News in Asia

In 2019 Chinese outbound trips are predicted to reach 166 million while inbound tourism growth rate will be about 1% only with 143 million of expected inbound visits.

A draft plan released by the Forestry and Grassland Administration includes establishment of one of the country's first pilot national parks, Mount Qilian National Park, in 2020.

Sayaboury (Xayabuli) Province in the northwestern part of Laos will host the annual one-week-long Elephant festifaval between February, 20 and February, 27 this year. 

Scoot, a Singapore-based low-cost airline owned by Singapore Airlines will fly direct between Singapore and Laos starting from April, 2019. 

Several attractions in Gunung Kidul regency, Java, Indonesia will soon get free Wi-Fi access. Yogyakarta's administration will also provide internet access in all the villages in Gunung Kidul region.

Last week the Tourism Ministry of Indonesia announced the launch of the 2019 Indonesia Muslim Travel Index (IMTI). The index will rank tourist destinations within the country that cater best for Muslim travellers.

Eain Shae Min Toddy Land in Myanmar can become the country's national heritage as the initial study of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture confirms the historical value of the plot.

Touring Halong Bay, Vietnam, in style is now easier with a new Paradise Cruise Halong Bay day trip launched on February, 15.

Visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia? Add some spice to your travel and visit these 5 attractions in Selangor – from waterfalls to a large fruit farm – to make your stay different.

AirAsia has given a facelift to its website and mobile application introducing a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence. AirAsia Virtual Allstar, or simply AVA, is able to respond to inquiries instantly.

Street food will be featured as one of the categories in the Clean City Contest in Cambodia. The Ministry of Tourism is sure that good and safe street food will help attract more foreign visitors to the country. 

Cambodia is the cheapest country to retire in 2019 according to International Living magazine which focuses on the best places to live and invest worldwide. 

On February, 23–24, Jaipur, the capital of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, will host the 6th edition of Cartier ‘Travel with Style’ Concours d’Elegance, India's premiere vintage car event.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Raigad Fort located in Mahad, Maharashtra state, India, will soon get a much-needed facelift and become a global tourist stop.

The annual Hoa Ban festival will take place in the Northwestern province of Vietnam, Dien Bien between March, 6 and 18. The festival celebrates blooming of bauchinia tree, also known as hoa ban, or orchid tree, famous for its delicate white and pink flowers. 

Vietnam's largest agricultural production area, the Mekong Delta is a promising destination for agritourism. The region's cultural diversity and natural beauty continue attracting tourists. New agritourism models on offer help increase tourist arrivals and also contribute to sustainable agriculture and rural development in the area.

A new hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus service was launched in Bangkok. Siam Hop is a hop off hop on bus service that a new way of smart city sightseeing covering some major tourist attractions, shopping destinations and entertainment locations across Bangkok.

Nan province is high on Thai sakura fans travel lists this week as wild Himalayan cherry trees at Tonnam Kunsatan research station in Nanoi district start blooming. There are about 300 trees at the station and much more across the whole province. 

The season of Jamanese plum blossoming is approaching in Japan. While now blossoming cherry trees make for a more well-known attraction, for centuries Japanese plum, also known as Japanese apricot, played a very important role in Japanese culture.

All Nippon Airways (ANA), the largest airline from Japan, will celebrate St Valentine's Day with complimentary chocolates for all its passengers. This tradition was started back in 2014 and since then every year on February, 14, the airline treats its passengers to exclusive chocolates from some of the world's most respected chocolatiers.