Magical mystery tour

Magical mystery tour

Visitors to South Korea will in future be able to explore the Ara canal between Incheon and the capital Seoul in a colourful amphibious bus. The bus can travel on land or in the water and is the first amphibious bus for tourists in South Korea, according to its operator, Aqua Tourism Korea. From mid-May the bus will operate daily between Incheon and Gimpo near Seoul. The tour will take about 50 minutes on land along the canal then 15 minutes on the water. Along the way tourists can see flower gardens, a waterfall and an eco-park. For adults the trip will cost 30,000 Won (around Bt930) and for children 25,000 Won. - DPA

 

Shop from your seat

Travellers arriving at Changi Airport will soon be able to shop even before they land and their items will be packed and ready for collection at designated counters by the time they arrive. Online shopping portal iShopChangi, which is now available only to passengers who are departing, will be extended to arriving passengers by the end of the year. Items for sale include cosmetics, perfumes, wines and spirits, Changi Airport Group spokesman Robin Goh told The Straits Times. Payment will be made online, and the travellers need not pay the 7 per cent goods and services tax – Asia News Network. 

 

Travel agent closed for abuse

Tourism officials in Yunnan province have ordered a travel agency to suspend its operations after a tour guide was videotaped verbally abusing visitors on a bus. The guide, Chen Chunyan, was angry because she had failed to persuade them to spend at a jewellery shop. On the video she can be heard threatening to cancel the trip to Xishuangbanna and their flight tickets home if they do not spend more at the next stop. The company involved, the Kunming Fenghua Travel Agency, was fined 20,000 yuan (Bt107,500) and is suspected of further violations, the commission said. - China Daily/Asia News Network

 

A charge before you fly

Airports are quickly coming to terms with passengers’ increasing reliance on smartphones and tablets by increasing the number of power sockets and USB ports at their premises. London Heathrow and Warsaw Airport lead the way in offering more charging points for the convenience of passengers, according to a survey carried out by travel search engine Kayak, Both airports have close to 3,000 power sockets available for passengers while, by comparison, Barcelona and Munich have just 1,000 points each. – DPA

 

Nepal needs your help 

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has established a Nepal Earthquake Tourism Recovery Fund to which the Foundation has contributed an initial amount of US$10,000 (Bt320,000) and is now inviting individuals and organisations to contribute additional money by making donations through the website www.PataFoundation.org. Nepal was hit by powerful earthquake on April 25, and the natural disaster claimed more than 7,000 lives and injured more than twice as many.