HCMC kills hotel night tax

HO CHI MINH CITY, 16 October 2017: A proposal to tax tourists for every overnight stay to raise funds to promote the city, worldwide, failed to gain traction with authorities.

Tourists will be happy with the decision to scotch a plan to tax them, as one of the main drawcards for Ho Chi Minh City is its competitive prices when compared with Bangkok and other capitals in the region.

The city’s tourism department that floated the idea was singled out for stiff criticism with officials noting it was a very “sensitive’ topic.” Read more

Danang tourist arrivals climb dramatically

DANANG, 16 October 2017: Foreign arrivals to the central Danang improved 49% to more than 1.766 million visits during the first nine months of this year, the municipal Department of Tourism announced, last week.

The city welcomed more than 5.15 million visitors including domestic travellers over the nine months, up 22.7% against the same period last year.

Total revenue from tourism services was estimated at VND15,141 billion, up 24.4% compared to the corresponding period last year and equal to 81.8% of this year’s forecast. Read more

Trump slump confirmed by ForwardKeys

WASHINGTON, 16 October 2017: International airline passenger arrivals in the United States have fallen consistently since President Donald Trump’s original travel ban on people from several mainly Muslim countries, according to the latest data from ForwardKeys.

ForwardKeys predicts future global travel patterns by analysing more than 17 million booking transactions daily.

The period of decline also coincides with a strengthening US dollar making the US a more expensive destination to visit. Read more

Golden Week travel stays close to home

SHANGHAI, 2 October 2017: China’s Golden Week’s holiday season got underway at the weekend, promising a major boost for destinations in Asia that are now almost totally reliant on the Chinese holiday makers to keep their tourist industries afloat.

But a report by Reuters, Sunday, noted that a cooling economy is keeping more Chinese tourists closer to home than in previous holiday seasons.

Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand are likely to be the losers when the Golden Week’s tourists data comes under review. Read more

India’s Kerala taps adventure

KUMARAKOM, India, 29 September  2017: India’s Kerala State has been rebranded a “land of adventure in a bid to attract young international travellers, according to, the Minister of Tourism, Government of Kerala, Kadakampally Surendran.

He made the comments at the opening of the 13th Annual Convention of Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI), Wednesday.

Adopting the theme  ‘Emerging Pathways’, the annual convention aims to position India as the adventure capital of the world. Read more

Bali readies to evacuate tourists

BALI, 28 September 2017: Indonesian authorities are on standby to divert flights destined for the holiday island of Bali as increasingly frequent tremors from a rumbling volcano stoke fears an eruption could be imminent.

Mount Agung, 75 kilometres (47 miles) from the tourist hub of Kuta, has been shaking since August, threatening to erupt for the first time in more than 50 years and forcing more than 80,000 people to flee their homes.

Bali attracts millions of foreign visitors annually to its palm-fringed beaches and an eruption would be a blow to its tourism-dependent economy. Read more

Helsinki taps Tencent link to China

HELSINKI, Finland, 25 September 2017: Helsinki, World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and Tencent have signed a tripartite cooperation agreement, to boost promotions in China’s massive outbound market.

The agreement was signed at the WTCF Los Angeles Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit 2017.

Helsinki continues to see travel from China grow with the registered overnight stays by Chinese travellers  more than doubling in the past five years to reach 90,000 in 2016. Read more

Phuket limits buses on hillside road

PHUKET, 20 September 2017: Phuket authorities are banning tour buses of 21 seats, or more, from driving over Patong Hill during peak hours.

Authorities were installing signs, Tuesday, on both sides of the hilly road that leads to Patong Bay. The road descends in a series of hairpin bends for around 3 to 4 km.

The signs ban buses from driving over the hill from 0600 to 0900 in the morning and 1600 to 2300 in the evening. Read more

Egypt’s tourism revives

LUXOR, Egypt, 20 September 2017: Pummelled by political unrest and jihadist attacks, Egypt’s tourism industry is slowly growing again, but too slowly for thousands of bazaar workers who fondly recall when tourists thronged their stores.

Abu Aya owns a souvenir shop in the southern city of Luxor which is home to ancient pharaonic monuments, and he fondly remembers the days when the front pocket of his traditional Arabic robe sagged with cash.

“Before 2011 it was filled with dollars and euros. Today the sellers just sit in front of their stores reading the papers because there are so few customers,” the 47-year-old said. Read more

UNWTO: Tourism a runaway success

 

MADRID, 11 September 2017: Destinations worldwide saw a turnover of 598 million international tourists arrivals in the first six months of 2017, some 36 million more than in the same period of 2016, UNWTO estimates in its latest World Tourism Barometer.

Returning a growth of 6%, year-to-date, it represents the strongest increase since 2010 when the increase registered 4%.

Results are underpinned by robust growth in many destinations and a continuation of the recovery for destinations that suffered declines in previous years. Read more

Next Page »