Travel China Planner

To attract 30 million tourists to visit Japan in 2010, the Japanese government is considering further easing of restrictions on visas for Chinese tourists.

The Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun reports that specific measures include making changes to the annual income limits and issuing multiple-entry visas to Chinese tourists.

From March 2008, Japan began to issue visas to Chinese tourists in the form of “family tour group” for two or three people. In July 2009, Japan made personal tourist visas available to Chinese citizens. However, because of restrictions such as a minimum annual income CNY250,000, only 6,000 personal tourist visas had been issued by the end of November 2009, while 179,000 visas had been issued to tour groups.

AirAsia Berhad announced that it will resume the roundtrip international air route between Kuala Lumpur and Tianjin from February 1, 2010.

In late 2009 the airline has announced that it was suspending this route between November 23, 2009, and January 30, 2010. According to Wang Bin, the public relations manager of AirAsia China, flights will leave Tianjin at around 14:00, which will be more convenient for passengers from nearby cities. AirAsia will also add more airport buses and intercity buses to make it easier for passengers outside Tianjin to catch the flight.

The average occupancy rate of all AirAsia’s China routes has reached 75%; occupancy rates on the Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Guilin, Hangzhou, and Chengdu routes have even reached an average of 85%.

The Tianjin route is AirAsia’s first in northern China. The airline is currently planning promotional activities in cities around Tianjin to improve the visibility of this route.

InterContinental Hotel Group will open its first Hotel Indigo in Asia Pacific in May 2010 at Shiliupu Dock at the southern end of the Bund in Shanghai.

IHG’s first lifestyle boutique hotel brand in the region, Hotel Indigo is intended to offer guests a less formal and more individual hotel experience than the other upscale brands in IHG’s portfolio — while retaining the overall IHG brand image. IHG says the brand is a new concept for the Group, and targets upscale travelers who seek an experience that incorporates local historic, cultural and natural elements. feel at home.

Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund is located directly on the Huangpu River front, and its design reflects the proximity of the river and dock.

According to Keith Barr, the managing director of IHG Greater China, boutique properties are becoming increasingly popular within the region. However there is an inconsistency in the standards of the ’boutique’ offerings available and so IHG see a huge opportunity for Hotel Indigo with the reassurance and consistent quality that comes from staying at a property that is managed by an international group.  Barr added that it provides property owners with an attractive proposition to co-create a distinct property that benefits from a high returns model.

Bruce Ryde, the general manager of the hotel, commented that with its unique location on the river front and focus on local creativity and bespoke design, Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund would offer visitors to Shanghai something quite different, creating a more varied environment that represents the diversity and very best of old and new Shanghai.

The hotel features 182 rooms, including 21 River View Suites and two Garden Terrace Suites with private terraces. All rooms feature complimentary Wi-Fi, Internet telephone, a 42-inch flat screen TV with DVD, a Bose music sound system, an iron and ironing board, and a ‘laptop’ safe.

For impromptu meetings the hotel offers the Sanctuary with dedicated relaxation areas, work spaces and social corners, refreshments and a cafe menu, with complimentary Internet access available throughout the area and wider hotel, while dedicated work stations and seating areas provide more comfortable business spaces.

For the active, the hotel also features a gym using the latest equipment, with private tai-chi and yoga classes available on request and a glass fronted infinity swimming pool situated on the seventh floor overlooking the Huangpu river.

The famous Chinese tourist city Guilin set up a Tourist Public Service Administration at the beginning of 2010.

This new institution combines the former Tourist Information Service Center and Tourism Internet Information Center. It is reported to be the first tourist public service management body in China.

An official of the administration said that it will devise a plan for Guilin to build a public tourist system, establish tourist service centers and tourist distribution centers in downtown areas, promote a self-drive service system and the hire of recreational vehicles, and build a first class tourist public information service platform.

Guilin claims several “firsts” in tourist public service management systems, including setting up the first tourist information center, setting up the first self drive information service station, distributing free promotional materials to tourists directly, and drafting tourist information service standards.

After launching a new Chinese website in the first half of 2009, Germany-based Hotel Reservation Service recently announced that it would set up offices in Beijing, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Chengdu.

Stanley Wang, the managing director of Hotel Reservation Service Asia Pacific, told local media that HRS.cn would expand China’s online travel market by speeding up its roll-out in China. The five offices are intended to offer better services to HRS’s hotel partners and travelers in these cities and their neighborhood.

HRS has a high opinion of the scope for development of online travel in China. Statistics show only 5% of Chinese netizens would book hotels online via Internet while the number in the US is 55%. Wang believes that online hotel reservation services will have a huge potential in China along with the development of China’s Internet industry.

As well as five offices in China, HRS will also establish offices in Tokyo, Singapore, and Bangkok to expand the online travel market in Asia Pacific region.