Come the holiday season and the Asian tourism industry is sure to be thrice hit, once with reduced international travelers dampened by the financial crisis, twice by political instability in prime tourist locations such as Thailand and India and thrice by weakening local currencies. However Asian hospitality personnel are not too worried, while they know tourism arrivals will soften they also seem assured that Asian’s will travel, if not internationally at least regionally.

Additionally, budget hotels and airlines, such as Tiger Airways, AirAsia Bhd. and Jetstar buoyed by value for money offers are expecting to see increased profits during he holiday season. Top Asian tourist destinations affected by unrest India and Thailand, both have announced lowered air fares and room rates to lure more tourists during this peak season.

(more…)

Its hard to find positive news to start this week off with, so lets try to find the silver lining around the cloud of gloom.  The International Air Transport Association (IATA) based in Geneva announced last week that although the airline industry will be loosing US$5 billion in 2008, lowered oil prices and passenger traffic during the second half of 2008, will mean airlines will cut fares in 2009 by about 5 percent.

The IATA announced that Asia-Pacific airlines will be the most severely hit  loosing approximately US$1 billion in 2009 predominantly due to a drop in cargo. Asia-pacific carriers currently account for 45 percent of global cargo market .

Describing the present industry crisis as the toughest revenue environment in 50 years Giovanni Bisignani, director-general of the IATA told the Times of India “Asia Pacific losses will more than double to $1.1 billion, the biggest ever…. Japan is in recession. China is suffering from a major drop in export market. India’s carriers, already suffering high taxes and insufficient infrastructure, can expect a drop in demand from last month’s tragic events.”

(more…)

The terrorists that attacked Mumbai came to the city via sea. The effortless way in which they entered the city and took it hostage begs the question of why India doesn’t have a better naval security system or the larger and more important question of why an international city like Mumbai, with massive traffic woes doesn’t use its waterways better?

Other Asian cities such as Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and Taiwan all use their waterways to some extent - either to ease traffic congestion, for tourism or for floating markets. An inexpensive and environment friendly way to commute, using inland waterways is increasingly been promoted by governments as a better way to move about.

The best example is probably Bangkok’s boats that ply both between the two banks of the Chao Phraya river as well as along the river. Transporting thousands of people a day, Thailand’s river transportation has considerably solved the massive traffic and pollution the city suffered from.

(more…)

Jet Airways which began the Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco route in June this year has announced that it will discontinue the route to cut on low performing flights. The Economic Times quoted Jet Airways chief commercial officer Sudheer Raghavan as saying “This suspension is temporary as the airline is continuously monitoring all routes but has no plans to discontinue any other flights for the moment.” The route will terminate on January 13, seven months after the Airline launched the route.

Meanwhile the airline has said that it will service its San Francisco customers via the London route, through its partner airlines, one of whom is United Airlines.

Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal also recently announced that he was interested in selling 10 percent of his 80 percent stake in the company. Due to rising fuel prices and a slowdown in passenger traffic many airlines around the world have not been able to break even this year. In the financial year ending March 2008, Jet Airways posted a net loss of Rs 253 crore (US$52.3 million). Jet which is India’s largest private airline plans to break even by 2010.

(more…)

Yesterday Pakistan became the first South Asian nation to adopt daylight - saving time, pushing clocks forward by one hour. The three-month experiment although aimed, as elsewhere, at cutting energy costs by taking advantage of long summer days, will create chronological confusion in Asia, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Consider this: Pakistan lies west of India and is usually half an hour (yes, half an hour) behind its political archrival. But by winding its clocks forward today, Pakistan is now half an hour ahead of India, whose time remains unchanged. The situation seems a little absurd, like California being ahead of Utah.

Or take India and its little neighbor Bangladesh. Imagine India as a friendly country with its arm slung over Bangladesh’s shoulder. The hand on the shoulder is India’s northeast corner, a sizable chunk of territory connected to the rest of India by a thin arm of land.

Now, a Bangladeshi who crosses his country’s western border finds himself in India, whose time is set to half an hour behind Bangladesh. So far, so good. But if he goes in the opposite direction, across the eastern frontier, he finds himself in India yet again, and still has to turn his watch back 30 minutes, even though the sun will rise earlier than it did when he was at home.

(more…)

43�years after India and Bangladesh snapped rail ties, the two nations bridged the gap, by resuming train services between Kolkata and Dhaka yesterday, marking the begining of the�Bengali new year. The train, named ‘Maitree’ or friendship in Bengali, will ply between Kolkata on India’s eastern seafront and Dhaka the capital of Bagladesh, a�distance of 406 kms. The train is expected to help rebuild ties with India’s neighbor to the east, Bangladesh (earstwhile East Pakistan), just as the Samjhauta (Hindi for understanding) Express did in the west, with Pakistan last year.

At least 10,000 people braved hot and humid weather to “welcome the passengers with flower petals and bouquets as they arrived,” Bangladesh Railways chief commercial manager Abdul Haq told the AFP.

While pasenger train links between the two countries were suspended following the India-China war in 1965, cargo links continued, and in the 1990s a passenger bus service was launched between Dhaka and Kolkata.

(more…)

The Indian Embassy will start an India Tourism Office in Beijing on Monday the 7th of April.�The ITO in Beijing follows the successful opening of the China Tourism Office in New Delhi in August last year. The inauguration will also coincide with Ms Ambika Soni - Indian Minister of Tourism and Culture’s visit to�Beijing and Shanghai and a week long food festival in both Beijing and Shanghai. The tourism office will be responsible in promoting India as a tourist destination in China.

People are at the heart of any relationship. China’s outbound tourism sector has skyrocketed in recent years, with the number of Chinese traveling to India reaching 68,000 last year and the number of Indians flying to China almost seven-times that totaling more than 462,000. Comparatively, the number of Chinese going abroad reached 37.5 million in 2007, up from 34 million in 2006, and 12 million in 2001. China has surpassed Japan to become the biggest source of outbound tourists in Asia.

(more…)

In an age of practicality, nations aren�t purchasing blessings

Recent events in Tibet and the ethnic Tibetan parts of Western China this past couple of weeks have lead to much press about the China-Dalai Lama conflict and the apparent struggle for control of the region. It�s a complicated issue, fraught with deceit, mystique, sadness and an apparent inability to see towards a solution. Perhaps, however, when a solution is already to hand, it is no longer necessary to search for it.

The question of Tibet goes way back, to the middle ages, and the Mongolians. A rejuvenated Altun Khan, a direct relative of Genghis and Kublai Khan, reuniting the Mongolian empire following the death of Genghis and a factional Mongol war amongst its territories, was reclaiming parts of its Empire lost.

Tibet, always at risk from invasion from Mongols at the time, had bought off an invasion and retained autonomy by agreeing to provide blessings and salutations to Mongolian kings (khans) over the preceding centuries. Accepting Buddhism as being the closest thing to Mongolia�s own shamanistic beliefs, the Mongolian Khans, who ruled much of China at this point, where all too happy to be officially �anointed� by the spiritual leader of the religion, adding a divine acknowledgement of their right to rule.

(more…)

FINALLY!! there’s relief for frequent flyers between Mumbai and Shanghai! No longer will passengers have to wait at unearthly hours at airports during stop overs, or suffer 12 hour journeys, for�an otherwise 7 hour flight. After two days of negotiations in New Delhi, Jet�announced it would�start flying the Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco route from May 4th. Insiders also�say there is a strong possibility�Jet will�soon start flying Mumbai-Beijing as well. Air India, which currently only flies to Shanghai is also expected to start flying to Beijing and Guang Zhou soon. India currently operates four flights to Chinese cities. China operates 18 flights to India. �

On Thursday, negotiations between Indian and Chinese aviation authorities concluded that airlines of both sides can fly on to a maximum of two cities each in three regions. While India asked for Canada-US; Australia-New Zealand and Asia. China has asked for � Africa, Middle-East (including Gulf) and Europe � as the three regions for its carriers.

A month ago 2point6billion.com, had reported that the deal would be signed, sealed and stamped in Jet’s favour in a month (http://www.2point6billion.com/2008/02/18/jet-setgo/)

The much awaited direct flights are expected to boost economy and cultural ties between the two silk route nations. Trade between India and China has only ballooned from the begining of this century. During the year 2000-01, the bilateral trade volume was barely US $ 2 billion. This increased to US $ 11.3 billion in 2004-05, current bilateral trade stands at an excess of US $ 15 billion. Since 1997-98, Indo-China trade has registered a growth of 260% i.e., average yearly growth of around 33%.

(more…)

If you were planning on�climbing Mt Everest this summer, make alternative plans. In a bid to allow the Olympic torch to�safely scale the summit of the world’s highest peak,�both approach routes, to the Mt Everest peak�- from the Nepal side and the Tibetian side will be off limits.

Nepal�s tourism minister, Prithvi Subba Gurung, told the New York Times in a telephone interview on Thursday that the Chinese government had appealed to his administration to help prevent disruptions to the Olympic torch ceremony. �Expedition teams will not be allowed to ascend Mount Everest from the base camp� on the Nepal side, he said.

Nepal�s decision underscores its vulnerability to pressure from its large and powerful neighbor to the north, even if it involves forsaking lucrative earnings from expedition permits. The tourism industry is among Nepal�s most important revenue streams, and the tourism ministry says permits to scale Everest put $4 million into government coffers last year, a significant amount for one of Asia�s poorest countries.

(more…)