THE ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) in Beijing has lined up a series of programmes for 2013 to drive Chinese outbound traffic to South-east Asia.

ACC secretary general, Ma Mingqiang, said: “Some 90 per cent of Chinese travel to Europe, the US, Japan and South Korea, but only about 11 per cent head to South-east Asia. There is obviously still a lot of growth potential for this region.”

He added: “Chinese tourists spent US$7.2 billion in Europe during the last Lunar New Year holidays. Why should Chinese tourists go all the way to Europe when the same luxury products they desire can be found in Singapore and Malaysia too?”

The centre will employ a multi-pronged approach, with an emphasis on generating awareness through the media.

It will air two documentaries on the 10 ASEAN countries via China’s TV channels and hold a tourism exhibition during the Labour Day holiday at the Wangfujing building in Beijing, which sees 310,000 visitors daily. A travel guidebook for Chinese travellers will also be produced

A trial version of an ACC website, rolled out last August to offer tourism-related news and information pertaining to South-east Asia, will go live within the next two months.

Ma hopes that Chinese traffic to South-east Asia will break the 10-million mark in 2013, having reached 8.8 million last year.

Welcoming ACC’s initiatives, Saly Phimphinith, director general, tourism marketing department, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Laos, said: “I hope (ACC’s efforts) will drive the middle- and high-end segments to Laos, as Chinese tourists to Laos are generally lower-spending compared to Europeans.”

Tourism Authority of Thailand’s deputy director Asia and South Pacific market, Sansern Ngaorungsi, added that ACC’s efforts in helping ASEAN’s private sector to better understand the behaviour of Chinese tourists had led to higher Chinese arrivals each year.

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ASEAN and dialogue partner India are forging ahead with more tourism exchange initiatives in 2013, as India aims to double the number of inbound ASEAN tourists.

Yesterday, both parties launched the ASEAN-India tourism website indiaasean.org as a platform to jointly promote destinations.

Ministers also signed a protocol to amend the MoU inked at last year’s ATF, which promised to strengthen tourism cooperation between the two parties, after security concerns regarding data sharing and the transfer of information surfaced.

The MoU was thus tweaked to allow any ASEAN member state or India to undertake appropriate steps or consultations to ensure that its rights and interests are safeguarded with respect to its national security, national and public interest or public order, protection of intellectual property rights, confidentiality and secrecy of documents, information and data.

With 2.7 million tourist arrivals from ASEAN in 2012, India is bullish about doubling the number. Anand Kumar, joint secretary, Ministry of Tourism, India, said: “We are already offering visa on arrival to seven ASEAN nations, and will soon ease visa norms further.”

He added that India had also invited ASEAN delegates to the International Buddhist Conclave in Varanasi and Bodhgaya last year and the International Tourism Mart in Guwahati this month.

Naresh Kumar, second secretary, Indian High Commission in Vientiane, said: “Ways are being considered to improve greater connectivity between India and ASEAN by air, sea and road.”

Among the other initiatives in 2012 were India’s sending of faculty members of hospitality institutes to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, the hosting of tour operators, travel consultants and media on trips, and the 8,000km ASEAN-India car rally.

The 11th meeting of the ASEAN-India Tourism Working Group will be held in Myanmar in June this year.

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THE IMPLICATIONS of the Thailand-Cambodia joint visa, which finally took effect on December 27, 2012, are not as far-reaching as expected, and tour operators have turned their attention instead to the unwelcome Vietnamese visa fee hike.

India and China are among the 35 countries eligible for the new Thai-Cambodia visa, which allows tourists to spend up to 60 days each in Thailand and Cambodia without having to apply for separate visas.

However, Asian Trails’ manager for the China market, Grace Chen, said she had not seen any impact as yet. “Our MICE clients from China tend to stay only five to six days in Thailand, so it’s unlikely they will extend their trips to Cambodia.”

The higher cost of applying for the joint visa also makes it unattractive to Western travellers, most of whom already enjoy visa exemptions to Thailand, pointed out Simon Sweet, director of sales, Footsteps in Style. “What we want to see is no visa charges for Cambodia.”

Furthermore, DMCs said a bigger worry for regional itineraries was the increased visa fee for Vietnam. As of January 1, single-entry visas cost US$45 – up from US$25 – while multiple-entry visas are also priced higher than before.

This jeopardises any possible benefit from the Thai-Cambodian visa, said Asian Trails deputy managing director, Claudio Kellenberger.

A general manager of a DMC in Vietnam said that overseas agents were surprised at the fee hike after years of talk about facilitating access and ASEAN or Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam visas. “Everyone would have welcomed the increase if it was tied to a simplification of procedures.”

Bach Tran, general manager – Vietnam, Buffalo Tours, agreed. “Thailand and Cambodia have introduced a joint visa, which makes it easier for travel, whereas Vietnam is making it harder for tourists to come,” he said, though he acknowledged that it was too early to measure the impact at this stage.

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THE Federation of ASEAN Travel Associations (FATA) wants to expand its membership base to cover Asia-Pacific in order to play a more effective role on the global platform.

However, for that to happen, FATA will first have to garner support from other travel associations in the region.

Its president, Mohd  Khalid Harun, said he would go to Japan at the end of this month to meet with counterparts there, before proceeding to do the same in China. “We have to go country by country to promote the idea and get support.”

Khalid explained:  “(We) are small, with only 10 members. We want to create a bigger association comprising members from Asia-Pacific in order to be a strong global player and to make decisions on travel  (consultant)-related issues affecting the Asia-Pacific region.”

As for coming up against the region’s other established association, he said FATA’s concept and reach would differ from PATA’s, “as we will focus solely on issues concerning travel and tour operators in the Asia-Pacific”.

“If all goes well, we hope to form the Asia-Pacific Travel Association in a year’s time.”

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SOUTH-EAST Asia is recording significant growth in Russian arrivals, who are spilling over beyond Thailand and into neighbouring countries.

“Russia is now one of the fastest-growing source markets for Vietnam. Last year, we recorded a dramatic growth of about 70 per cent,” said Tran Phu Cuong, deputy director general, international cooperation department, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, at the ASEAN NTOs + Russia meeting.

Tith Chantha, director general, Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism, noted a similar trend. He said: “Last year, Cambodia welcomed 100,000 Russian tourists, marking a 50 per cent increase from the year before. For 2013, we are targeting 30-40 per cent growth.”

Head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism, Alexander Radkov, said that more than one million Russians visited South-east Asia last year, with Thailand being the top destination (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 27, 2012), though Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore were becoming increasingly popular.

However, regional NTOs told TTG Asia e-Daily that a key challenge was still the lack of Russian-speaking guides, an issue that is being addressed.

Said Yuri Kopylov, vice-rector of Russian State University for Tourism & Service: “We will widen the format of language courses to include language immersion courses in Russia; previously it was just an e-learning programme for tour operators on the Internet, followed by a one-month course in Jakarta. We are also in discussion with PATA to foster closer links for exchange programmes and internships between Russia and ASEAN.”

Radkov added: “We still have to remove barriers such as visa formalities and improve security for Russian tourists in South-east Asia.”

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SARAWAK will get the chance to showcase its ecotourism offerings next year when the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) heads there for the first time.

Bearing the theme ASEAN Advancing Tourism Together, ATF 2014 will be held in Kuching, capital of the eastern Malaysian state, from January 16-23.

The ASEAN Travel Exchange (TRAVEX) will be held at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, where some 1,000 regional sellers and 600 international buyers will congregate. Tourism ministers and heads of national tourism organisations will put their heads together at the five-star Pullman Kuching.

Malaysia’s minister of tourism, Ng Yen Yen, said: “Hosting ATF 2014 is timely, as it will be the first international tourism event of the year in Malaysia, and will help usher in Visit Malaysia Year.”

Ng added that Sarawak, home to the world’s oldest tropical rainforest, would make an “apt venue” for ATF 2014.

“Delegates can discuss pertinent issues on sustainable development and more in a remote destination, surrounded by nature, which will provide for greater concentration.

“We chose to host ATF in Sarawak as we would like to give the destination greater exposure. It has great ecotourism products and good infrastructure for MICE. By organising ATF there, we hope to showcase the destination’s natural beauty, infrastructure for business events and diverse tourism products to those looking for adventure, heritage and culture.”

The minister said excursions and post-show tours to East and Peninsular Malaysia would provide an opportunity for ATF delegates to witness the developments in the country since 2005, when Malaysia last hosted the rotating annual event in Langkawi.

“We wish to present Sarawak as a model case study to be emulated by overseas tour operators and planners on how a secondary destination can build on its strengths – blending culture and the environment – to become successful in tourism,” Ng said.

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THE highest powers in ASEAN’s tourism bodies will debut a new website today to promote intra-ASEAN travel and tour packages, which some say overlaps with a website launched by the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) in 2010.

The brainchild of the region’s tourism ministers, Aseantourism.travel features a commercial component that contains 130 South-east Asian tourism products that have been endorsed by regional leaders.

Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism secretary-general, Ong Hong Peng, who was also the NTO head for Malaysia and chairman of the Product Development Working Group at the 37^thMeeting of ASEAN NTOs on January 18, said the next step of the project would see the creation of tour packages combining two or more ASEAN countries and promotion on the new site.

The website also provides information related to the region’s tourism industry such as policies, facts and figures, and marketing initiatives.

Sansern Ngaorungsi, deputy governor Asia and South Pacific Market at Tourism Authority of Thailand and chairman of the Marketing Working Group, said Aseantourism.travel, developed at a cost of US$20,000, allows member countries to log in and update content.

However, some travel trade players regard the new website as a duplicate of ASEANTA’s online portal, SoutheastAsia.org, first promoted at ITB Berlin in 2010.

A source close to the SoutheastAsia.org project said the new website would “confuse the public who will not know which is the latest”.

The source added: “There are more than 2,000 tour packages on SoutheastAsia.org, while the new website has only 130 (products). (The former) must be promoted further. ASEANTA may lack funds for promotion, so ASEAN NTOs should come in and allocate a budget for support.”

ASEANTA board member, Oudet Souvannavong, admitted that SoutheastAsia.org was not up-to-date as there was a “lack of (manpower) capacity”.

He said ASEANTA might consider heeding suggestions from some members to privatise the website.

That said, Oudet does not see the new site as competition. He said: “From a business standpoint, the more portals, the better.”

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ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) is determined to play a larger role within the regional tourism landscape, a goal it is working towards by seeking out new sources of income.

The association’s newly elected president, Mohd Khalid Harun, said: “We would like ASEANTA to be able to advise the governments in terms of policies and be actively involved in decision-making.”

He added that, at times, there were decisions taken by the governments that ASEANTA was not aware of and could have given its input on.

While the ASEANTA board meeting is a platform for communication between the public and private sectors, Mohd Khalid said regular dialogue was better.

“That is why we need to reactivate the ASEANTA secretariat. We already have it, but there is no staff as we have no money. We need to generate income to be able to function well,” he said, adding that he intended to engage project partners, such as IT and credit card companies, to explore joint opportunities.

ASEANTA also wants to organise ATF’s Travel Exchange (TRAVEX) and its conference component, starting with next year’s edition in Malaysia.

“ASEANTA members are professionals in the industry. In Malaysia, for example, we have the Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA), which is an operational body, whose members are experts in the business. We will bid as ASEANTA, let (a PCO) run it and share the profit.

“However, the final decision remains with the host country,” said Mohd Khalid, who became president following the ASEANTA board meeting on January 19, which saw predecessor Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association chairman, Yanti Sukamdani, stepping down after completing her two-year term.

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