Tourism in the world of technology

How does it draw the line between technology and personal service? There is no doubt that technology plays an important role in tourism and travel. Most of us are now used to booking our airline reservations on line, dealing with telephone trees and other cost saving devices. These technological advances have allowed corporations to save on manpower while at the same time empowering customers to make their own decisions.

On the other side of the equation, travelers use more technology than ever before and often the tourism industry has taken advantage of this desire (need) to stay in touch with its clientele. Most of us are now used to being almost harassed with on-line surveys or computer driven telephone calls. Now we have entered into the world of e-marketing, a system that may be called an advanced form of "spam."

Although many hotels do provide free internet services, many of the "better" hotels have added additional charges for local calls, for internet access and a per page fee to receive a fax. These additional charges combined with less personalized service often means that travelers have the idea that technology has become a one-way street. Technology is used to provide less personalized service and at the same time to generate additional revenue at hotels, on airplanes, and at transportation hubs.

Despite the misuse of technology, tourism and travel are highly dependent on technology and its use has made life a whole lot easier. There is no doubt that the cell phone has become a major part of our lives. And although technology etiquette may lag behind technology machinery the inconvenience of someone speaking too loud on a cell phone is more than outweighed by the safety, security and convenience that cell phones bring to most of us.

On the other hand, technology's growth has allowed worldwide terrorism to attack the tourism industry. Cell phones can save lives or detonate bombs; air conditioning units serve to make life bearable in hot climates, but also pollute the atmosphere and can be carriers of disease. The dawn of the computer age permits us to know weather forecasts around the world, allows business travelers to stay in touch with their offices and to supersede the problem of cross time zones negotiation, but can be used to destroy air travel.

Technology then has become a mixed bag for the tourism industry. It creates a great deal of conveniences while at the same time has been used as a way to increase revenues and to lessen customer service. The world of technology has made air travel safe and abundant but has also brought about the need to go through long security lines and daily hassles.

Certainly, some parts of the industry have begun to use technology prudently. When used ethically, technology can be a great help in increasing our communication and security. If on the other hand technology is used for selfish or destructive purposes than it can become a nemesis within the travel and tourism industry. Hamlet's question "to be or not to be" has never seemed more poignant in its relationship to travel and tourism.

To help you decide how much or how little technology is right for your tourism business, Tourism Tidbits offers the following suggestions:

Remember that tourism is about people "interfacing" with other people

No matter how good your technology may be, technology does not provide human warmth of take-home experiences. Be mindful that tourism is about the selling of memories and then ask yourself at what point are you willing to sacrifice memories for efficiency.

Make sure that your employees are well trained in the use of technology

Technology is only as good as the people who use it. Often tourism centers hire people who simply are not up to the task, misuse the technology and create more problems than they solve. Train, train and then train your people some more. Do not update so often that your employees' knowledge base lags behind the technology's capabilities.

Use technology wisely

While even the best computer can never substitute the care and love that comes from another human being, technology if used properly can solve many a problem in tourism. Among these are:

Issues of time: Nothing upsets the tourism industry's clientele as much as the misuse of time. The proper use of computers to facilitate both check-ins and check-outs of places such as hotels, allows the person-on-duty to attend to other problems.Clarity and consistency: In an interrelated multi-lingual world a great deal of information can be provided to guests in their own language without linguistic, pronunciation or grammatical errors.

Ease of place: Use technology and social networks to allow visitors to research from home and to gather basic information. However, many hotels and transportation companies seem to hide telephone numbers on their web sites. Combine basic information that can be given on a computer with the human side of information. Remember that if the tourist can never reach you, then you may find that your customer has found a more user-friendly location.

If we like it or not technology touches almost every aspect of the tourism industry. If we are smart enough to use the benefits of technology such as convenience, speed, and accuracy and avoid some of the pitfalls, user friendliness, size of lettering, and lack of human contact, then technology can be a great time and cost saver. But if the tourism industry forgets the importance of the human element and that tourism is all about the experience then it is making a major error.

Laos aims for billion dollar tourism industry by 2020

Around 50 participants attended the 3rd Quarterly Symposium on Tourism Sector Human Resources Development in Laos, which was organised by the Lao National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (LANITH) in collaboration with the Lao National Tourism Administration through the support of the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Project.

Chief Technical Advisor of LANITH Mr Peter Semone said “Attendees will plan future strategies to turn Lao tourism into a billion dollar industry. They will also learn about future changes to tourism in the country and what it will take to achieve them.”He said that in 2010, there were 2.5 million visitors to Laos and the Lao tourism sector received US$400 million in revenue, second only behind the mining sector.

Eighty percent of visitors were from within the region. However, most stayed only a short time in Laos, meaning they accounted for only 45 percent of revenue in the tourism sector, with the rest coming from tourists from other regions, Mr Semone said.

“So, today we will discuss how to manage tourism services and increase tourist stays per diem to achieve one billion dollars in revenue by 2020.”“It is not only up to us, the tourism sector, to achieve the goal, but all communities. Laos also needs to improve its quality of services through education and training programmes,” he added.

LANITH also asked Cornell University Hotel School’s former Associate Dean and Professor of Strategic Management, Human Resources and Management Dr Thomas P. Cullen to pick up his crystal ball and make some predictions about how tourism will look in Laos in the year 2020, he said.Technical Education Advisor of LANITH Ms Maeve O’Brien said the institute plans to open a school for hospitality, tourism and education at Pakpasak Technical College by 2014.

“Our institute currently offers short training programmes on tourism skills in Laos and we will have 18 well-equipped trainers by the end of the year,” she said, adding the short-term programmes take two to 10 days to complete.

World'sTop Value Destinations for Travellers on the Singapore Dollar

Online travel company Expedia has revealed some of the world’s top value destinations for travellers on the Singapore Dollar.According to the Expedia Foreign Exchange Index, which was developed in conjunction with foreign exchange specialist HiFX, Vietnam is currently the best-value destination, with the Singapore Dollar appreciating by more than 22% against the Vietnamese Dong in the past 12 months.

Hong Kong and India are also ranking high in the list, with the Singapore Dollar appreciating about 12% against the Hong Kong Dollar and Indian Rupee year-on-year.Other Asian countries that made the ‘Top 20 Best Value Destinations’ based on the value of the Singapore Dollar are Laos (up 8.7%), Sri Lanka (up 8.38%), the Philippines (up 7.82%), Indonesia (up 7.16%), China (up 6.64%) and South Korea (up 6.58%).

“Asia remains one of the best value-for-money destinations for travellers from Singapore. With the upcoming school and summer holidays, budget conscious travellers such as families and students should plan ahead now to take advantage of the strong currency and great offers available,” said Dan Lynn, Managing Director, Expedia Asia Pacific.

The Index also shows countries such as Kenya, Egypt, Argentina and Turkey in the top 20. The USA ranks as the eighth best value destination due to the Singapore Dollar performing well against the ‘Greenback’, delighting travellers looking to stretch their Singapore Dollars when shopping for popular brands on their overseas trips.

“The Singapore Dollar has been buoyed by strong economic growth, and with policy makers looking to allow the currency to appreciate to combat inflationary pressures, this is likely to continue. As a result, it’s a great time to be taking the Singapore Dollar abroad for shopping and overseas holidays’, explained Nick Brain, Consultant, HiFX.

From 24 May – 30 June, Expedia.com.sg is offering a discount of up to 50% off on hotels in some of the region’s top value destinations.Valid for travel till the end of August 2011, more than 10 Asian destinations will be on offer including Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Korea and China. Travellers will also receive an additional 10% discount coupon when booking their favourite Asian destination during this period.

Philippines targets tourists from Russia, India

The Tourism Department will pursue aggressive campaigns to attract more foreign tourists, especially those from Korea, China and Japan and emerging markets like Russia and India.

Secretary Alberto Lim said during a press briefing Tuesday that the department was looking to surpass the number of foreign tourists it posted in 2010. Tourist arrivals in the first two months of the year grew 18 percent year-on-year to 670,000, data show.

“Tourism revenues accounted for 6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product for 2010. The government’s pursuit of an open civil aviation industry signals that the Philippines is open for business,” Lim said, adding that the 20 million local travels recorded last year could be sustained until 2016.

He said the start of a direct flight to New Delhi by Philippine Airlines would boost tourism, with India now considered one of the emerging markets.

The department has signed an agreement with the Philippine Retailers Association and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry to conduct free training of retailers in the country’s tourist hotspots on how to sell local products to foreign tourists.

“Tourism greatly helped the retail industry last year as spending went up due to the increased visitor turnout. And with this micro-tourism enterprise project in full swing, we do hope we can exceed expectations this year,” Lim said.

Samie Lim, PCCI vice president for tourism, said tourism boosted the retail industry. Tourism said 27 percent of tourist’s spending in 2010 went to shopping. The retail industry, meanwhile, grew 12 percent last year after expanding 5.5 percent in 2009.

Vietnam remains a “hidden beauty” in the eyes of foreign tourists

Vietnam has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to show its beautiful landscapes on famous television channels CNN or BBC, or to advertise on taxis in London. However, Vietnam remains an unknown and hidden charm to foreign travelers. The arrow that failed to reach the target In recent years, Vietnam has been paying more attention to promoting tourism. However, the result remains modest. In the second half of 2010 alone, Vietnam spent 5.3 billion dong to run advertisement campaigns on CNN, which gobbled up 12 percent of the total budget for the yearly national tourism promotion program. A mini survey conducted by the Vietnam Economic Forum conducted on 200 foreign travelers showed that 77 percent of foreign travelers have never seen information about Vietnam’s tourism in mass media, advertisements or at tourism trade fairs. Ninety-three percent of polled tourists said they never see the advertisement pieces on BBC and CNN. Vietnam also spent money to place advertisements on 27 taxis out of 10,000 taxis in London in the UK for six months. However, local dwellers said they never see the advertisements. Vu Huy Vu, Deputy General Director of Saigon Tourist, said Vietnam needs to do many more things to popularize Vietnam’s tourism in the world. “Vietnam needs to have more and more publications introducing Vietnam’s tourism potentials. It needs to set up tourism representative offices in other countries to promote tourism,” he said, adding that other regional countries like Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines all have representative offices in Europe and the US for tens years. Meanwhile, a cheap but effective communication channel – Internet – has been ignored. Ben Chua is a Singaporean person who builds and runs vietnam720, an website that uses interactive products like videos, audios to introduce attractive destinations in Vietnam. “If you access to yoursingapore.com, you will find everything about Singapore. For example, if you type “art”, the website will show all the information about arts, from the events to places for excursions or the hotels near art centers,” he said. Ben Chua said he has an account on Twitter to listen opinions from people about Vietnam. There is a tweet posted in every 10 seconds, which means 36,000 opinions come every hour. However, no official agency has replied to the opinions. What is a new image for Vietnam? In mid January 2011, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism VNAT officially announced the result of the logo creation competition for the new period. The slogan “Vietnam – a different Orient” has won the competition. However, after two months, the slogan has not been approved to become the new slogan of Vietnam’s tourism in the new period. It seems that foreigners still see Vietnam as a war torn country, rather than an attractive destination in peacetime. It is because Vietnam is still busy looking for a new suitable slogan to be introduced to the world. “Vietnam is a friendly, joyful country, where the prices are reasonable. However, the images Vietnam introduces to the world do not reflect these things,” said Tim Russell, Managing Director of Come & Go Vietnam travel firm. He believes that since Vietnam cannot build up a reasonable tourism brand, only five percent of tourists return to Vietnam for the second time, while 50 percent of tourists come to Thailand for the second time. He went on to say that Vietnam only has been trying to attract the tourists who are interested in the culture and discoveries, while it has not been trying to attract holidaymakers. Meanwhile, tourism does not only mean discovery, but also means relaxing, sunbathing, playing golf and water sports, meals, nightlife and anything that is a part of a comfortable life. He believes that Vietnam should look for professional consultants and should carry out surveys in many places in order to build up a professional marketing strategy.

Vietnam tries to attract MICE Tourists

A lot of big hotels in HCM City have been introducing their services, programs and events on their websites in order to help tour organizers consider designing MICE (meeting, incentive, convention, event) tours on demand. Tourism experts say that international tourists and businessmen nowadays not only want to attend conferences and exhibitions at hotels and convention centers, but they also want to meet experts to discuss issues in fields of common interests. Therefore, Vietnamese service providers have been trying to diversify their services to attract more clients.

Many hotels in Vietnam have been introducing special dishes on the websites, and trying to organize cooking classes for their MICE guests. If the guests want, they can even go to market to select ingredients for cooking themselves. In general, hotels assign their cooks, who are in charge of Vietnamese cuisine, to show guests how to cook Vietnamese dishes. The cooks also act as “tour guides” in the “tours to the markets”.

Cooking classes have become a regular part of the program designed for the guests at Sofitel Saigon Plaza, Rex, Caravelle and InterContinental Asiana Saigon. Discovering the taste of Vietnamese cuisine is just a part of the service package called “Insider Collection” and the sightseeing tour to HCM City offered by InterContinental Asiana Saigon.

The hotels’ Business and Marketing Director Daniel Kipping, said that convention organizing companies can access www.intercontinental.com/meetings to choose predesigned normal convention packages, or design the packages themselves according to their demand. The big hotel chain has introduced a program to be applied at the group’s hotels which includes new services which allow travelers to meet and discuss with famous persons or experts in the fields of culture or sports.

The main goal of the program is to provide tourists with deeper knowledge about Vietnam which may be helpful for them in making decisions whether to do business in Vietnam. The program was introduced at InterContinental Singapore in 2010 and InterContinental Asiana Saigon in January 2011.

Through video clips, the hotel has introduced event organizers to trips to the Notre Dame Cathedral, the HCM City’s Post Office, Le Cong Kieu antiques street, Cu Chi tunnels, or sightseeing trips in the central area with motorbike taxis – one of the most popular means of transport in the city.

Besides service packages with dinners on the cruisers running up and down the Saigon River, participants can also enjoy Vietnam’s iced milk-coffee, learning about the city’s life at 30-4 Park, tasting banh xeo (a kind of cake), purchasing silk products and pictures. Kipping said that the video clip and the information from Insider Collection should be seen as suggestions for event organizers to design suitable outdoors activities.

Caravelle Saigon has also updated its website with information and images about cultural and historical sites, targeting the travelers who seek places to relax or organize trips for businessmen and MICE tourists.

Cooperation will bring benefits Le Trung Tho, Tourism and Service Director of Thanh Thanh Cong company, said that the demand of MICE tourists has become more diversified, and that travelers nowadays always seek information online and order service packages which fit their plans and requirements.

Tho said that more and more MICE travelers wish to learn more about Vietnam through the discussions with experts. They also want to participate in bicycle trips to villages to learn about the lifestyle and traditions of local residents.

The high quality convention service packages are always ordered by foreign groups of businessmen and tourists through event organizers via mail, or ordered on the websites. Therefore, many hotels now pay more attention to developing their websites, which saves money because they can get orders directly from clients instead of via brokers.

Kipping said that clients not only demand meeting rooms with modern equipments, but also order sideline events. As one hotel cannot meet all the demands, it would be better for hotels to join forces to meet clients’ demand. Business Development Director of InterContinental Singapore David Lam has forecasted that the number of tourists, especially businessmen, will increase again after one year of decreasing due to the global economic downturn.

ATF2011 closed on January 21 for another year coming

The 30th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum (ATF2011) concluded on Friday evening with a closer co-operation among ASEAN countries and their dialogue partners, said Cambodian Tourism Minister Dr. Thong Khon at the closing ceremony in Phnom Penh.

"Our great achievement made in the forum this year is the adoption of the ASEAN tourism strategic plan for 2011-2015 aimed to turn ASEAN into a world class tourist destination by 2015," he told to more than 400 participants.

"Besides this, I hope that buyers and sellers have met their business partners for future co-operation," he said, adding that the forum also created a closer environment of co-operation among ASEAN countries and ASEAN with their dialogue partners including China, Japan, South Korea, India and Russia.

The 30th ASEAN Tourism Forum had kicked off on January 15 at the brand-new Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra.

During the event, there had been a series of meetings of ASEAN National Tourism Organizations (NTOs), ASEAN tourism ministers + 3 (China, Japan and South Korea) and ASEAN tourism ministers plus India and Russia.

Also, there was the ASEAN Travel Exchange (TRAVEX) at Koh Pich with the participation of up to 1,000 sellers with 512 booths from hotels, airline companies, tour operators and travel agencies in ASEAN countries and some 466 buyers from ASEAN, Asia, Europe and the United States of America.

The 31st ATF will be held in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia in January 2012. ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
By Reinhard Hohler, Media Travel Consultant

ASEAN AIMS TO BECOME WORLD CLASS TOURISM DESTINATION

ASEAN Travel Forum 2011 hosted in Phnom Penh for the second time reconfirms that Southeast Asia is flying high again. Total number of arrivals to the geopolitical entity formed by ten countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) topped last year 65 million arrivals, up 12% over 2009.

The growth is impressive as large parts of the world are still into recession. But ASEAN tourist movements were stimulated by a booming Chinese and Indian economy, high growth in markets such as India, South Korea and Taiwan as well as a strong economic recovery in most ASEAN countries. Australian travelers are also predicted to grow sharply in 2011 to the region as more flights are due to take-off during the first quarter of this year with new low fares available to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Another positive sign is the emergence of new intra-ASEAN markets countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam as these countries have an increasing number of middle class travelers with purchasing power. ASEAN is now expected to reach the 100 million travelers mark by the end of the decade.

The 30th ASEAN Tourism Forum opened here on 15-21 January, aimed at promoting ASEAN as the world class tourist destination by 2015 and also to promote regional cooperation in tourism. The event under the theme of "ASEAN: A World of Wonders and Diversity" was attended by about 3,000 participants, who are government's top officials, ASEAN tourism ministers, tourism delegates from China, Japan, Korea, India and Russia, diplomatic corps, exhibitors, buyers and media from around the world.

Speaking during the ASEAN TOURISM FORUM 2011 opening ceremony, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen said “I am strongly convinced that ATF 2011 is an exceptional opportunity for us not only to inform the world of Cambodia’s as well as ASEAN’s tourism products, but also to enhance and show the importance of tourism and to continue to promote this field, so as to contribute to socio-economic development, the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals and the poverty reduction in the region and the world.

"ASEAN is seen as a captivating and highly competitive tourist destination for development, based on the uniqueness of its potentials and diversity of historical cultural relics and tremendous natural resources," the Prime Minister said. "I hope that all related stakeholders in public and private sectors will jointly cooperate to develop ASEAN tourism in order to fulfill ASEAN vision as the world class tourist destination by 2015."

The Cambodian government has been paying high attention and giving its full support to the development of tourism industry, considering it as a priority among the ten priority areas for social building and poverty reduction, underlined Samdech Hun Sen.

He further highly evaluated the effective contribution of tourism in increasing regional demands and exportation, the main factors to promote macroeconomic growth, social development and poverty alleviation.

According to preliminary figures, ASEAN attracted more than 65 million visitors last year, posting a healthy 12 percent growth. Intra-ASEAN travel continued to be a major share of tourists, making up 45 percent of total international arrivals.

For its part, Cambodia received some 2.5 million foreign tourists last year, or an increase of 16 percent as compared with 2009, while the number of local tourists reached more than 7 million in 2010, or an increase of 7 percent as compared with the previous year.

The ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF 2011)’s target is to turn ASEAN into an attractive tourism destination and increase the competitiveness of the ASEAN tourism sector in the Asia Pacific region, said Cambodian Minister of Tourism, Dr. Thong Khon, in his opening speech at the ASEAN Tourism Forum.

Dr. Thong Khon said ATF 2011 aims to attract more tourists from ASEAN member countries and promote cooperation among ASEAN’s tourism sectors. ATF 2011 will also evaluate the real situation and potential for tourism cooperation among ASEAN nations and pinpoint opportunities and challenges for the tourism sector in Southeast Asia after the global financial crisis in order to attract more international tourists to the region.

During the event from Jan. 15-18, there had been a series of meetings of ASEAN tourism ministers, ASEAN tourism ministers plus 3 (China, Japan and South Korea) and ASEAN tourism ministers plus India and Russia. And from January 19-21, the ASEAN Travel Exchange held at Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center. "It was the biggest gathering--up to 1,500 sellers with 518 booths from 434 exhibiting companies like hotels, airline companies, tour operators and travel agencies of ASEAN countries and 466 buyers from ASEAN, Asia, Europe and the United States of America occupying an exhibition area of 8430 sqm," Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon said.

International buyers with a keen interest to buy ASEAN destinations, products and services enjoyed doing so at ATF TRAVEX as the event presented the widest and most comprehensive selection of ASEAN travel choices – offered by small to large suppliers.

ATF 2011 also continued to be a widely publicized event by both trade and consumer media, with 148 media delegates from across 32 countries in attendance.


Highlights of the ASEAN TOURISM FORUM 2011

Direct Flights Between Yangon in Myanmar and Siem Reap in Cambodia Set for Takeoff

Direct flights between Cambodia and Myanmar will start next month, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said. A twice-weekly service from Siem Reap to Yangon, to be operated by Myanmar Airways International, will start on February 23, he said after a signing ceremony during ASEAN Tourism

Direct flights were “about [creating] connectivity among ASEAN members to boost ASEAN tourism”, he said. Thong Khon and his Myanmar counterpart Soe Naing signed the agreement to officially launch the route.

The direct service brings closer two of ASEAN’s most veritable heritage sites, Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

The two nations began exploring direct flights in 2007, and Prime Minister Hun Sen and Myanmar Prime Minister U Thein Sein discussed the possibility of beginning direct flights at a Phnom Penh summit in November last year. Say Sokhan, civil aviation adviser to the Council of Ministers, said he welcomed the establishment of direct flights to Myanmar.

“This is the first time for both countries,” he said, expressing hopes the route would help both nations boost tourism. Cambodia received 2,614 visitors in 2010 who claimed Myanmar as their country of residence, according to Ministry of Tourism statistics.

Officials also requested that Russia and Japan begin regular direct flights to the Kingdom during the ASEAN Tourism Forum. “We are hopeful that if we have direct flights with Russia and Japan, tourists will increasingly come to our country,” said Thong Khon.


ASEAN Firs Five Year Tourism Roadmap and Regional Strategic Plan

Tourism ministers from the 10-nation ASEAN bloc endorsed a regional strategic plan for the sector during a meeting in prime minister Hun Sen's Phnom Penh office. The plan, which runs from 2011 to 2015, is intended to boost regional cooperation to ensure tourism growth within ASEAN, South Korea, China and Japan.

ASEAN’S first five-year tourism roadmap is taking off with a leaner and more integrated structure aimed at achieving the blueprint’s 86.7 million arrivals goal by 2015.

The ASEAN NTOs’ structure has been flattened to three working groups and two committees, from six taskforces and a committee previously. Many ASEAN NTOs interviewed at ATF 2011 said the previous taskforces had overlapping mandates and activities, reducing their effectiveness.

Under the new structure, the three working groups are product development headed by Malaysia, marketing and communications led by Thailand and quality led by the Philippines. Brunei is heading a budget and integration committee while Indonesia heads a tourism professional monitoring committee.

“We are convinced that, with close cooperation among the ASEAN nations and dialogue partners, we will be productive and the plan will be beneficial to all the members,” Cambodia’s Minister of Tourism Thong Khon, who chaired the meeting. As part of the strategy plan, he said, ASEAN members must strengthen tourism promotion and push development.

Mr. So Mara, Secretary of state of the Ministry of Tourism, added that the expansion and strengthening of tourism services could pave the way for better travel facilitation and connectivity in the region, “We must reaffirm our commitments for sustained ASEAN tourism cooperation. “The world has started recovering from the global economic downturn. We need to sustain ASEAN’s fame as the fastest growing tourism destination in the world.”

Mr. Tith Chantha, Director General of the Ministry of Tourism, added that the region has the “most potential” of any destination in the world, but cooperation was necessary for development.


China, Japan, S Korea Support ASEAN's Tourism Plan

China, Japan and South Korea pledged to support ASEAN's five-year tourism strategic plan, said a joint media statement during the 10th ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3) tourism ministerial meeting. "The ministers from China, Japan and South Korea expressed their strong support for and willingness to provide assistance to ASEAN to successfully implement the ASEAN tourism strategic plan 2011-2015," read the statement.

The support was made after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) tourism ministers endorsed the strategic plan in the meeting of ASEAN tourism ministers. According to the statement, the strategic plan is to promote intra-ASEAN tourism marketing, to develop tourism products, to improve quality tourism, to build human resources development, and to attract investments for the sector.

"The three countries' support is very significant to achieve the strategic goal by 2015," Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon said.

According to the joint-statement, despite economic slowdown in 2009 and 2010, tourist arrivals of ASEAN+3 countries in 2010 remained resilient with more than 101 million arrivals, which is 14 percent growth compared to 2009. Of the figure, ASEAN countries attracted 65 million visitors, up 12 percent, with more than 10 million originating from China, Japan and South Korea.


ASEAN Travel Agents Gives Priority Towards Human Resource Development

THE FEDERATION of ASEAN Travel Association (FATA) has earmarked human resource development as one of its key priorities this year to nip the problem of staff poaching in the bud.

FATA president William Tan said: “Everyone of us (FATA members) is facing a shortage of trained staff. As a result, poaching is rampant.”

To tackle this, Tan said a request for funds had been submitted to the ASEAN Secretariat. “Once the request is approved, we will establish an online training portal that will list all available training courses that travel agencies can apply for. A committee will also be formed (to lead this initiative).”

Courses would be conducted in each ASEAN country and experienced industry practitioners would lead the lessons, said Tan.


ASEAN Countries Showing Interest Towards Russian Market

RUSSIAN outbound feed to the ASEAN region grew to 562,000 last year, from 458,000 in 2009, with Thailand receiving the bulk of Russian travelers, said Valery Korovkin, head, international department of Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism.

After a meeting between ASEAN NTOs and Russia at ATF 2011, Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports deputy permanent secretary Thanitta Maneechote said Russian arrivals to Thailand in 2010 leapt almost 100 per cent over 2009.

“Pattaya was the hot favourite for Russian tourists, but last year saw Phuket rising in popularity too. In fact, the Russian market became Phuket’s biggest source market, overtaking Scandinavia,” Thanitta said. “Seventy per cent of Russian tourists to Thailand are repeats. Many have been to Pattaya, so they are looking at other resort destinations in Thailand.”

Singapore Tourism Board senior director, international group, Kevin Leong, said Russian arrivals to Singapore also saw growth, although this was “modest compared to what Thailand saw”. The city-state had 7.9 per cent more Russian tourists between January and November 2010, compared to the same period in 2009.


First-Ever Air Link Creates India Breakthrough for the Philippines

The Philippines effort to nab a share of the Indian market, long stymied by an absence of air connectivity, is enjoying a turnaround as Indian buyers gear up for new six-weekly flights between Delhi and Manila.

Philippine Airlines will commence thrice-weekly direct services on March 27, to be followed the next day with three weekly Delhi-Manila services via Bangkok. The carrier will deploy an Airbus A320 with a passenger capacity of 302.

Mr. Arjun from Shroff International Travel Care from Philippines said this is a very positive growth between Philippines and Indian Tourism skies. He sees the tremendous growth between the two tourism giants and potential outbound tourism in the coming years. He also added, “Indian outbound tourism is growing so huge and it’s the best of the opportunity to catch at the right time and get the best of it.”

ASEAN Plans to Boost Cruise Tourism

Cruise tourism, encompassing incentive and other MICE sectors as well as the middle to upmarket leisure market, is on the increase in ASEAN waters. More foreign-flagged ships are evident in the region, both marquee and second-tier ports are looking to enhancements and national tourist offices are determined to seize the opportunity to take things a big step further.

In conjunction with ASEAN Tourism Forum 2011, the region’s tourism ministers gave a thumbs-up to NTO discussions which cover the feasibility of increased collaboration on cruise tourism. This is likely to see more collective promotion, as well as regional consultation on improving facilities, lobbying ship operators and developing more shore-based activities, including open-jaw sectors.

The Regional tourism ministers confirmed that the ASEAN Cruise Working Group would co-locate individual country booths at several major international cruise trade shows. This strategy will kick off at Cruise Shipping Miami 2011 (March 14-17), while other key collaborative events will include Cruise Shipping Asia 2011 in November.

The ministers noted that Southeast Asia held great potential for cruise tourism, saying that the joint marketing efforts would strengthen the region’s share of mind among key decision-makers in the cruise industry. Singapore is one port to have recorded a significant increase in foreign cruise visits and is expecting to build on this in the next Asian cruise season when AIDA Cruises begins using a larger 2500 passenger vessel, ‘AIDAdiva’, in the region.

Current AIDA Cruises vessels have contributed heavily to the recent increase in regional cruise business, as have ships operated by Hapag Lloyd, P&O and Compagnie du Ponant. Among other operators active in ASEAN waters are Cunard and Silversea.


The next ATF will take place from 9 to 15 January 2012 in Manado, in the Province of North Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Mysterious Mekong-A journey through the heart of Indochina

An exhibition of photographs by Reinhard Hohler will be on display at the brand-new SOFITEL PHNOM PENH PHOKEETHRA, starting on Saturday, January 15, 2011. The unique collection of photos is featuring the Mekong River, the longest river in Southeast Asia, which is more and more threatened by dam buildings and industrial development schemes.

Through his photographs, Reinhard Hohler attempts to give the visitor an in-depth perspective on the different geographical, historical and economic aspects of the Mekong River, which runs through the heart of Indo-China. The river should be protected accordingly.

The 72 photographs highlight the landscapes and scenery seen during an expedition in November 2002, which started in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan/China, passing through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, before ending in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The exhibition includes photos marking the group’s visit to the gravesite of the famous French explorer Henri Mouhot in Luang Prabang, the transfer of the group’s hovercraft around the scenic Khon Falls on the Lao-Cambodia border as well as a side trip to the ruins of Angkor. When the expedition had finally arrived in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, there was the first continuous navigation of the Mekong River successfully completed.

Reinhard Hohler, 60, is an experienced tour director and media travel consultant in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. He was born in Karlsruhe/Germany, a port on Europe’s Rhine River. After studying geology in his hometown and ethnology, geography and political science at Heidelberg University, Reinhard Hohler moved to Thailand and lives in Chiang Mai since 1987.

The venue SOFITEL PHNOM PENH PHOKEETHRA is a 12-storey colonial French style hotel and occupies 12 hectares in a prime, riverside location, near the British International School and amidst a burgeoning neighborhood of upscale villas.

The 5-star hotel is located just downstream of Phnom Penh’s Royal Palace and introduces nine new restaurants and bars to the city. Also, it houses Asia’s first, Sofitel-branded So Spa, Asia’s first purpose-built executive club, Club Millesime, and an impressive 1,800-square meter ballroom.
Its fitness club, the Phokeethra Sports Complex, features tennis courts and squash courts as well as an outdoor swimming pool, a kid’s club, and fitness equipment.

For more information, please contact Area General Manager
Mr. Didier Lamoot, Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra by phone +855 23 999 200, Fax: +855 23 999 211, Mobile: +855 12 980 011 or e-mail: DIDIER.LAMOOT@SOFITEL.COM

Mr. Reinhard Hohler at sara@cmnet.co.th