ITB Asia: The Wrap
Get ready for Rainbow Tourism
In her blog of the event, Yeoh Siew Hoon, organiser of Web in Travel, quoted from the presentation made by KP Ho, executive chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings
KP said, “It’s time for the Western world to truly pay heed to Asia, in particular, China, and stop looking at it, and reporting on it, with a jaundiced eye."
KP said Western media tended to be biased in their reporting about anything China to the extent that he no longer read Western media reports about the mainland.
He called it a “clash of civilisations” and he said “rainbow tourism” was going to transform the travel landscape.
Peschardt’s plea: There’s no conspiracy
Michael Peschardt, who presents Peschardt’s People on BBC World in Asia Pacific, told Web in Travel (WIT) that the media had a lot of work to do with restoring people’s trust – and social media was an expression of the public’s distrust.
He described a news report of a shark attack on an Australian beach, when an 11-year-old blogger contended that it was all a media beat-up – which everyone believed, until it was in photos in the traditional media the following day. 


"The established media has lost the faith and trust of people, especially young people.
“It’s extraordinary, the number of people who believe that the established media is into some sort of conspiracy. But they’re not organised enough for that,"
 Peschardt said.
Missing in action: Tourism India, integrated resorts
For the second year running, Visit India cancelled its media conference at the end of the first day of ITB Asia. No explanation was offered to show organisers.
There were those in the media room who wished the Indonesia Ministry of Culture and Tourism had also cancelled its overlong media briefing which offered little new information.
Also noticeable by their absence were Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands when Singapore Tourism Board was asked about the opening dates of the Singapore integrated casino resorts.
STB said there would be an announcement in due course about the opening dates of the resorts but declined to specify when that announcement might be, raising further doubts that the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) will push next year’s opening towards the middle of the year.
Meanwhile TTG Asia said MBS has secured 30 contracts with major tour wholesalers in eight countires.
In Australia, the wholesalers include Flight Centre, Qantas Holidays, Venture Holidays and Creative Holidays.
Changi flying higher
Changi airport recorded its second straight month of growth in September.
More than three million people came through Changi last month, six percent more than in the same month last year.
This took total traffic for the first nine months of the year to 26.7 million, according to data released by Changi Airport Group.
The turnaround came in August, which saw 1.3 percent growth in passenger numbers after nine consecutive months of decline.
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