News in Asia

Visitor numbers in Intramuros, Manila's historic walled city, are on the rise and look totally inaffected by the overall slowdown in tourism caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak.

The Flying Carnival 2020, a hot air balloon festival, kicked off in the Cavite province, on the southern shores of Manila Bay, Luzon island, yesterday. The three-day even will last till March, 8 and is expected to attract about 45,000 visitors.

The People’s Republic of China (including Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions), Republic of Korea, Republic of Italy, and the Islamic Republic of Iran were defined as “Disease Infected Zones of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak" by Thailand yesterday. What does it men for travellers arriving to the Kingdom from these territories?

Bangkok's four star The Windsor Suites Hotel, managed by Accor, has announced it will close temporarily from the end of April, 2020.

Thailand's leisure market makes a bet on domestic tourism as the last resort for the local tourism industry as foreign visitors arrivals shrink. 

Garuda Indonesia, the country's national flag carrier, and its low-cost subsidiary Citilink have started offering considerable discounts for airtickets on several domestic routes this Sunday.

Quite a number of events have recently been cancelled all around Thailand over the COVID-19 fears. Those who travel specifically to attend festivals, fairs ad events are highly recommended to check if the schedule remains unchanged before making their travel plans.

Chinese airlines start restoring seat capacity after dramatic capacity cuts enforced earlier by the coronavirus outbreak and are offering dirt cheap tickets. No that we are saying it is the best time to travel around China, but...

The Kuala Lumpur Craft Complex is hosting the fair and celebrations dedicated to Malaysia's National Craft Day 2020 (HKK 2020). The festivities will run till March, 9 – hurry up to stock up on Malaysian-made gifts for your friends and family.

While many airlines close the existing routes or decrease frequency on the existing ones, news of new direct air links come as a breath of fresh air. 

Travel plans are being cancelled and postponed around the world as people feel more and more anxious about the COVID-19 outbreak. Should you stay home or should you go?

Thai Smile, a Thai low-cost regional airline, has become the second Connecting Partner of Star Alliance after Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines which joined the program in May 2017 immediately after the Connecting Partner Model was introduced.

A research team from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in India has discovered a prehistoric urban settlement dating back some 4000 years in a village located 13 km from Varanasi.

Tripadvisor has revealed the list of trending destinations – it includes destinations across the world that have received top reviews and rankings based on 2019's results. Enjoy!

To stimulate international travel, Vietnam Airlines, the country's national flag carrier introduces the “Early Birds, Special Deal” promotion program. The program which is a collaboration between the airline and the Vietnam Tourism Association offers discounted airfares on over fifty international destinations across the world and is valid for flights till the year.

Travel time from Delhi to Dehradun, the capital of the North Indian state of Uttarakhand, located at the Himalayan foothills, about 260 km north, which now takes between 5 and 6 hours, will soon be cut down by half to 2.5 hours.

The 2020 Philippine Shopping Festival in the Philippines will kick off on March 1. This nationwide sale is trying to outbeat two most popular sales in the SEA – Singapore's great sale and Hong Kong's summer sale.

The figures disclosed by Department of Tourism this month showed that International visitors to the Philippines in 2019 reached 8.26 million, 15.24 percent more than in 2018 when 7.16 million travellers visited the country.

Thai tourism is under strain – Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) expects that tourist numbers will be low during at least six months from now. To negotiate the falling numbers of passengers, airlines in Thailand are slashing ticket prices.

The world's richest horse race will take place in Saudi Arabia this week. It boasts the largest prize pool for such kind of competiotin – USD20 million.