ASEAN governments should remove travel restrictions on their own citizens and other ASEAN members, said president of the Federation of ASEAN Travel Associations (FATA), Aung Myat Khaw.

“At the very least, ASEAN nationals should be allowed to enter any member country without visas for a minimum stay of 14 days,” he said, calling this “crucial” in the realisation of the ASEAN Economic Community by end this year.

Also the president of the Union Myanmar Travel Association, Aung Myat Khaw was speaking at the FATA meeting in Kuala Lumpur where members discussed the slowdown of tourists from western markets as well as the importance of growth in regional travel, especially from China, Japan and South Korea.

He said: “It is imperative that all ASEAN countries drop visa requirements for visitors from these three East Asian countries before more of their nationals travel to other parts of the world and bypass ASEAN destinations altogether.”

Aung Myat Khaw emphasised that ASEAN governments should realise that tourist arrivals are not a given growth but requires continuous promotion. “However, such efforts would be ineffective if little effort was made to facilitate entry of visitors, especially in removing visa requirements. It is a bother to spend time and money applying for a visa and many high-spending tourists often travel at short notice, and would rather visit countries that do not require visas.”

Moreover, tourism brings an influx of businesses and investments into the country, said Hamzah Rahmat, FATA secretary general and president of MATTA.

“A government that insists on imposing visas does not want to see the potential tourism can bring for the economy,” he said.

STARTING off as a vacation package for Middle Eastern travellers over the Eid holidays, the Department of Tourism’s (DoT) family packages are now expanding in scope to include more markets, travel trade participation and customised dates and itineraries.

In its current form, the Kids Go Free packages bundle accommodation, transfers, and basic tours with two children travelling free of charge.

Stalin Samson, DoT’s desk officer for the Middle East, told TTG Asia e-Daily the packages will be extended “immediately” to Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and India and later European countries including Russia, France and Spain.

The trade is continuing to show support, with Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air amenable to offering special fares, said Samson.

He added that over 10 local travel agencies have signed up to offer the family packages and the number is set to grow as the DoT continues to receive enquiries, while talks with travel consultants and India and Russia have also yielded expressions of interest.

Travel consultants that TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to are reporting good demand for the packages.

Angel Ramos Bognot, president and managing director, Afro Asian Travel and Tours, began selling it in 2013 and said two families from the Middle East have just confirmed joining the programme in July.

To make travel to the Philippines a more hassle-free experience, Bognot suggested fast-tracking immigration procedures at the airport for the convenience of longhaul travellers.

Anne Elizabeth Angeles, sales manager for inbound at Marsman Drysdale Travel, said there is potential in the family and Muslim travel market for the Philippines, and she will continue to court these markets by email promotions, participation in tradeshows and liaising with her counterparts abroad.

INFORMATION technology company SITA and Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport have teamed up to introduce the worlds first use of the Apple Watch for an airport workforce.

The airport will use the watch to connect to its existing SITA Airport Management solution to push regular operational alerts to duty managers and ensure operations run smoothly.

Marc-André Bédard, vice president, information technology, Aéroport de Québec, explained: “For example, they may get an alert to say that two planes are arriving simultaneously and have been assigned to the same gate or that there is a delay at a certain gate.

“Previously, they would have checked their tablets regularly for updates. With the watch, a vibration alerts them to an update so they receive vital information just by glancing at their wrist. They can then take immediate action.”

SITA built the application for the airport and conducted all systems integration work to link the Apple Watch to its airport management solution.

From airlines to hotels, travel companies were rolling out their own Apple Watch apps even before the launch of the wearable device.

Emirates has an app that delivers flight information to passengers, while Starwood Hotels and Resorts’ app displays hotel reservation details and lets guests check in using the app.

TRAVELLERS will enjoy high cost savings if their trips, especially vacation packages, are planned for the second half of this year, according to a collaborative report of the Expedia group and Airlines Reporting Corporation.

The Travel Check-Up: Air Travel Trends for the First Half of 2015 has found that air ticket prices declined about seven per cent for travellers originating in Asia-Pacific as compared to the average of two per cent across North America and Europe.

In Asia-Pacific, Malaysian travellers heading to Australia and Thailand enjoyed the largest ticket price decline, at 22 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

Additionally, based on data on package deals booked for travel between June and September 2015 that included air and hotel, the report determined that travellers can save up to US$648 across all destinations.

Of travellers’ favourite cities worldwide offering major package savings, London tops with 30 per cent or US$1,424 savings.

As regards length of stay, one clear trend is Asia-Pacific travellers are reducing their stays significantly in Europe this summer and shifting travel plans to North America, likely due to the Chinese yuan gaining strength against the US dollar.

The report also found some great deals for Singapore travellers heading to other Asia-Pacific cities, with Thailand’s Phuket offering the greatest savings at 20 per cent.

Greg Schulze, senior vice president, Expedia Global Tour & Transport, said: “An analysis of air industry data suggests that, with smart planning, the second half of this year will be an optimal time to explore the world.”

The full report can be downloaded here.

EFFECTIVE July 1, 2015, visa-free travel to Vietnam for residents from five countries will be available. The countries whose residents will not require a visa to travel to Vietnam are the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The announcement was made at the Mekong Tourism Forum held in Danang City and made official by a signed statement released by prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Thursday, June 18.

The visa exemption policy is valid till June 30, 2016.

AND you thought Millennials were a handful. According to travel marketing firm MyTravelResearch.com, Gen Z, born after 1995, is a whole new ball game and travel entities need to adapt to their expectations different to generations before.

In her 20-minute Gen Z and Tourism Marketing presentation, co-founder Carolyn Childs explains that Gen Z – consumers in their teens – are 100 per cent digital natives grown up in an era of mobile devices and smartphones.

They are multitaskers with short attention spans, so marketers will have a much better chance of reaching them if they “game-ify” their offer. If marketers don’t grab them quick with their marketing pitch, they will lose them in a flash, warned Childs.

Heavily influenced by post-financial crash values, Gen Z members also like engaging with brands and new causes for the collective good. They respond well to visual media, can process information quickly and demand results immediately.

One of the challenges facing tourism marketing players trying to woo Gen Z members is how to market nature and outdoor experiences to a generation for whom “playing in the street has gone”.

For greater insight into marketing tourism to the Gen Z consumer, watch Childs’ video here.

THAILAND has become the fourth Asian country to register the MERS, with its health minister announcing yesterday that a businessman from Oman has tested positive for the deadly virus.

The man, along with with 56 people being monitored for the virus and three under quarantine, are warded at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province, reported Reuters.

“We are confident that we can control the outbreak,” said government spokesman major general Sunsern Kaewkamnerd in a statement, adding that the health of the man’s three family members who accompanied him to Thailand would also be monitored.

Authorities will also regularly telephone those who came into contact with the man and request them to stop work temporarily. Their conditions will be monitored over the next two weeks, the Bangkok Post quoted Thanarak Phaliphat, director of the epidemiology bureau under the Disease Control Department (DCD), as saying.

Pratana Pattanasiri, Thai Airway’s vice-president overseeing aviation safety, security and standards, said the airline has set out seven strict measures to deal with the MERS situation, including screening passengers before checking in and observing their health conditions during the flight.

The airline is also disinfecting airline cabins and monitoring the hygiene of airline staff, he added.

The DCD has told all hospitals in the country to be on alert and to thoroughly check those who came back from the Middle East and South Korea. It is also screening travellers at 67 points of entry from land, sea and air.

Meanwhile, South Korea is experiencing a deluge of flight cancellations worldwide as travellers fear the spread of the virus.

Nevertheless, South Korea’s ambassador to Singapore, Suh Chung Ha, told local broadsheet The Straits Times that Singaporean travellers need not worry about catching MERS there.

Citing findings by the World Health Organization, he said those who caught the virus visited health facilities such as hospitals and there is no evidence that it circulated in the community.

MERS continues to claim lives in South Korea, though the number of daily new cases has been slowing down. As of press time, South Korea has 166 confirmed cases and 24 deaths from the virus.