Category: Asia

The Japanese government offers discounts to people to visit the northern island of Hokkaido, in order to reinstate tourism in the region, which was affected by a major earthquake early last month. The program named ‘Hokkaido recovery discount’ is for both Japanese and overseas visitors. Hokkadio during autumn For Japanese people, the government will bear 50 per cent of the accommodation costs for a one night stay, with a maximum subsidy of about USD 180. If the tourists stay at 2 locations, the subsidy will cover 60 per cent of the accommodation costs per night, with a total discount of ... Read more

China to open the world’s longest sea bridge for public on 23rd October 2018. The 55 km long bridge linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao took six years of preparations and eight years for construction. Construction of the bridge began on 15 December 2009 and is expected to reduce travel time from Hong Kong to mainland China from three hours to 30 minutes. Major work on the bridge consisted of a 22.9 km long main bridge, a 6.7 km long tunnel and an artificial island off the bridge, which is considered the most technically demanding part of the whole construction. ... Read more

(Photo for representative purpose only) China’s presence in the 30th Montreal International Tourism and Travel Show, which kick started on 19th October 2018, was said to be impressive with their theme for the show ‘China beyond imagination’. More than 400 exhibitors from nearly 100 countries and regions have been participating in the three-day show, the largest tourism exhibition in Canada. The Chinese delegation, gathering members from the tourism development commission or bureaux of various local provinces, is among the largest participating teams in the show. Bright and colorful pictures depicting Chinese landscapes and local culture as well as handcrafts like ... Read more

The government of Malaysia is seeking possibilities to reduce the cost of visa for Chinese tourists in order to enhance the inbound tourists from China. “We will have to decide on a visa cost, which is not too high and ways on how to speed up the visa issuance process,” said Mahathir Bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was answering questions in the parliament. Mahathir acknowledged that there was a drop in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia recently. “Drop in Chinese tourists had not only affected Malaysia, but also other countries. During their national holidays between Oct ... Read more

Zalon Mountain Myanmar is planning to upgrade a mountain in the area of forest reserve in Banmauk, northwestern Sagaing region, as an eco-tourism site to attract more international visitors, as per local media reports. The upgrading of Zalon Mountain situating 19.2 km northwest of Banmauk is part of the efforts of the Forest Department to boost the country’s smokeless industry by extending the new tourist destination with proper services, said a tourism department official. Zalon Mountain Zalon Mountain is situated 927 meters above sea level and the surrounding mountains are over 600 to 900 meters high. There is a the ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Delegate The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has created a fund to encourage content creators in Singapore to create local content for a global audience. The $1 million fund, named ‘Fast Forward’, aims to provide support to filmmakers, vloggers, media companies and creative agencies to create films, videos and animations that creatively feature Singapore and bring to life STB’s tourism tagline ‘Passion Made Possible’. “Singapore has a passionate community of content creators and storytellers who are already producing inspiring content and telling a great Singapore story,” said Terrence Voon, Director for Digital and content at STB. “As part of ... Read more

Floating Market in Pengkalan Tok Kuning, is the new tourist attraction in the state of Perils, Malaysia, by offering experience like traveling abroad. The innovative concept was implemented by the Perlis Fishing and Recreation Club to offer a unique travel and shopping experience to the visitors. The floating market is located about 5 Km from Kangar Town. It will give visitors the opportunity to buy food stuff and other items sold from boats. “The market will operate consistently every two weeks on Sundays from 5 pm to 10 pm accompanied by about 50 fishing boats,” said Mohammed Noor Hashim, Chairman ... Read more

Shanghai Tourism Festival 2018, which concluded on Saturday 7th October 2018, saw a record 12.75 million visitors from China and abroad, which is more than five percent from the previous year, as informed by the organizers. The festival witnessed performances by more than 1,300 performers came from 25 countries and regions in the parade held at the opening ceremony of the festival on September 15, 2018. This year the European Union has made its debut float in the parade and received a reward for its special effects. “We hope the float can help attract more Chinese to visit European destinations,” ... Read more

Renounced tourist destination of Philippines – Boracay island – will reopen on October 26th 2018, but with restrictions to the number of tourists. The island was closed for six months as a rehabilitation effort of the environment. Boracay, located off the northern tip of the central island of Panay, is popular for its sugary white sands, greenish blue waters, lively nightlife and the availability of varied water sports, which attracted nearly 2 million domestic and foreign visitors last year. During last April, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the closure of the island, calling it a ‘cesspool’, as sewage and wastes were ... Read more

Maya Beach – crowded with tourists and speed boats Maya Bay, on Phi Phi Leh island in the Andaman Sea of Thailand, which was the set for the Hollywood film ‘The Beach’, has closed indefinitely to give its ecosystem to recover. The beach has become famous after the shooting of the film acted by Leonardo DiCaprio. It is estimated that around 6,000 tourists visited the beach every day, traversing in speedboat from the nearby resort islands of PhiPhi and Phuket and Krabi on the mainland. It is said to have affected the eco-system, especially the marine life like coral reefs ... Read more

Proposed stage of the event Zhongwei, Ningxia Hui autonomous region of China to host the final of Miss Tourism of the Globe contest 2018, which is taking place from 7th to 14th October, 2018. This is the first time, China is hosting the event. The city is going to host the event for forthcoming five years. With this event, the government of Zhongwei aims to promote the city internationally and expects the event to give the local tourism industry and the economy a strong boost. Forty contestants from 70 different countries and regions will take part in this year’s event, ... Read more

Chinese National Day Celebrations at Tian’anmen Square China’s National Day holiday marked massive tourist activities across the country. As per reports from the Ministry of Tourism, around 122 million Chines people travelled around the country on Monday, 1st October 2018. This is 7.54 per cent more than that of the same period in last year. Revenue from domestic tourism for a single day reached around USD 15 billion, which is 7.19 per cent more than last year. This was revealed by the National Tourism Data Center. China has been celebrating their 69th Anniversary of the formation of People’s Republic of ... Read more

Lavenders Bloom in Xianjiang (Photo courtesy: TravelWireNews) Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region hosted more than 105 million tourists in the first eight months of this year, which is 40.93 per cent more than that of last year. The total tourist spent for the same period amounted to 171 billion yuan (around USD 25.1 billion), which is 43.18 per cent more than 2017. Development of attractive tourist destinations and the state-of-the art transportation networks are the main factor that makes Xinjiang a favourite tourist destination for visitors. Dancers perform for the tourists at Kashgar in Xinjiang “Xinjiang has been in ... Read more

Shanghai City, China Shanghai in China is planning to open the doors of the industrial centers to the tourists. It was announced by the Shanghai Municipality on Thursday, 20th  September 2018. The three-year programme envisages development of industrial tourism, including in industrial sites with local characteristics. The objective behind the programme is to generate interest in students and young entrepreneurs and help them enrich their awareness levels on industrial processes and projects. At the same time, it will become a revenue earner to the municipality. Shanghai is the birthplace of China’s present-day industry and the modern industrial hub in the ... Read more

China to unveil the world’s tallest statue of Confucius in eastern China’s Shandong Province during this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival on September 24 2018. The statue is 72 meter tall and is made of brass. The statue is installed near Nishan in the city of Qufu, which is the birthplace of Confucius. Confucius who lived between 551 BC and 479 BC, also known as Kong Qui or K’ung Fu-tzu, was a Chinese philosopher, teacher and political figure. His teachings, preserved in the Analects, focused on creating ethical models of family and public interaction and setting educational standards. Throughout history, Confucius is widely considered as ... Read more