Bangkok - This year started out on an optimistic note for tourism in South-east and East Asia.

But after a strong first quarter, arrivals slowed, first on rising oil prices that peaked at 147 dollars a barrel in July, and then the the financial tsunami broke in the US in October and quickly spread to Europe, Japan and South Korea.

Tokyo - Having grown up during years of economic slumps and now seeing their country in a recession, young Japanese are bucking their national image of being globe-trotters and are preferring to stay at home.

Home is not only more comfortable, but overseas travel has lost the allure that it used to have.

"The number of young Japanese [customers] has dropped notably in the last years, and that's crucial for us," said Yumi Isozaki, a spokeswoman for the Japan Association of Travel Agents.

Hong Kong - "It's a buyers market," Malcolm O'Brien said. "There's bargains out there if you have the money to spend - at least in the short-term."

O'Brien is not talking about property, or stocks - but holidays and particularly holidays in Thailand and Vietnam.

With occupancy rates falling as hard-hit travellers ditch their holiday plans, hotels are slashing their rates to fill rooms rather than see them go empty, said O'Brien, head of traveller feedback with Lonely Planet Asia-Pacific.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's budget airline AirAsia hopes to soar above the current global travel slump by defying the conventional, and introducing unorthodox mechanisms to increase passenger volume.

With travel experts predicting a major drop in tourism across the region, airlines across the board have taken to cutting back on growth and routes to reduce capacity and match lower demand.

AirAsia, however, has chosen to fly the path less travelled.

Washington- Economic growth in Asia is expected to slow sharply into 2009 as the global financial crisis clamps down demand for exports and the turmoil hits domestic activity, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday.

Growth is forecast to slow to 6 per cent this year from 7.5 per cent in 2007, the IMF's November regional economic outlook for Asia said.

Cornwallis (Nova Scotia, Canada), Nov. 22: Defence MInisters of NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan have said they're confident about elections taking place in that country next year despite a rise in violence.

According to the Globe and Mail, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) representatives said Friday that a planned “surge” in troops from the United States, along with greater training of Afghan security forces, will help stabilize Afghanistan''s outhern provinces by spring and summer.