MALDIVIAN authorities have slapped a tax on remittances by expatriates in an effort to garner extra revenue for the cash-strapped nation dependent on tourism revenue.

The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) said the 3 per cent Remittance Tax to be charged from expatriates will be in effect starting October and be enforced on nearly 100,000 foreigners working mostly in resorts.

Another 50,000 to 75,000 undocumented, low-wage workers mostly from Bangladesh will be the most affected by the move.

“They get very little (around US$100 to US$200 a month) and deducting 3 per cent off this could be a bit harsh,” said a travel agent who declined to be named.

Of the estimated 367,000 total population in the Maldives, about 150,000 are foreign workers mostly attached to resorts.

According to new laws, salaries of all expatriate workers in the Maldives must be deposited in accounts of banks operated in the Maldives.

Political unrest, an economic slowdown and a drop in tourist arrivals, the country’s main source of income, has seen the country’s revenue decline.

JTB is teaming up with Japan Airlines and Kadokawa, one of the nation’s leading publishers, to tap into international interest in Japan’s famed anime and manga scene.

The three companies launched the Japan Anime Tourism Association last week, and the association’s very first initiative is the creation of 88 “animation spots” around the country where fans are able to explore the locations used in their favourite tales.

The destinations combined form a pilgrimage route for dedicated manga and anime fans, inspired by the famous 88-temple route walked by religious pilgrims on the island of Shikoku.

Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, vice president of the new association and chairman of Kadokawa, said this is “what Japan needs to take advantage of to drive its economy”.

“It is impressive that the presence of Japan’s pop culture in the world has grown into something that can be on a par with Hollywood,” he added, pointing to the emergence of prime minister Shinzo Abe in a Super Mario costume at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

“Manga and anime have made a lot of young people from around the world very interested in coming to Japan,” Motohisa Tachikawa, a spokesman for JTB, told TTG Asia e-Daily.

“But we have also realised that plenty of middle-aged people are also coming here for similar reasons. There are locations associated with anime and manga stories from Hokkaido in the very north of Japan to Okinawa in the south and there is strong demand for those places to be made more accessible,” he added.

The association will initially focus its marketing efforts on other nations in Asia, where anime and manga already have a firm and widespread following, said Tachikawa.

JTB also intends to promote tours that feature pop culture sites, while the association will utilise social media to disseminate information on the project.

Agatha Lee (second from left) and Yongyut Lujintanon

LOWER 1H2016 revenue has turned Cathay Pacific’s sights towards the leisure market to better deal with business challenges expected for the rest of the year.

Yongyut Lujintanon, the airline’s sales and marketing manager for Thailand and Myanmar, said corporate clients significantly dropped in the first half of the year due to global economic downturns.

The period saw revenue fall 9.3 per cent to HK$45.68 billion (US$5.8 billion), resulting in profits taking a 82 per cent dive to HK$353 million year-on-year.

Yongyut said that while the proportion of leisure and business travellers were somewhat even previously, lower corporate demand means the airline needs to make up for the difference through the leisure market.

In Thailand, an important market for Cathay, the carrier has made airfares more attractive in a bid to boost demand, said Agatha Lee, manager of Cathay Pacific for Thailand. The airline is offering fares starting from 4,700 baht (US$135) for a Bangkok-Hong Kong flight.

Cathay Pacific remains the biggest player among seven airlines on the Bangkok-Hong Kong route, operating 63 flights per week.

Apart from pricing, the firm has invested in new technology, aircraft and services to meet demand of clients and to compete with rivals.

Delivery of the first of 22 Airbus A350-900 aircraft arrived in May and the airline will take delivery of a total of 48 A350 XWB aircraft by 2020. With this, it hopes to grow its network of routes and increase flight frequencies to popular destinations in North America such as Boston and Vancouver.

Cathay also recently opened new lounges in Bangkok, Tokyo, Manila, Taipei and Vancouver and a rebrand of its subsidiary airline Dragonair into Cathay Dragon to better target Chinese passengers is set to commence in November.

Moken village, Mergui

THE Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar is poised to open up to the broader tourism landscape within the next two years.

According to research by C9 Hotelworks, the archipelago, located in far southern Myanmar and comprising over 800 islands of varying sizes, is seeing a surge in tourism interest, especially from the upscale segment.

From 1,158 visitors in 2012, who all arrived via licenced marine vessels, the total number of arrivals in Mergui has risen to 146,736 for the January to June period of this year alone. This is mainly due to the opening of the Ranong-Kawthaung border between Thailand and Myanmar since August 2013.

Entry into Mergui requires a permit which ranges between US$120 and US$170 in price, depending on the length of stay and area travelled. However, only licenced tour operators may purchase one, meaning FIT travel is barred for now.

This is expected to change as new hotels come online, stated Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks.

As of 2015, there are 21 licensed yacht operators in Myanmar for overnight trips, 20 of which are situated in Thailand. Of those, Phuket is home to 13, Ranong hosts five and there is one each in Phang Nga and Bangkok.

Burma Boating is one company that has plans to continue expansion in the region and will increase its fleet size to cater to increased demand from luxury clients. It will be offering a seven-day itinerary twice a month at US$5,000 per person.

Hotels there too are set to expand. At current, there are two hotels in Mergui, namely the Grand Andaman Resort on Tha Htay Kyun Island and the Myanmar Andaman Resort on Macleod Island, totalling 227 keys.

Accommodation options are set to boom with 12 approved projects in the pipeline as of mid-2016.