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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VIETNAM - sea being ‘cut into small bits’

VietNamNet Bridge, 28/06/2007

Vietnam’s sea is now being cut into small bits, commented Pham Tu, Vice Head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), at a recent workshop titled “Nature – tourism resources” held on June 15 in the coastal city of Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa province.
The number of foreign visitors coming to Vietnam increased from 1.5 million to 3.6 million from 2002 to 2006. During this time, sea tourism accounted for 70% of the total revenues of the tourism sector. As the number of tourists rises, the number of coastal tourism projects is also on the rise.
With nearly 1 million sq.km of sea, Vietnam’s sea tourism potential is huge. However, Vietnam’s sea is being polluted. Ha Long Bay, Lang Co Lagoon and Nha Trang Beach are the most typical examples.

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VIETNAM - Qatar team to visit Vietnam

GulfTimes.com, 1 July, 2007

THE Qatari Investment Agency will send a delegation to Vietnam this month to inquire into projects on urban development and the development of tourist sites and luxury resorts, Vietnamese press reports said yesterday. Vietnam's Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc has just concluded his trip to Qatar and Kuwait that ran from June 22- 27 and was aimed at securing investment from the oil rich states. Phuc visited Qatar and Kuwait at the invitation of the Kuwaiti finance minister and the Qatari minister of finance and economy and was charged with carrying out agreements signed by the Vietnamese prime minister and the Kuwaiti prime minister and the Qatari deputy prime minister during their recent Vietnam visits.

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SABAH - steers harder

TTGmice.com, June 2007

Having experienced a slight drop in MICE events from 536 in 2005 to 451 last year, the Sabah Tourism Board is stepping up measures to bring up the numbers again.The fall in numbers was due in part to a reduction in the number of flights. Since May 15, 2006, the number of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flights between Tokyo, one of the emerging source markets, and Sabah’s state capital of Kota Kinabalu, fell from thrice- to twice-weekly. As such, the board plans to focus on Asian markets with direct air links to Kota Kinabalu this year.

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INDONESIA - Undersea jewel

TTGasia.com, Jun 29 - Jul 5, 2007

ALOR islands may not be on the regular tourist map, but this could improve in a couple of years thanks to improved air accessibility and government support.Last year, TransNusa started five-weekly Alor-Kupang flights. Together with Merpati Nusantara Airlines’ twice-weekly services, the new flights have opened up the islands even more.Kupang, the province’s capital, is served by many domestic airlines connecting with key cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya and Denpasar. TransNusa has three flights from Bali via Waingapu.The waters around Alor islands are good for diving, fishing and snorkelling. Turtles, reef sharks, whales, marlin, napoleon wrasse, giant trevally and barracuda are just some of the underwater inhabitants.Groups of dolphins can often be seen passing between Alor Kecil island and Kepa island, Pura island, Kalabahi Bay and near Terewang island.

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SINGAPORE - hotels start new round of upgrades

TTGasia.com, Jun 29 - Jul 5, 2007

Another round of hotel refurbishments begins in Singapore just as several properties emerge from under the dust sheets. The 20-year-old Pan Pacific Singapore has started its S$14 million (US$9 million) refurbishment, scheduled for completion in January 2008.Main works include refitting all 775 rooms and suites with new furnishings, interior fixtures and flatscreen TVs.Two floors of deluxe rooms will be converted to Executive Business Floors, increasing the inventory from 126 to 171 Executive Business rooms and suites. Hotel Royal at Queens began a 15-month refurbishment in June. When completed, there will be 223 rooms, up from 215. All rooms will have flatscreen TVs and new furnishings. The refurbishment will be done floor by floor, with about 20 rooms taken off the inventory at any one time.Director of sales and marketing, Mr George Lim, said: “Not only will the integrated resorts be coming up but there are also new hotels opening in the next few years.”

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JAPAN - Midtown set to steal the scene

TTGasia.com, Jun 29 - Jul 5, 2007

Tokyo has a major new tourist area following the completion of a massive urban redevelopment project.Tokyo Midtown covers 10 hectares and includes the city’s tallest skyscraper, a luxury hotel, two new museums and scores of shops and restaurants. It is less than a kilometre from the popular Roppongi Hills area.The capital’s first Ritz-Carlton property occupies the top nine levels of the development’s highest building, with a total of 248 rooms beginning on the 45th floor. Its presidential suite is said to be the most expensive in Japan at US$20,000 a night. Introductory rates for standard rooms start at about US$473.

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CHINA - Parting the waters

TTGasia.com, Jun 29 - Jul 5, 2007

Where once there was a desert, today there is a flood. China’s rapidly growing spa scene provides a wellspring of new alternatives. Natasha Dragun reports.“Business is booming. We don’t have enough therapists, and we don’t have enough rooms,” spa director of the newly-opened CHI, The Spa at Shangri-La Hotel Beijing, Ms Pansy Chong, tells TTG Asia. Ms Chong’s sentiments ring true for many in the industry. They are overwhelmed by the attention and interest being paid to the many modern international spas emerging around China in recent years. Today, the development is still quite formulaic: outlets are centred in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and predominantly located in international five-star hotels.

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MARKETS - Generation 'S'

TTGasia.com, Jun 29 - Jul 5, 2007

Call them seniors or the silver segment. They have always been a lucrative niche to tap, and the world’s population is ageing. Many in the age group today have better health and better access to choices, thanks to the Internet. Mak Ying Kwan looks at the mindset change needed to cater to this market.SENIOR travellers run the gamut, from well-off retirees willing to spend generously on overseas holidays to those with more limited means who travel on a budget.This means there are opportunities for everyone in the tourism industry, from luxury hotels to limited service accommodation facilities, from travel agents offering customised, top-end packages to those selling seat-in coach tours.

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