Hotel industry and travel news from around the Asia Pacific region: Myanmar grants visa-on-arrival to visitors from six more countries, Vietnam - discover the boundless allure of the land of rising dragon and more...
In Focus: Vietnam, Discover the Boundless Allure of the Land of Rising Dragon
By Chee Hok Yean and Kok Xin
In Focus: Vietnam 2019 provides an overview of Vietnam’s ten leading provinces' tourism landscape and hotel market performance, infrastructure development, hotel transactions and investment in 2018 and outlook.
Read the full report here
Myanmar Grants Visa-On-Arrival to Visitors from Six More Countries
The Myanmar government has introduced new regulations to ease access to the country as part of its efforts to attract foreign travellers from longhaul markets. Started from October 1, tourists from six countries namely Australia, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and Switzerland can enter Myanmar on visa-on-arrival (VoA) for USD50 at Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw International Airports. In 2018, Indian, mainland Chinese nationals were also granted VoA. In September 2019, the government has announced the extension of visa-free entry for visitors from Japanese, South Korean, Hong Kong and Macau to 30th September 2020. The new initiative is anticipated to further boost growth of the Myanmar tourism industry.
Themed Travel Becomes Increasingly Popular in China
According to a research by the world’s leading market intelligence agency Mintel, themed travel is becoming increasingly trendy in China – with more than two in three tourists from mainland cities motivated to try it as a hobby. Among 3,000 urban Chinese respondents aged 20-49 who were surveyed online, three in five would like to try themed travel because it would be a suitable hobby (66%) and create an in-depth travel experience (64%). On the other hand, themed travel provides opportunities for them to meet people with similar interests.
Themed travel includes a variety of concepts with the common ones such as health and wellness, self-drive tours and wedding photography. Mintel research shows that 52% of Chinese respondents have taken the more common self-organized tours (eg. excluding RVs and self-drive tours) in the last 12 months while 49% have taken self-drive tours. 74% of them were motivated to try health and wellness themed travel for enjoying a slower-paced lifestyle while 67% prefer health and wellness themed travel for the nice environment and being beneficial to physical health.
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