The exterior of Hong Kong International Airport at night-time

HONG KONG (Kyodo) — Hong Kong will ease traveling arrangements for Taiwanese visitors, including by offering a free online visa service, Hong Kong financial chief John Tsang said Tuesday. “To further facilitate exchanges between Hong Kong and Taiwan, I am glad to announce that the new prior registration arrangement will provide convenience for Taiwanese people visiting Hong Kong,” Tsang said amid a visit to Taipei.

Starting Sept. 1, he said, Taiwan citizens may make prior entry registration on the Internet for free and will be allowed two entries into Hong Kong within a two-month period for as long as 30 days on each entry. Currently, they need to apply for entry permits for a maximum 30-day visit every time they want to visit the bustling territory. Also, they can only obtain electronic visas for Hong Kong through travel agencies, which reportedly charge fees of between NT$300 and NT$800.

Taiwan has been offering similar free online visa application services for Hong Kong and Macao visitors since September 2010, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

Tsang made the announcement at the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office in the Taiwanese capital. “Taiwan and Hong Kong, we are one of the biggest trading partners among all, so what we have done is to establish offices in our respective regions,” he told reporters.

“Hopefully, that would help to enhance not only trade, not only things in the commercial area, but I think most important of all is the understanding between the two peoples — the people in Taiwan get a better understanding of people in Hong Kong and vice versa, and this is what we aim to achieve.” Tsang doubles as the honorary chairman of the Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Cooperation and Promotion Council.

About 2.15 million Taiwanese people visited Hong Kong last year, according to the Tourism Board, marking a 0.7 percent dip from 2010. Hong Kong’s relationship with Taiwan has warmed up since the Beijing-friendly Nationalist Party (KMT) returned to power in Taiwan in 2008, replacing the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party that ruled the island since 2000.

Source Mainichi Japan

Discover Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Tourism Board website

THE HONG Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has appointed Aviareps as its official trade and PR representative in Russia, in a bid to boost inbound numbers from the market.

“We are excited about the robust growth of the Russian market in recent years, which is now our fourth largest source market in Europe,” said Anthony Lau, executive director, HKTB. The NTO has been targeting Russia since 2008. “Riding on Aviareps’ professional knowledge in the travel industry, HKTB will build even closer (ties) and partnerships with the trade and media in Russia,” Lau added.

Following the implementation of mutual visa-free access between Hong Kong and Russia in 2009, and a subsequent increase in direct flight connections, arrivals from Russia to Hong Kong hit 86,800 in 2010 (+102 per cent over 2009), and 131,537 the following year (+51.5 per cent). In 1Q2012, over 50,000 Russians travelled to Hong Kong, a 72.3 per cent jump over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, HKTB is planning to launch a series of marketing initiatives in Moscow and St Petersburg, which will be expanded to other Russian cities in the future.

Source TTG Asia

Santo Rosario port and waterfront houses, Philippines

THE tourism industry is urging the government to rush the lifting of visa restrictions for other Asian and European nationals who can fill the gap created by a projected decrease in Chinese tourists.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Marceline Clemente, president of the Tourism Congress (TC) said, “the government needs to fast-track the relaxation of visa requirements for countries such as India and Russia, so we can adjust our promotions to them to fill the gap that will be created by the Chinese market.”

She said TC members in the accommodations sector “are now trying to redesign their marketing program geared toward other markets, without losing focus, of course on the Chinese market.”

Because of the current travel ban to the Philippines implemented by Chinese travel agencies, the local tourism industry will now be gearing its promotions to attract even more Koreans, “and the renewed Japanese market. We can switch to the Indian market as well, and also the Russians,” she added.

Echoing the same, Tourism Assistant Secretary Eugene Kaw said the Department of Tourism (DOT) “will just have to work triple time on other markets. Key markets that we want to unlock and tap are Taiwan and India.”

He stressed that no formal travel ban has been issued by the Chinese government to the Philippines. “So far everything has been verbal only by the China National Tourism Administration to the travel agencies. Nothing written yet. Hopefully everything will normalize sooner than expected.”

Data from the DOT for the first quarter of 2012 showed tourist arrivals from India grew 0.74 percent to 11,065; Russian visitors grew by 45 percent to 11,534; and Taiwanese visitors jumped almost 38 percent to 57,745.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was working on offering visa-on-arrival for these countries,” Clemente said.

From January to March 2012, foreign tourist arrivals to the Philippines rose by 16.6 percent to some 1.09 million.

Koreans continued to be the top visitors at 265,031, accounting for 23.08 percent of total market share. They were followed by Americans at 179,561 (15.64 percent), and the Japanese at 104,558 (9.11 percent).

China, with 96,455 visitors, is the fourth-largest tourist market of the Philippines, accounting for 8.4 percent of market share. Chinese tourists jumped by 77.53 percent in the first three months of 2012. Taiwanese ranked fifth representing 5.03 percent.

Clemente said while these figures indicate that the loss of the Chinese market would not have as large an impact on the tourism industry, “our plans under the National Tourism Development Plan are affected, because that market would have made a valuable contribution to achieving our tourist arrivals targets.”

But she said the industry will still keep pressing its partners in China to promote the Philippines and encourage visitors. “We’ll increase our efforts there. We’re coordinating with our suppliers and counterparts in China to help break this impasse.” On May 10 it was reported that Chinese travel agencies were suspending trips to the Philippines, on safety concerns of its customers, as the protest actions versus the Chinese government were held on Friday.

On the upside, Clemente said the industry is also looking forward to more European visitors as Singapore and Malaysia begin to promote the Philippines as a destination partner.

She said this was an agreement between the Department of Tourism and its counterparts in Singapore and Malaysia.

“This means, when Singapore and Malaysia market themselves to the European market, they will also be promoting the Philippines. We can offer the Europeans something not offered in Singapore, like beaches for instance. So they can spend three days in Singapore, and the rest of their stay in the Philippines. And for the price of one ticket, they get two countries,” Clemente explained.

In March, Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr. announced that visa reforms would be “implemented soon” to enhance the competitiveness of the Philippines as a tourism destination.

Among the new visa policies agreed upon in his meeting with Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr., are the increase in the visa-free privilege for 166 countries-territories from 21 to 30 days, granting of a 30-day visa-free stay to Chinese nationals traveling to the Philippines as part of a tour group handled by a DOT-accredited Philippine tour operator, and a 14-day visa-free stay for Indian nationals who have a valid American, Japan, Australian, Canadian, Shengen, Singapore, or United Kingdom visa.

No timetable was given, however, when these reforms would actually be implemented, though Kaw said visa-free entry for Indians “will be implemented very soon. The DFA and Bureau of Immigration have already issued their respective circulars to this effect providing for the rules and guidelines.”

The Tourism Congress is an advisory body established under the Tourism Act of 2009, which is supposed to discuss and propose policies to the government, as well as help implement the latter’s plans and programs.

About 300 tourism-related organizations representing the accommodations sector; travel and tour services; tourist transport services; meetings, incentive travels, conventions and exhibitions/events; tourism-estate developers and management services; and other tourism- related enterprises, comprise the Tourism Congress.

Source Business Mirror

Sample of an Indian visa in a passport

An Indian visa centre is to be set up in Leicester, MP Keith Vaz has revealed. The centre will be able to issue Indian visas to British citizens and allow Indian nationals living in Leicester to register for residence permits. The nearest centre for residence permits is currently Nottingham, and Birmingham for visas.

Mr Vaz collected nearly 1,000 signatures on a petition calling for a centre in Leicester, which he presented at the House of Commons last month. He said after a meeting with immigration minister Damian Green, UK Border Agency head Rob Whiteman, and Paula Vennells, the managing director of Post Office Ltd, they agreed to provide a centre in Leicester.

Mr Vaz said: “This is a brilliant outcome for the people of Leicester. The campaign has provided a service that many residents will need and use. Leicester is known internationally as a hub for business and study and also for our great diversity. It is of the upmost importance that we continue to be seen as a welcoming city. With provision for the service in the city centre, we will save many people unnecessary travelling time and expense.”

Biometric residence permits, which record personal details including fingerprints and a photograph, are issued by large post offices. The centre in Leicester is likely to be in an existing branch – probably the one in Gallowtree Gate.

Uday Dholakia, chairman of Leicester Asian Business Association (Laba) said: “We share the mayor’s vision of making the city an international hub for trade and inward investment. Laba already provides support to local companies with business visas to India. This will compliment the biometric passport provision. The potential for investment from India into Leicester is real and Mr Vaz’s initiative is integral to Leicester’s presence in a globalised world.”

No one from Post Office Ltd, was available to comment.

Source www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk

Boracay, an island of the Philippines, is a popular destination

Chinese mainland travel agencies have stopped sending tour groups to the Philippines due to concerns for tourists’ safety. Some Web users called on tourists to boycott the island country, which has famous island destinations such as Boracay and Cebu.

China CYTS Tours Holding Co, a major travel service provider on the mainland, said that chartered direct flights between Beijing and Boracay Island every five days will be suspended starting on Sunday. On Thursday, a Philippine Airlines flight scheduled to leave Beijing at 1:50 am for Manila was canceled, according to a notice on the Beijing Capital International Airport’s website, which did not give a reason.

Two other flights to the Philippines on Thursday departed as planned. In various statements, CYTS and other major travel agencies – in cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou – said they have stopped sending tour groups to the Philippines. Those who have already paid for the Philippines-bound tours will get a full refund including the visa fee, they said.

Lin Wenzhen, manager of outbound travel in the Asia-Pacific region at the Fujian branch of China Travel Service, said travel agencies had taken spontaneous action out to consideration for tourists’ safety. “Although the national tourism authority has not yet banned Philippine-bound tourism, we have adopted this proactive approach to prevent high risks to travel safety in the country,” she said.

The Chinese embassy in the Philippines issued a safety alert on Wednesday, saying “massive anti-China demonstrations” are about to be held within days, and Chinese nationals are advised to be alert and avoid going out. Dao Shuming, head of the Shanghai tourism bureau, said on Thursday that travel agencies on the Philippines told mainland counterparts that Chinese tourists should avoid going there for now because it could be unsafe for them in the Philippines.

Travel agencies will incur some losses because of the suspended business, industry insiders said. Ge Lei, marketing manager with CYTS, said that the company will take some losses from refunds on visa fees to more than 100 tourists who booked tours to Boracay. But industry insiders said the Philippines will lose an important source of tourists. China surpassed Japan in January to become the third-largest tourist source for the Philippines.

Travel agencies now recommend tourists go to substitute destinations in Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore, which are considered much safer, Lin, of China Travel Service, said. Lin said recent incidents will further dampen the Philippines’ popularity with Chinese tourists, which was already declining since the bloody hostage-taking incident on a hijacked bus in Manila in 2010 in which six tourists from Hong Kong were killed.

On Thursday, many netizens voiced support for proposals that called on tourists to not visit the Philippines. “Though I recommended Boracay before, I have to say now, please, give up the idea of going there,” said a netizen called “Xingzou40guo”, who claims to be a traveler and writer with more than 240,000 followers at Sina Weibo, China’s most popular micro blog service.

“It is not just about safety. More important, we must show our attitude! If you really like beaches, go to friendly places such as Fiji Islands, Vanuatu, and Maldives,” he said.

How many Chinese tourists are now in the Philippines is not known. Ge with CYTS said the company keeps contact with 16 Chinese tourists in Boracay, and so far their itineraries have not been interrupted by the Huangyan Island tensions.

Shanghai tourism bureau chief Dao Shuming said there are 497 Shanghai tourists in the Philippines now. “I hope they will come back as soon as possible,” he said. Tan Zongyang in Xiamen, Fujian province, and Shi Yingying in Shanghai contributed to this story.

Source www.eturbonews.com

Australian Consul-General Paul Tighe handling the letter of agreement to Mr. Isaac Lai leng-kit

The Australian Government is introducing new label-free visa arrangements for Macau residents. In a joint announcement, the Australian Consulate-General and the Identification Services Bureau of the Macau Special Administrative Region yesterday confirmed that agreement has been reached to introduce the changes from 1 July 2012. The agreement will provide streamlined visa services for Macau residents and demonstrates the ongoing and positive cooperation between Macau and Australia.

The change applies to Macau SAR passport holders and all other Macau residents, regardless of their country of origin. According to the Australian Consulate-General, “label-free will allow for faster and more convenient applications and will apply to all visa types, including tourist, business, student and migration visas”.

Currently visa applicants from Macau send their original passports to Hong Kong for processing. Under the new arrangement, this will no longer be necessary. Label-free means visa applicants do not need a physical visa label placed in their passport. Visa information is instead recorded in Australia’s immigration systems database. These computerised records are available to airline staff at airports for verification when passengers check-in to board a flight to Australia.

Application procedures will remain unchanged with the exception that applicants will not need to send their passports to Hong Kong. When a visa application has been finalised applicants or their agents will be sent a letter by post or by email confirming the decision.

Australian Consul-General, Mr Paul Tighe, said these changes are another reflection of the growing level of exchange between Macau and Australia at government, business and people to people levels. Australia and Macau enjoy strong levels of cooperation in areas such as immigration, trade, law enforcement and other areas.

Source Macau Daily Times

Check in Area at Indira Gandhi International Airport

India will soon apply its visa-on-arrival policy to nationals of three more countries – Russia, France and Germany, the Times of India reported on Sunday citing a source in the Ministry of External Affairs.

According to the source, the decision to extend the tourist visa-on-arrival policy has been approved by the Ministry of External Affairs and submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs. “The proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs because the final decision lies with the Bureau of Immigration. But that is a mere formality,” said the source.

The Indian government intends to turn India into a major tourist destination, the newspaper notes. The source added that other countries “are being discussed positively”, such as Ukraine and Kazakhstan. “However, they may have to wait for a while,” he said.

Indian media reported in January that the visa-on-arrival list could be extended to include 13 countries; however, the list would be extended gradually.

A spokesman in the consular office of the Russian Embassy in New Delhi has told RIA Novosti that diplomats learned about India’s visa-on-arrival policy plans back in 2011. The original plan was to include Russia in the list prior to 2012. Russian diplomats expect the move in the near future.

India currently issues visas on arrival to 11 countries – Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, New Zealand, Finland and Luxembourg.

Source ndrus.in

The visa on arrival counter at an airport in India

INDIA’s Ministry of External Affairs has extended its visa on arrival (VOA) facility to nationals of France, Germany and Russia, adding to the 11 countries to which the privilege is currently accorded. Countries for which Indian VOA arrangements are pending include Spain and Malta, while Ukraine and Kazakhsthan are also under consideration.

Rohit Kohli, joint managing director, Creative Travel New Delhi said: “Most Indian missions overseas are very tardy in issuance of visas, and this can be a deterrent for foreign tourists. In some cases where visa issuance is outsourced, there is only an English version of the application form available, when they (should) at least be bilingual. In principle, VOA should enhance visitor arrivals.”

Rajesh Dumma, managing director, Classic Travel said: “We welcome the visa on arrival (being extended) to major source market countries. This will help us to market our packages more aggressively.”

Indian immigration records reveal that approximately 1,500 visitors avail of VOAs at Indian airports every month.

Source TTG Asia

Yangon International Airport, Burma

(Mizzima) – Burma will issue visas-on-arrival and business visas starting June 1 to accommodate businessmen and foreign travelers, local media reported on Friday. The visa-on-arrival was withdrawn in September 2010 ahead of Burma’s general election in November 2011.

Business visa priority will be given to citizens of countries which do business with Myanmar while the visa-on-arrival will be provided to travelers from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), said the Yangon Times.

According to official statistics, the number of tourists arrival at Burma’s Yangon International Airport alone reached 359,359 in 2011. The figure is expected to reach 1.5 million in 2012 for the gateway. Other statistics by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism showed that arrivals at all entry points totaled over 800,000 in 2011, up more than 24,000 or 3 per cent from over 790,000 in 2010. The figures for the two months of January and February 2012 represented 98,486, according to the Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board.

Meanwhile, as of February 2012, hotels in Burma numbered 739 including 22 foreign-invested hotels, four joint-venture hotels, six government hotels and 707 privatelyowned hotels. Burma earned US$ 319 million in 2011 from the hotel and tourism sector, up 26 per cent from $254 million in 2010. The tourism sector is expected to increase rapidly as sanctions are being withdrawn by most nations.

Source www.mizzima.com

Perfume River, one of the main landmark of Hue

Hue is the capital city of Thua Thien–Hue province, Vietnam. Hue is easy to get a grip on. The main landmark is the Perfume River (Hương Giang), with the old city and the Citadel on the north side and the newer city, including most hotels and restaurants, on the south side. It is possible extend your Vietnam visa in Hue, but you will need the help of a travel agent. A traveler, gieg reported this on Thorntree (5-May-2012):-

We tried very hard to do it ourselves at the immigration office in Danang. The first government office (in English) referred us to another where he said they could take care of our extension.

We went to the second office on Le Loi in Hue. The clerk handed us a one page form and then called over another official. That second (corrupt) official insisted we needed to go to a travel agent and handed us his cell phone after connecting to the travel agent! The travel agent said no need for them to be involved since we were already at the government office. Then the official talked to the travel agent again then handed the phone to me again. Bottom line: the Government officer refused to take our applications. He forced us to use Danatours.

Obviously, a kickback was the motivation. We pressed Danatours on this and they did not deny it. But they insisted, if we couldn’t get the official office to take our application without them, they would do it in one week for $50 each…… or expedited for $70. It is the going rate to bribe the Vietnamese government worker in Danang…my words, not her’s……this experience is unfortunate because the honest office in Sihanoukville Cambodia treated us so well when we got our initial visa in 20 minutes.