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If you are planning to holiday in Asia with your young family, here are some tips and recommendations to make your Asian holiday that much more enjoyable.
Be it relaxing in heavenly Bali villas, or hiking in Kuta Kinabalu, or enjoying Disney World in Tokyo, Asia offers a huge variety of holiday destinations for those with younger children.
However, as rewarding as it is, traveling with the younger ones in Asia is not always an easy sail.
Here are some insights gained traveling across Asia with children in tow, over the past 10 years.
Getting There and Back
It is more than likely that you will be taking a commercial flight to Asia.
Here is the first word of caution. As far as traveling with the young ones is concerned, not all airlines are created equal. No, I don’t mean the level of service you can expect, as this seems to be of quite a high level whichever Asian based major airline you choose. In our experience, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand, and Emirates all offer great service when you are traveling with kids.
However, the big difference comes in how much different carriers choose to charge for the younger ones. Some carriers, for example, charge 10 percent of an adult fare, for infants, traveling on your lap, without a seat. At first, this may sound like a fair deal. However, if you consider the fact that this 10 percent is calculated as a percentage of a -Full Published Adult Fare- price, you may find that you are paying as much for your infant’s air fare, as you are for your own discounted fare! The good news is, not all airlines use this pricing policy, and if you shop around, you can save yourself hundreds of dollars even before you leave home!
Also, do keep in mind, that many airlines will offer special -Child Meals-. Some, such as Singapore Airlines, do also offer different menus for different age groups.
Similarly, for toddlers and older kids, it is worth checking what is on offer in terms of flight entertainment. Some airlines will have dedicated children’s cartoon channels, with a large selection of entertainment options, whilst others may not. If you are traveling long-haul, this alone could make a huge difference to how well your Asian holiday kicks off.
Transportation on the Ground
The quality and safety of ground transportation varies immensely from one Asian Country to the other. However, as a general rule of thumb, do not expect taxis to provide child safety seats, and in many parts of Asia, even rental cars may not have the child safety seat option.
The good news is, across most of Asia, metered taxis are plentiful, and relatively well maintained, with working seat belts. When you are in Singapore, you can expect (or even demand); fully functioning seat belts both at the front and back passenger seats. In other parts of the region, you may find that seat belts have been removed, on purpose, because ‘they get in the way’.
So, if you are adamant that you would like child safety seats whilst holidaying in Asia, you may consider bringing your own, or picking one up, when you land at your destination.
Probably with the exception of Japan, Korea and Taiwan, facilities on local train services are of a variable quality, and unless you are going for gold, and staying on the Palace on Wheels in India, or a special First Class trip between Beijing and Shanghai, you may want to plan well, and take all your essentials on board with you.
Food Matters
Whilst most westerners find Asian food (especially South Asian, or South East Asian food), quite spicy, this is not necessarily an issue when traveling with the younger ones. Most hotels and restaurants will prepare food for the little ones separately, without the spices. Also, if in doubt, plain noodles, or plain rice with some vegetables on the side is always readily available as a good stop gap ration. Depending on how off the beaten track you decide to travel, you are more than likely to find, old favourites such as fish-fingers, chicken nuggets, and hamburgers in most parts of Asia.
One word of caution on the food front is the liberal use of MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate) in Asian cooking. This food additive is also used in the west (mostly packaged crisps/chips), and in principle is no more harmful than many of the E numbers we may consume daily. However, in many Asian countries MSG is used very liberally, especially in soups and food with sauces. In China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, to name a few countries, you can expect that your soups and sauces will contain MSG by default. Many parents who live and travel in Asia complain that excessive MSG causes dehydration, lethargy, and mood swings with some younger children (and many adults are also found to be sensitive to excessive MSG). If concerned, request for your food to be prepared without any MSG, or choose MSG-free restaurants, increasingly available across the region.
Bare Necessities
In general, availability and the condition of public toilets in Asia leave much to be desired. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Singapore and Japan for example, typically provide some of the cleanest public conveniences to be found anywhere in the world. Also, in each country, there are certain locations, such as hotels and airports where hygiene standards are going to be at international levels. However, it is good practice to always carry your own tissues, and wet wipes with you when traveling in Asia. Also, to address this problem, in many Asian cities, you can also find special antiseptic wet-wipes, which are very handy when dealing with some of the lesser public conveniences.
It is also worth noting that, restaurants/coffee-shops do not always provide their own toilets for guest use, and more than likely share facilities with other establishments. This is true for even larger malls, and good quality restaurants in hygiene conscious Singapore. So, the old trick of, grabbing an unwanted cup of coffee or a drink at a restaurant, just to be able to use the facilities is not always a solution in Asia.
Similarly, availability of baby changing rooms varies immensely across the region. In Singapore, and Hong Kong for example, changing facilities are readily available in most shopping malls, one almost on each floor. However, when you are off the beaten track, even some good quality hotels may not provide child changing facilities.
Breast Feeding in Public
As a general rule of thumb, if you decided to breast feed in public, regardless of how discrete you are being, expect to be stared at. The good news is, across most of the region, this is no more sinister than surprise and interest on the part of the locals. If in doubt, you may want to retreat to a quiet corner, back of a restaurant, or baby changing facilities.
My Child is a Model!
If your children are under four or five years old, and/or blonde or with naturally curly hair, expect to be approached in parts of Asia by total strangers wanting to take photos of your child!
Again, there is nothing sinister about this request. They just want to capture the -cute factor- and share this amazing image with their friends and families.
You will typically be approached by Japanese, Korean, and Chinese ladies, who will want to pose with your child, and take each other’s photos. However, there seems to be no age or gender limit to this interest, over the years, our little ones have been photographed by business people in suits, restaurant chefs, and the odd octogenarian in small villages.
Asia’s Love for Children
One thing is for sure. Wherever you go to in Asia with your young family, you will find the locals ever helpful and highly interactive with your little ones. Asian’s love children, they love their own children, and also the children of foreign tourists.
My advice is, make the most of this, and allow your children to interact with the local population, be it your villa team at your rental Bali villa, or a chef in a Chinese restaurant, or the old lady selling flower garlands outside a temple in Thailand!
Most important of all, don’t feel like you have to wait till the kids are older before you can visit Asia. Have a go; both you and the children will love this colourful part of the world.
Enjoy your Asian holiday.

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The SMERFs, a hardy and growing bunch, are travelling Asia for Social, Military, Education, Religious, and Fraternity reasons, offering vast untapped potential for this regions developing and recovering travel markets says Abacus International.
Their reasons for travelling are as diverse as war and peace, study and learning, seeking their god or just to catch up with like-minded people, but what they have in common is a will to travel even if times get tough. They do not mind even gathering in non peak times if it will help keep the costs down.

They are the SMERFS. No relation to their cuddly namesakes of television fame, they are the resilient groups travelling to and around Asia in their millions for social, military, education or religious reasons, or as part of fraternity groups such as alumni, workplace re unions or special interest groups.
Abacus International President and CEO, Mr Don Birch says that despite being budget conscious, the SMERFs collectively form a huge market and have vast untapped potential for developing or recovering Asian travel markets.
Abacus International estimates that the SMERF market across Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore alone is worth US$1.7 billion a year, based on an accepted US formula that the SMERF market is equivalent to about one third of the total meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market.
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Whereas their better known cousins the MICE are serviced by specialist divisions within major hotel groups, travel agencies and dedicated Government programmes, the SMERFS are often below the radar and therefore harder to measure.
They are hardy and budget-conscious travellers which make them ideal for developing or recovering markets or as a complementary segment in peak markets, Mr Birch continued.
The SMERFs helped sustain the US hotel and airline industry in the period following the 9/11 terrorist events, and have shown themselves to be very resilient in the face of international in the face of international events, Don Birch said.
Who are the SMERFS?
The SMERFs are part of a wider trend in the travel market towards more outcome based travel travel for a purpose other than just to see things, and they’re more prepared than ever to travel abroad to achieve their aims according to Mr Birch. This seemingly diverse group is united by a willingness to travel despite the economic cycle, to go off-peak and even off the beaten track if that is what it takes to track down budget transport and accommodation, Don Birch said.
Social travel traverses the fields of sports, special interest, ethnic, talent and dance organisations, with more and more diverse ethnic and professional associations adding to the growth. Examples include womens groups, volunteer workers and social sports teams travelling domestically or inter country for tournaments.
The growing number of car owners joining clubs in Singapore such as BMW.sg, TeamChevy Singapore and the Toyota Club Singapore, are a case in point. Aside from their regular monthly meetings where enthusiasts exchange tips on the technical aspects their cars, these clubs also serve as a rallying point for trips overseas, either to Sepang in Malaysia for a day of track racing or to other regional destinations for leisure trips. Further afield, fans of the Lord of the Rings have travelled to New Zealand in their thousands to experience in person some of the magic of the film. A guide book to the filming locations has now sold over 300,000 copies becoming the fifth largest ever selling non-fiction book in New Zealand in the process.
The Lord of the Rings has created the largest film tourism event the world has ever seen. Thousands of people have flocked to Middle earth New Zealand to follow in the footsteps of the hobbits and to bring back some of the emotions they felt when watching the film or reading the book, says Ian Brody author of the Location guide, which is selling just as well a full three years after the last movie in the trilogy.
Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Director of the Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC), Mr John Koldowski says there is also a well beaten path from India to the exotic film locations of Switzerland and Austria, as fans of Bollywood seek out the sets of their favourite movies.
Social Travel
The social category is a good market for hotel sales staff who want to fill room blocks in off-season and weekend periods, but attracting these bookings is reliant on repeat business, word of mouth from existing customers, and direct marketing to social organisers and providing the right kind of accommodation offers, Mr Birch said.
We used to think about SMERF groups as a market niche for budget hotels and hostel style accommodation, now they use convention and conference centres, university facilities, suburban hotels, downtown hotels, resorts and even unsold apartment complexes.

Military travel
Asias estimated 32 million soldiers are often on the move usually by military transport, but often by civilian travel networks in countries such as Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. Not surprisingly, the Philippines is one of the largest military travel markets in the region. With its more than 400,000 strong army and vast territory of 7,000 islands, even the coming and going of soldiers on leave is a highly significant market.
While exact figures are difficult to procure due to the sensitivity of military travel, the growing number of websites specialising in military travel in this region, attest to the scale of interest in this market and present a highly focused audience for travel suppliers seeking to reach this market, Mr Birch said.
Education travel
The Singapore experience demonstrates the potential of the education travel market. Prospects for inbound educational travel are promising with the number of international students in Singapore for long-term studies (one month +) growing from 60,000 in 2003 to well over 70,000 in 2005 according to the Singapore Tourism Board. The Singapore Government is targeting to achieve 150,000 international students by 2015, particularly from China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam.
From summer camps to immersion programmes, travel operators in Asia are beginning to discover the value of outbound educational tourism in the region.
One of Singapores most established travel operators, Chan Brothers Travel, set up its own Educational Travel Centre (ETC) in 2003 to cater to the emerging educational travel market in Singapore, conducting tours for student groups to destinations such as China, England, Germany, Australia and Turkey during the student vacation months of June and December.
Another relative newcomer on the educational tour scene, Wing On Travel in Hong Kong offers English language and activity tours to Britain, Australia, Singapore, Canada and mainland China. Reflecting their commitment to cater to this emerging travel market, the agency decided to create a dedicated educational tour division. The company launched its first study tours in 2004 and this year plans to take 14 groups to Britain alone.
Mr Birch says, This travel segment has a high growth potential but travel operators need to be aware of the challenges inherent in conducting educational tours for school groups. Parents expectations, differences in cultural understanding and catering for homesick young students are just some of the many issues that tour operators will have to address through equipping their staff with the necessary skill sets and expertise.
While students from Hong Kong and Singapore are venturing to foreign shores for a comprehensive educational experience, Indian students are discovering Indias own cultural identity and heritage. Mr P Saravanan, from Viking Tours and Travels in Chennai, South India said that school groups are mainly travelling to experience the history, culture and monuments of other Indian states generally in groups of 25-40 people.
The school groups are very budget in their accommodation needs. That is 1 or 2 star, with as many as 3 or 4 children sharing each room, but they’re definitely a valuable market, because schools come back a number of times, as do families of the children as they grow up, so it is a valuable part of marketing, Mr Saravanan said.
A pioneer in the educational travel segment, Thai tour operator Track of the Tiger has been running educational tours for students from Australia and the UK for more than ten years. Mr Shane Beary, Director, said that the demand for educational programmes at its Maekok River Village Resort & Outdoor Education Centre has been growing at an average rate of 25 to30% over the past five years and recorded 7,500 room nights in 2005. With a market base that has grown to include students from Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Thailand, Track of the Tiger now offers programmes at Pang Soong lodge, its new Outdoor Education & Research Centre in Mae On, Chiang Mai, covering a range of environmental, and outdoor programmes for student groups, as well as team building and ‘voluntourism options for the corporate sector.
Mr Beary commented, Our experience has shown that there are many overlaps between educational, volunteer and eco tourism, which we have tried to build on in developing our programmes.
Religious travel
As one of the worlds most populous and largest regions, Asia is also recognised as the birthplace of Buddhism and Hinduism. Countries such as China, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and the Philippines have a cultural heritage steeped in some of the worlds major religions, and government policies to develop joint tourist attractions such as the Buddhist circuit in Taiwan, China, Sri Lanka and India have definitely grown the pie for their respective religious tourism markets,said Mr Birch.
Agreeing, PATAs John Koldowski said, Religious traffic tends to be fuelled by domestic bookings but increasingly, there are more pilgrimages being organised for inbound tourists which usually cover more than one destination. For example, there is a distinct Buddhist circuit such as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Sri Lanka and a trail covering revered Buddhist sites in India.
With a myriad of religious sites throughout the country, India has an established group of religious tour operators to cater to the many domestic and foreign pilgrims that throng India during the peak travel periods of April, May and November. Mr Ashok Negi, from Rajarani Travels in Mumbai reports that the tours run by his agency and its network of six branch offices throughout India has facilitated pilgrimages for more than 50,000 tourists to various religious sites in the country. According to Mr Negi, visits to popular religious sites such as Vaishnodevi and the temple at Tirupati constitute as much as 25% of Indias domestic tourism.
Christianity is the other religion fuelling growth in another Asian destination, the Philippines. Having provided its services for more than four decades in Southeast Asias most populous Catholic country, Catholic Travel, Inc. has positioned itself as the Pilgrimage Specialist.
According to Ms. Carmina Orbe, General Manager, most pilgrims are from the Philippines, and they also have pilgrims from Hong Kong, Rome, Canada and Los Angeles not only joining a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (Israel) but having a pilgrimage in the Philippines. Priests that have joined our pilgrimages to the Holy Land have found a renewed inspiration in their vocational work for the community. I guess the visits have brought new meaning to the places and events in the Bible that they had only studied in the seminary previously.
Across Asia, missionary teams are also frequent travellers, with agencies such as World Vision and Youth With a Mission (YWAM), mobilising large numbers of people annually. For example, YWAM Singapore takes approximately 150 volunteers to developing countries in the region such as Myanmar, Indonesia and India, over five to ten such trips every year.
Fraternal travel
Although not as significant a market as educational or religious travel, a growing number of civil associations and groups such as Rotary International and Lions Club International have begun to look towards Asia as a possible destination for their international gatherings.
The Rotary Club held its international convention in Singapore, its first Southeast Asian venue in 1999, and again in Osaka, Japan in May 2004 for more than 45,000 Rotary club members from 96 countries. Lions Club International held its 88th International Convention in Hong Kong from 27 June to 1 July 2005, catering to approximately 20,000 Lions Club members and their accompanying family members and friends. This generated almost US$19 million of direct tourism spending and spin-off business for the retail, catering and tourism-related sectors.
Traditional MICE destinations such as Singapore and Hong Kong have paved the way for Asias rise as a conventions venue on the world stage. This has allowed emerging economies in Thailand, India and Vietnam to offer companies and fraternal associations more variety in their choice of meeting venues Mr Birch said.
Targeting the SMERFs
There are some commonly accepted issues in targeting the SMERF market says Abacus Mr Don Birch. For example recent cost increases in the Asia hotel sector which saw average room rates rise in major cities (for example 17% last year in Singapore) are not good news for SMERFs.
More meetings and higher hotel prices can limit options for SMERFS, but SMERF planners can still find open arms in markets such as second and third tier cities eager to lure back budget groups,said Mr Birch.
For sales and marketing managers within the industry, finding SMERF planners is harder than just finding Association planners.
Seeking local contacts that are affiliated with these types of groups is critical. Local networking is also needed to identify SMERF groups and their planners. Resources such as the research directories of organisations, affordable meetings conferences, and even the personal networks of a propertys employees all have their place in pinning down the SMERFs, Mr Birch said.
The internet also plays a key role as both a research and communication channel for both SMERF planners and sales and marketing teams. The internet clearly improves the chances of buyers and sellers in the SMERF universe finding a good match on location, venue and the experiences to be offered during the period of travel, Mr Birch added.

For more information grouptravelblog
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Yogyakarta well known as the city of students, as Yogya is one of Indonesia’s most foremost centers of education and learning and has a great number of students from all over the country among it’s population.
According to official statistic, about 30 percent of the city’s inhabitants. Gajah Mada University is Indonesia ‘s oldest state-owned universities and also one of it’s most prestigious.
Besides centre of education, Yogya is famous as center of Javanese culture. So many important heritage could be visited in this area. Here, you can learn the cultural activities as the root of the culture. The visitors can learn how to play the Gamelan music, how to make a batik, how to dance and so many other things can be done in Yogya.

All student Package are designed for group tour only, the hotel we selected on these package all are in budget hotels (3 jasmine – 2 star). However, if you need higher class for the accommodation, please inform us right away as we will be very happy to assist you in anyway possibilities.
THE AUSTRALIAN STUDENT JOIN THE TRADITIONAL FEAST (KENDURI)
To understand better about the culture and living of Indonesian people, it’s not enough by seeking information from news paper, TV or listen from the other experience. Of course, will be much better if you come directly and get involved on their daily life.
This also done by 15 students of MELBOURNE HIGH SCHOOL (MHS) Australia. Through wonderful packaged arranged by GRAND JAVA TOURS cooperate with Australian Tour Operators, 15 MHS students accompanied by 2 teacher , along 9 days learn about the culture and as well the way of live of the people in Yogyakarta. They even take a shower, has their meals and as well sleep at the village community. These 15 students stay with new family at Maguwoharjo village.
“Within 9 days they stay here in Yogya, 5 days they stayed at hotel and the rest they stay with local people here. They have their new family here. They involved directly, learn directly the way of life of these villager.“
The fact, within short period get mingle with the local people here, they find that Indonesian people are friendly, polite, and tolerant. Not as they read on their news paper or as they seen on their Television “said Anny the Director of Grand Java Tours among the process of The traditional feast (Kenduri) which is attended by 15 students and 2 teacher at Sanggar Tari SEKAR RINONCE Maguwoharjo, Tuesday Sept 24, 2002.
At this village they also enjoyed Jathilan, The Trance Dance which performed local Jathilan group. After the Jathilan, in the evening they join with the local people of Traditional Feast (Kenduri) for the successful of the local people for winning the championship commemorate the Indonesian Independence. The feast filled by open and gathering pray, then cut of the Conical Shape Rice (called Tumpeng in Javanese language). Uniquely, The Australian students wear the traditional clothes during the feast, complete Javanese clothes.
Pip Capon, on of the teacher of MHS who accompanied the students said to Bernas “the student as well as her self are very happy to get along with the villagers. The Indonesian is very friendly, very polite and tolerant. This fact is very different as what we know from the media. We the conclude that what we got on the news paper and as well TV was not completely right “ said PIP CAPON.“
“Before stayed with the people at Maguwoharjo, these student also get along for join the local school here“ said Anny. They join the class at SMK Nitikan Umbulharjo, then they going home with the student to their house. They stay with the family of the student.
Join their daily activity, going to school with the local bus, serried in the bus, as well stay with them. Doing that way, Anny said, these students know how they take a study, go to school one serried bus, until their activity at home.
By learning the culture, language, education and living of Indonesian people, these foreign student know more deeply about Indonesia. And their impression, Indonesian people are very polite, soft, friendly and tolerant, said Anny Yulijanti.
www.grandjavaonline.com
Male, 25th, Indonesia
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8-Point Promise at Super 8

Super 8 is hotel with creative offer to satisfy their guest and to make them comeback again and again, here is one of the offer you can use during stay at super 8, which called “our 8 point promise”. Actually many creative offer you can benefit from super 8 hotel and for more information, you can visit directly to the website www.super8.com
As a guest at any Super 8® property, you will enjoy the following amenities and services:

• Free in-room high-speed Internet access
• Free SuperStart® continental breakfast
• Upgraded bath with hair dryer, adjustable shower head, and curved shower rod for more space!
• Free coffee in your room, in the lobby, and even while you’re on the road!
• Kids 17 and under stay free (in adult family member’s room)
• Wyndham Rewards® ? Earn 10 points for every dollar you spend!
• Cable or satellite TV with free premium channels
• Guaranteed Best Available Rate on Super8.com

At Super 8, we pride ourselves on delivering our 8-Point Promise consistently from coast to coast. If you have any questions on this program, be sure to ask the local property manager.

Guide to Cheap Hotel in Orlando
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For those of you who are just visiting Disney World and the other nearby theme parks, consider the family of AmeriSuites properties near the airport, including the AmeriSuites Orlando Airport Northeast and AmeriSuites Orlando Airport Northwest, as well as the Hyatt Place Orlando Universal. If you are planning to spend some time in the city of Orlando itself in addition to the theme parks (and there is plenty to do in the city in addition to visiting Mickey Mouse!), the Courtyard Orlando Downtown puts you close to the city’s attractions while still not far from the theme parks.
If you are traveling with a family, you may want to consider booking a room in one of the hotels that offer suites or “mini-suites,” which come with small living room areas and small kitchens. This can be a great way to save money on a vacation to Orlando (or anywhere) when you can keep a few things in a fridge for the kids to munch on, or cook up a simple meal or two every so often during your trip. It helps you cut costs by not eating out so often, and it also helps make sure the pickier members of your family do not go hungry!
Planning a vacation to Orlando usually means one thing – you are going to Disney World! With one of the world’s most famous theme parks on its doorstep, you can rest assured that Orlando is full of hotels. What you will probably not be surprised to learn, however, is that finding cheap hotels in Orlando can be a challenge. After all, Mickey and Co. know that you are going to come visit one way or another, so there is no incentive to reduce prices. It is good business sense, but not great if you are looking to visit Orlando on a budget.
Of course, this does not mean that you will not be able to find a cheap hotel in Orlando – it just means you will have to do more than just the first room you find. There are lots of hotels within a few minutes of both the Orlando airport as well as Walt Disney World, so if your plans call for nothing more than arriving in the city and spending all your time at the theme park, the area around the airport is a perfectly fine location in which to base yourself. Universal Studios Orlando and SeaWorld are also close to this neighborhood, and there are some budget properties to be found there as well. They are pretty standard (or boring) hotels, but if you do not plan to spend much time in your hotel room, that is probably just fine.