up 18.47% in 1st half year

english.eastday.com, 5/8/2007

Nearly 12.12 million foreigners came to the Chinese mainland for sightseeing from January to June, up 18.47 percent year-on-year, according to the latest figures from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
The growth rate more than tripled the 6.1-percent increase for all inbound tourists to the Chinese mainland, who added up to 63.37 million in the first half of the year.
It also overtook the 4.22-percent rise for tourists from Hong Kong, 0.56-percent rise for tourists from Macao and 8.84-percent rise for tourists from Taiwan.
CNTA figures revealed that foreign tourists came mainly from 16 countries, with tourists from the Republic of Korea registering the rapid growth of 30.62 percent, followed by India 16.48 percent, and Russia, 15.73 percent.

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THAILAND - TDA teaches sea gypsies to dive

Phuketgazette, August 4, 2007

Twenty villagers from Rawai’s sea gypsy community are taking part in a five-day dive course that kicked off with a ceremony Thursday morning presided over by Minister of Tourism and Sports Dr Suwit Yodmanee.The training, being held jointly by the Thai Diving Association (TDA) and the Phuket Office of Sports and Recreation Development, is intended to give the sea gypsies useful knowledge in safe diving practices and prepare them for possible future work as instructors in the local dive industry.The five-day course is the first of three that have been budgeted for sea gypsies under the Yoo Dee Mee Suk (“Good Life and Happiness”) provincial development strategy. The second course will also take place at the Rawai, while the third session will be offered to the Laem Tukkae and Tah Chat Chai sea gypsy communities.The program is based on the Thai Dive Association’s TDA/CMAS “One Star Diver” training, which could lead to the sea gypsies entering the workforce jobs as dive master assistants.

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PHILIPPINES - Huge Korean presence hardly benefits Pinoys

manilatimes.net, August 05, 2007

ONE of the closest friends of the Philippines in the post-Second World War period, Korea—Chosun, Land of the Morning Calm–has become the object of love-hate sentiments among Filipinos, who see Korean residents here as loud, noisy and overbearing people.
Primarily this is because, just in the last two years, it suddenly seemed to Filipinos that their communities and neighbor-hoods have been “invaded” by hordes of Korean residents.
They complain that small Filipino businesses were facing competition from similar-sized but better-financed Korean companies.
They complain that some of these Korean firms were opening successful restaurants and taverns with “For Koreans only” signs.

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CAMBODIA - leases tourist islands for $627m

thetidenews.com, 2 august 2007

Cambodia, Monday, agreed to lease five islands in the Gulf of Thailand for 627 million dollars to investors for tourism, the state investment agency says.
“The projects will become a magnet for tourism. These projects will create natural resorts which are popular with foreign tourists”, Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said in a statement.
Prasidh, who is also deputy chairman of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, said six Cambodian companies signed the long-term leases and have one year to submit detailed plans for the resorts.

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THAILAND - Samui welcomes the big brands

Asia Property Report, August 05 2007

Before the turn of the millennium, the biggest brand on Koh Samui was probably Bob Marley, but massive economic growth and major developments in tourism have led to a significant increase in global interest and investment. As is often the case, it was the retail sector that led the brand invasion with golden arches, superstores and high street pharmaceuticals taking over from street stalls and family-run corner shops. More recently, the hospitality sector followed suit with mainstream hotel chains and now, largely on the back of big name resorts with mixed use strategies, the island’s property industry has expanded to include international, corporate agencies and developers.

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FIJI - Unchecked expansion can threaten environment

Islands Business, 6-8-2007

Tourist numbers are a key issue for Pacific Islands nations as they seek to balance economic development and sustainability, says a key tourism researcher from the University of the South Pacific.Professor Jim McMaster told a recent conference in Port Vila that unchecked expansion of tourism in the Pacific region could threaten some fragile islands environments. “The focus in some countries is on attracting more and more tourists to generate economic growth, but there are limits on the capacity of the local environments to assimilate wastes generated by tourism growth and to supply up-market resorts with the large quantities of water they consume.”Charlie Panakera of the University of Waikato Management School, who has practical experience of running tourism businesses in the Solomon Islands, said that environmental concerns were not always uppermost for Pacific Islanders and it was hard to translate commercial sustainability to local communities.

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INDONESIA - US$800 Million Tourism Investment for Lombok

Balidiscovery.com, (8/4/2007)

Taj Hamaad, an Advisor to the Dubai-based Group Emaar International Properties, have confirmed that they will invest US$800 million in a new tourism resort development in Lombok, an island just east of Bali.According to Hamaad, technical agreements and final a final memorandum of understanding (MOA) are now being hammered out prior to ground-breaking ceremonies planned for later this year.

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BALI - Protests Mount Against Proposed Golf Course in the North

Balidiscovery.com, (8/9/2007)

Vague plans to develop a 100 hectare site near Bali's sacred temple of Besakih into a golf resort complex are fomenting strong oppositon from many circles in Bali, all opposed to a resort development which has reportedly received a green light from the Regent of Karangasem.Residents from the traditional villages of Tagenan and Menanga (near Rendang) are said to be up-in-arms over the appearance in recent days of unannounced surveyors pacing off their traditional farming lands. One local resident who's land was surveyed, quoted in Nusa Bali, insisted he was ready to wager his very life in violent opposition to any project that would violate the sanctity of the lands surrounding Bali's Mother temple complex. The man also said he could see no value whatsoever in building a golf course on his otherwise productive agricultural lands.

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PHILIPPINES - P5 B island airport to benefit Boracay

The News Today, July 23, 2007

The construction of the P5-billion Carabao Island Airport, starting October, is expected to serve hundreds of thousands of local and foreign tourists visiting the world famous Boracay island and nearby areas yearly.

The construction of the airport, a private sector initiative, will be completed by 2010.
Steve Tajanlangit, vice chairman of the Boracay Property Holdings, Inc., the main proponent of the project, expressed confidence that the airport will further hasten the growth of tourism on Boracay- Carabao Island corridor.
Tajanlangit stressed that the airport will also generate thousands of employment and spur economic growth and activities not only on Boracay island, but also the entire municipality of San Jose, Romblon, where the Carabao Island is located.

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MALAYSIA - launches massive northern development plan

Channelnewsasia.com, 30 July 2007

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday launched a 51-billion-dollar development masterplan to spur economic growth and reduce poverty in northern Peninsula Malaysia. The Northern Corridor Economic Region (Northern Corridor) is a government initiative to boost the economy and raise income levels in the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak over 18 years. "Projects and programmes to enhance human capital, infrastructure, and competitiveness in the region will involve about 177 billion ringgit public and private sector investments from 2007 to 2025," a government statement said.
"The focus will be to turn the Northern Corridor into a modern food zone of Malaysia, increase the value-add in the manufacturing sector and strengthen tourism," it said.

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MALAYSIA - Reinventing and boosting tourism in the northern region

The edge daily, 25-07-2007

Over the years, tourism remains one of the healthiest sectors in the country due to our unique cultural ‘melting pot’ characteristic. Statistics from the Ministry of Tourism indicate that Malaysia received RM36.27 billion in tourist receipts last year, up 13.5% from RM31.95 billion in 2005.
Although two major tourist spots, Penang and Langkawi, are located within the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), the four states — Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Perak — collectively capture only 4.8 million visitors per annum, while average spending per tourist in the NCER stands at RM1,890, compared to the national average of RM2,066.
This is surprising, as the two island resorts have always been promoted heavily on the national and international scale. However, this is possibly caused by a shorter average length of stay and cheaper prices as compared to other parts of Malaysia and especially, East Malaysia.

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INDIA - Touristy South Indian Cities A Haven For Asian LCCs

Bernama, July 28 2007

Flourishing south Indian cities are a haven for burgeoning Asian no-frill airlines that have set an exciting rhythm for travel-starved passengers in the region.Regional low cost carriers (LCCs) like AirAsia, Nok Air (Thailand) or Tiger Airways (Singapore) cannot miss the economically vibrant and touristy cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Cochin, from their radar screens. The four cities are a remarkable catchment area and if we look at the classic LCC model of 3-5 hours flying band," CAPA (Indian subcontinent and the Middle East) chief executive Kapil Kaul told Bernama."There is a remarkable historical and cultural affinity between countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. There are so many Indians from the south settled or working in these countries which any airline must take note of.

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