17 Jun, 2019
Historians in, futurists out, as Thai tourism reflects on the next 60 years
Bangkok – As the Thai travel & tourism industry prepares to mark its 60th anniversary in 2020, the Tourism Authority of Thailand is turning to historians, not futurists, to help it chart a path forward. On June 5, the TAT’s annual trade show, the Thailand Travel Mart Plus, featured a talk on Thailand: The Greatest […]
more…18 Mar, 2019
June 14, 2019: First Forum on The Greatest Story in Global Tourism HiSTORY
Bangkok – At 0900 hrs on March 18, exactly 59 years ago, what was then known as the Tourist Organisation of Thailand opened for business. Its duty, in the words of Gen Chalermchai Charuvastr, its first Director-General, was to promote visitor arrivals by "creating a wholesome image" of the Thai more…11 Apr, 2018
FREE DOWNLOAD: The Next Big Thing – Thailand Outbound Travel Report 2018
Bangkok -- Travel Impact Newswire Executive Editor Imtiaz Muqbil has made travel journalism history yet again by publishing the first report on the surging Thai outbound travel industry. The report is being made available FREE, thanks to support from Minister of Tourism and Sports Weerasak Kowsurat and Tourism Authority of Thailand more…17 Jul, 2017
FREE DOWNLOAD: The Olive Tree – How Travel & Tourism can Contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The Olive Tree is the first and only publication designed to help Travel & Tourism become a more enthusiastic part of the solution in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Free download. Click on any of the images below. ++++++++++ The Olive Tree Edition 13, May-June 2019 [caption id="attachment_57357" align="aligncenter" width="434"] Click on more…1 Dec, 2016
Call for Entries: The First ASEAN Travel & Tourism Hall of Fame
By Imtiaz Muqbil, Executive Editor, Travel Impact Newswire Bangkok – Today marks the launch of the ASEAN Travel & Tourism Hall of Fame (ATTHoF), the first global website to honour the achievements of the many industry veterans and stalwarts who elevated this robust and dynamic industry to its present heights. Click here more…1 May, 2016
Can The Travel & Tourism Industry Think?
In 1998, Singaporean diplomat Kishore Mahbubani, Professor in the Practice of Public Policy and Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, published a book called “Can Asians Think?” One review of the book says: “Asia's economies are poised to surpass those of more…5 Jun, 2019
$2.75 Billion okayed for Malolos–Clark Railway, ADB’s largest infrastructure project financing ever
MANILA, (23 May 2019) ADB media release — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved financing of up to $2.75 billion for the construction of 53.1 kilometers (km) of a passenger railway connecting Malolos, a suburb north of Manila, to Clark economic zone and Clark International Airport in Central Luzon. The more…5 Jun, 2019
Statistical Partnership Website launched to help address global e-waste challenge
Geneva, 04 June 2019, ITU media release - - The Global E-waste Statistics Partnership, of which the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is a founding member, today launched globalewaste.org, an open source portal that visualises e-waste data and statistics globally, by region and by country, for policy-makers, industry, academia and the more…3 Jun, 2019
The clock ticketh for India’s under-performing Congress Party
Exclusive to Travel Impact Newswire by Mark Deane “You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God go!” Pune, India -- Uttered while booting out the ‘Rump’ Parliament of England in April more…3 Jun, 2019
ASEAN Parliamentarians pledge to ensure stronger protections for religious freedom
BANGKOK, 03 June 2019 – Lawmakers from across Southeast Asia today pledged to place greater attention and urgency on ensuring religious freedom for all citizens in ASEAN to combat rising inter-communal tensions, religious discrimination and intolerance. “The overall lack of knowledge about FoRB [freedom of religion or belief] in the broader more…31 May, 2019
60th anniversary book hails umbilical lifeline that bonds Thailand-Malaysia
Bangkok – Did you know that the first Prime Minister of Malaysia after its independence in 1957 was half-Thai? That the winner of the 1939 Miss Siam pageant was a Muslim who later married the Sultan of Perlis? That in 1979, Thailand would have been hit by a major power more…30 May, 2019
World Economic Forum Inaugurates Global Councils to “Restore Trust in Technology”
San Francisco, USA, 29 May 2019 (World Economic Forum media release) – To help policy-makers and businesses strike the right balance between enabling emerging technologies and proactively mitigating the social risks that can result, the World Economic Forum launched six Global Fourth Industrial Revolution Councils today. Covering the most pressing technology more…29 May, 2019
India, South Africa and Bangladesh lead number of travelling fans heading for Cricket World Cup
Langley, United Kingdom, 29 May 2019 (Travelport media release): Analysis1 conducted by Travelport (NYSE:TVPT), a leading travel commerce platform, suggests India, South Africa and Bangladesh will have the most traveling fans at the Cricket World Cup 2019, which starts tomorrow in the United Kingdom (UK). Cricket World Cup 2019 Countries Participating in more…29 May, 2019
$38 million in ADB loans to transform two Mongolian National Parks as Sustainable Tourism Models
ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, 28 May 2019, (ADB media release) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $38 million in loans to develop ecotourism in Khuvsgul Lake National Park and Onon-Balj National Park to serve as models for economically inclusive development and conservation in Mongolia. The lending marks ADB’s first project loans more…22 May, 2019
Exclusive Photographs: Timor-Leste’s faith-based tourism potential
Dili, Timor-Leste - On May 17, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) funded a conference on the theme of “Peace, Harmony and Fellowship: Faith-based Tourism Development” in the Timor-Leste capital of Dili. The event was organised under the USAID's Tourism For All Project in collaboration with the Dili Institute more…22 May, 2019
Timor-Leste promotes faith-based tourism as pathway to Peace, Harmony and Friendship
Dili, Timor-Leste – In a high-profile bid to energise its national tourism policy and craft a unique selling proposition, Asia’s youngest country has reached out to its religious leaders to back a new faith-based promotion strategy built around the dozens of elegant Lady of Fatima shrines and churches dotting the more…10 May, 2019
Uber IPO is a “bad bet,” global Trade Union body warns investors
Brussels, ITUC media release, (10 May 2019) -- Loss-making Uber’s stock market float is a bad bet on a business that is facing a precarious future, according to the world’s main trade union body, the International Trades Union Confederation. The company is facing strike and boycott actions called by its drivers more…9 May, 2019
What on earth is the PATA CEO talking about?
The difference between a mediocre CEO and a great CEO is his/her ability to articulate a core leadership message in clear, simple language. This week, at the PATA Annual Summit in Cebu, board members will open their working papers to read the message below from CEO Dr Mario Hardy. Frankly, it more…9 May, 2019
More preaching to the converted at the PATA Annual Summit 2019
In April 2018, the Philippines announced a six-month closure of Boracay, a draconian order unprecedented in the history of Asia-Pacific tourism. Referring to it as a “cesspool”, President Duterte ordered the shutdown to facilitate the cleanup of an island once grandiosely cited in the tourist brochures as being “pristine” and more…7 May, 2019
Report exposes how U.S. philanthropic groups are being used to fund the global Islamophobic hate agenda
WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/6/19 (CAIR media release) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which claims to be America's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today released a groundbreaking report, called “Hijacked by Hate: American Philanthropy and the Islamophobia Network,” listing the philanthropic foundations, many of them mainstream, that were used by anonymous special more…7 May, 2019
Singapore “fake news” bill open to serious abuse, ASEAN Parliamentarians warn
JAKARTA, 7 May 2019 (APHR media release) – Singapore must significantly amend a “fake news” bill being debated in parliament this week that threatens to curb free speech and give authorities sweeping powers to punish critics, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said. The Singapore parliament is expected to hold second more…6 May, 2019
Nature’s Dangerous Decline Unprecedented, Species Extinction Rates Accelerating, IPBES Report says
PARIS, IPBES media release, 06 May 2019 - Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history -- and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely, warns a landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and more…5 May, 2019
ADB Launches $5 Billion Healthy Oceans Action Plan
NADI, FIJI (2 May 2019) ADB News release — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today launched the Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies for the Asia and Pacific region at the 52nd Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors in Fiji. “The prosperity of our region depends on more…5 May, 2019
Indian traffic-choked cities generating 25% of global greenhouses gases – Vice President
New Delhi, Vice President's Secretariat, 03-May-2019 - Indian Vice President Mr M Venkaiah Naidu has called for adopting a public transport-centric approach to decongest traffic-choked cities and combat growing vehicular pollution. He observed that Indian cities have been witnessing an undesirable shift from the use of public transport to private more…5 May, 2019
India’s looming water crisis being ignored in public discourse
New Delhi, Ministry of Water Resources media release, 03-May-2019 - Mr. U.P. Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation expressed concern that inspite of reports of water crisis in many parts of the country, water related issues have not got adequate space in our conversations and more…29 Apr, 2019
Tourists out, turtles in at Conservation Centre run by Thai Navy
Phuket/Phang-nga, South Thailand – South Thailand’s famous beaches are visited by millions of tourists annually. But just a few kilometres off the coast of Phuket is an island where tourists are out, turtles are in. In an era when overtourism and beach closures are making headlines, Huyong island is a more…31 Mar, 2019
Global e-commerce sales up 13% to roughly $29 trillion in 2017 – UNCTAD report
Geneva, 29 March 2019 (UNCTAD media release) - Global e-commerce sales grew 13% in 2017, hitting an estimated $29 trillion, according to the latest numbers released today by UNCTAD. Editor's Comment This could herald bad news for the future of shopping tourism. If consumers can buy whatever they want at a click more…31 Mar, 2019
Civil Society under attack in 111 countries, with populists, nationalists and extremists at the forefront
27 March 2019 (CIVICUS media release) - Civil society organisations providing humanitarian assistance to migrants and refugees are being targeted by governments mobilising right-wing populists, nationalists and extremist groups as the world faces a crisis of global compassion. This alarming trend is one of the findings of the State of Civil more…30 Mar, 2019
Sustainable Development Forum flags chasm between rhetoric and reality
Bangkok -- When Sabrina Rose Rasu, a young women's rights activist from Vanuatu, spoke at the Sixth Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development on behalf of the Youth and Civil Society movements, she said explicitly, “We demand system change.” In four crystal clear words, she pinpointed both the problem (The System) more…15 Mar, 2019
Revealed: How Alwin Zecha and I helped the TAT bring the PATA HQ to Bangkok
Alwin Zecha, who passed away on 12 March 2019, was a passionate believer in the grandeur and glory of Asia. His multi-cultural background and multi-lingual capabilities allowed him to convert his passion into action, using the travel & tourism industry and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) as conjoined conduits. more…14 Mar, 2019
Asia Foundation releases results of first City Life Survey 2018 in Myanmar
Yangon, Asia Foundation media release, February 22, 2019 — According to a new survey released today by The Asia Foundation, urban residents in Myanmar’s cities report strong social cohesion and personal relationships. Trust is high, people are very charitable, and people say they are willing to make personal sacrifices to more…14 Mar, 2019
Humanity ‘at a crossroads’ as damage to planet poses growing risk to health, UN environment agency warns
United Nations, UN News Centre, 13 March 2019 - Human activity is damaging the planet so badly, exacerbated by climate change, that it will increasingly put our health at risk, warns a major report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), released on Wednesday at the UN Environment Assembly, currently taking more…13 Mar, 2019
As garbage mountains pile up, young Southeast Asian leaders seek ecotourism solutions
Luang Prabang – Appalled by the mountains of garbage and waste being generated by tourists and local citizens, emerging young leaders from Southeast Asian countries ended a five-day workshop in this UNESCO World Heritage City by pitching a broad range of reduce-reuse-recycle solutions designed to cutback everything from household waste more…8 Mar, 2019
What the “Industry of Peace” can learn from the Indo-Pak conflict
In 2018, the South Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka) received a total of 27.9 million tourists, a minuscule market share of 2% of the 1.4 billion tourists recorded globally. By contrast, the Southeast Asian countries received 129.3 million visitors (market share: 9.2%) and the Northeast Asian more…5 Mar, 2019
Loading ...
