Issue #132 - This Week's Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in Asia Pacific!
Hot travel takeaways from China, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Iran and more.
Welcome to issue 132 of Asia Travel Re:Set.
This is a solemn period for anniversaries.
Friday marked 10 years since of the disappearance of flight MH370. Monday, 11 March, marks 4 years since the WHO declared a Covid-19 pandemic.
And, shhhh. Monday is also Nyepi in Bali.
Thanks for checking-in.
- “IN THE NEWS”
- This Week's Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in Asia Pacific!
Hot takeaways from China, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Iran and more.
- Is China Serious About Attracting More Inbound Tourists & Business Visitors?
In conversation with Shanghai-based Yereth Jansen.
- The Future of South East Asian Travel Infrastructure
In conversation with Future South East Asia’s James Clark.
“IN THE NEWS”
“When Bruno Mars hit his first high note at MGM Cotai in Macau on 6 January, he raised the curtain on Asia’s biggest year for Concert Tourism. Regional tourism boards are building spiralling demand for concert tickets into their marketing strategies. Governments are providing financial support to attract A-list Asian and international artists - and the travel industry is jumping onstage.” Click HERE to read my latest article for the Asia Media Centre.
“Cities such as Bangkok will attract more concerts, but Singapore and Macau are ahead of them in terms of exclusivity potential, and that is where the real deals are made.” As Asia’s live concert scene targets tourism dollars, cities region-wide are investing in venues and infrastructure. Many thanks to Ruoxue Goh for including some of my comments in this piece for The Business Times. Click HERE to read.
This Week’s Top 8 Travel & Tourism Talking Points in Asia Pacific!
Hot takeaways from China, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Iran and more.
Let’s begin in Malaysia, where a week of national soul-searching marked the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of flight MH370. The fate of the plane, which was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March 2014, and its 239 passengers and crew remains unknown. The anguish for the families of those on board, who hailed from 14 countries, the most of which (153) were Chinese, endures. Various theories abound, and legal recourse is being sought by families in China. Fine documentaries this week by CNA (video here / podcast here) with stellar reporting by Olivia Siong (China) and Melissa Goh (Malaysia), and BBC (here) by stalwart South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head. Well worth a watch or listen. [CNA & BBC]
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong discussing Taylor Swift at the Australia-ASEAN Leaders’ Summit was not on my 2024 bingo card. The retiring PM defended the “certain incentives” provided by his government to ensure the Eras tour made the city state its only South East Asian stop. This was in response to Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin querying the maneouvre’s regional ‘friendliness’. Singapore, though, will revel in the tourism dollars ringing up from last week’s 6 shows at the National Stadium, and that the story made global headlines, including CNN, New York Times, Time and the Financial Times. [Various Media]
Out of nowhere, on 24 November last year, China began granting visa-free access to citizens of selected countries. First up were France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Malaysia. Bilateral visa-free agreements were then signed with Singapore and Thailand, with Brunei already included. This week, the country count rose to 15 (11 in Europe, 4 in South East Asia), with citizens of Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg and Switzerland gaining visa-free entry rights from 14 March.
I discussed this topic on Friday with Shanghai-based UN Tourism consultant Yereth Jansen in a special edition of The South East Asia Travel Show, entitled “Is China Serious About Attracting More Inbound Tourists & Business Visitors?”
Listen here: 🎧 Spotify 🎧 Apple Podcasts
Turning to Chinese outbound travel and Iran, which sits outside the geographical purview of Asia Travel Re:Set, but… hey… The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism & Handicrafts says it is targeting “millions of Chinese vacationers,” in the coming years. It hosted 20 Chinese social media influencers with 3 million+ fan bases in a bid to promote tourism in 12 provinces. Iran, which grants visa-free access to Chinese visitors, is certainly a destination to watch. [Tehran Times]
Touching down in Japan, where clickbait coverage of “Kyoto’s Geisha Tourism Ban” was largely unreadable. Personally, I preferred this story from Tokyo, where the trial of “a transparent translation screen” at selected subway stations and retail stores helps tourists in 12 languages to more easily experience Japan’s capital. [Mainichi]
Ever wondered how your “Tourism Fee” is spent? New Zealand’s Minister for Tourism & Hospitality announced that NZD5.1million raised by the International Visitor Conservation & Tourism Levy (IVCTL) will fund new tourism research. The identified streams will be “domestic-focused” and enhance a “tourism data system that partially meets the needs of the wide constituency of users”. Key areas include “visitor movement, short-term rental accommodation, visitor experience, and community sentiment.” Introduced in July 2019, the IVCTL charges visitors (except citizens of Australia and some Pacific Islands) NZD35. [New Zealand Government]
Talking of tourism fees: What is their purpose? And, do they work? Those hot-topic questions are assessed in an excellent article by TTG Asia’s Karen Yue. It analyses new tourism levies in Bali and Miyajima (Japan), proposed fees in Jeju (South Korea), Taketomi and Amami (both Japan) - and the seemingly shelved tourism tax in Thailand. Very readable. [TTG Asia]
And finally to… South Korea, where ‘tourism pricing’ is consuming travel talk. As reported in Issue #125, ‘price gouging’ is a nagging issue largely related to food markets popular with tourists. This detailed story in Chosun features an eye-grabbing stand-out quote: “South Korea, the world’s 13th largest economy by GDP, continues to struggle with its notorious reputation as a ‘rip-off republic’.” Ouch. [Chosun]
The Future of South East Asian Travel Infrastructure
Transport infrastructure is being built out on a vast scale across South East Asia. On this week’s The South East Asia Travel Show, I’m joined by James Clark, Founder of the Future Southeast Asia newsletter, to assess the current status of 8 transformative travel and transport projects - from new airport terminals in Bangkok and Phnom Penh to high-speed railways in Vietnam and Thailand, plus much more.
Listen to 'Future South East Asia: The Top 8 New Airport, High-Speed Rail & Urban Development Projects’ here:
Or search for The South East Asia Travel Show on any podcast platform
And, that’s a wrap for Issue 132.
The Asia Travel Re:Set newsletter will return next Sunday.
Until then, find me at LinkedIn and The South East Asia Travel Show
Happy travels,
Gary