Northstar

www.travelweekly-asia.com 22 | ITB ASIA Official Dailies "The indonesians enjoy the more free and easy style of travelling." "currently qatar has 155 hotels, of which 37 are classed as five stars. By 2022 that number will lift to 250 hotels." neWs ARRIVALS FROM INDONESIA DOUBLE TO KOREA AND JAPAN Citing the attractiveness of the unique culture as well as convenience due to the easier entry to the two countries, both representatives believe that the numbers of Indonesian travellers will continue to rise in the future. Eric Suh, the director of sales and marketing for Bosuk Travel highlighted the rise of Korean pop culture like music and dramas to have sparked the rise in number of Indonesian tourists travelling into the country for mostly leisure purposes. "I believe that it is due to them being wealthier. Nami Islands, Jeju By Tan Shi Wei The number of Indonesian travellers to Korea and Japan has doubled as cited by local agencies Bosuk Tours Ltd and Ishin Hotels Group. Island and Seoul are the top few attractions for them. Indonesia is now our second biggest market, behind China," Suh added. "Additionally, the Indonesians enjoy the more free and easy style of travelling as compared to their counterparts in Asia, I believe the number travelling to Korea will even double again in the coming years." Satoru Mochida, the account director of the Tokyo Sales Office of Ishin Hotels Group, believes that Japan organisations' increased activity in Indonesia aids in raising awareness of the country as well as its unique culture and delicacies. "Hokkaido is now the top destination that Indonesian travellers are heading to, with Tokyo coming behind as a great place for shopping and leisure in the city," Mochida said. He, too, foresees that the number of Indonesians travelling to Japan will be on a steady rise in the future. From left: Caitrin Moh, Kim Jihyun, Jonathan Chan, and Changho Ham, all from Korea Tourism Organization. By Ian Jarrett QATAR TOURISM TO OPEN OFFICES IN ASIA Qatar Tourism Authority is making a big marketing push in Asia with the opening of offices in Singapore this year and China in the second quarter 2015. Qatar is keen to push its credentials as both a leisure and MICE destination. Some 124,000 visitors from Asia visited in the first six months of this year. In total, January to June international visitor numbers reached 1.42 million. More than half a million GCC nationals (536,264) visited Qatar during this period, representing around 38% of tourists. Overall, Qatar reported 8% growth in international visitor arrivals and a 7% rise in hotel occupancy. During the same period, the average hotel occupancy rate rose to 74% from 67% last year, assisted by a 1.9% decrease in available rooms due to renovation-related closures. Currently Qatar has 155 hotels, of which 37 are classed as five stars. By 2022 that number will lift to 250 hotels. India and Malaysia are the leading tourism source markets for Qatar country's location and accessibility, and direct flights to more than 140 cities around the world through the Qatar Airways network. Besides extensive point-to-point travel connectivity via Doha and its new Hamad International Airport, QTA is promoting longer stopovers for travellers en route from South-east Asia to Europe. World Cup build-up driving hotel growth. in Asia and the tourism authority expects numbers to grow significantly as the profile of the country grows in the lead-up to the FIFA World Cup Finals in Doha in 2022. World football authorities are still talking to Qatar about the timing of the tournament as many are opposed to games being played at the height of the Qatari summer and would instead like to see games played in more favourable weather for football during January and February. "Confidence in Qatar's tourism sector remains buoyant and our efforts continue to bear fruit in terms of promoting and developing the sector," said Hassan al-Ibrahim, chief tourism development officer at QTA. Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has been leading a strong delegation at ITB Asia, comprising seven hotels and three destination management companies. Emphasis has been on the

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