The Visit Maldives Storytellers’ Conference 2023, organised by Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, brought together international speakers, content creators, journalists, bloggers, and industry professionals from around the world to celebrate the power of storytelling and showcase the destination in an immersive and authentic way.
Following the conference, participants embarked on unforgettable adventures through eight regions of the Maldives – Raa Atoll, Laamu Atoll, Ari Atoll, Vaavu Atoll, Haa Alifuand Haa Dhaalu Atolls, Kaafu Atoll, Addu Atoll, and Fuvahmulah.
Participants experienced the unique culture, flavours, and adventures of the Maldives’ eight atolls
Along with the conference, participants also spent three days experiencing the unique culture, flavours, and adventures distinct to these atolls, and have become ambassadors, sharing their first-hand experiences and creating compelling narratives that will resonate with audiences worldwide.
Their captivating stories will inspire travellers to embark on their own journeys to the Maldives, fostering a deeper appreciation for the natural wonders, cultural heritage, and warm hospitality that await them in the Sunny Side of Life.
Resorts World Cruises is collaborating with Lego for the first-ever summer theme cruise aboard Resorts World One from July 12 to August 30, sailing between Hong Kong and Kaohsiung.
Welcoming guests to an exciting World of Lego at sea with colourful Lego decorations and fun-filled activities for all ages, highlights include catching a photo with the Captain and Sailor Lego mascots on the ship as well.
Guests can sail on Resorts World One and enjoy an immersive Lego experience for all ages
For an immersive Lego experience, guests can also sign-up for the Lego BUILDcation packages at HK$288 (US$36) per guest, which features a wide-array of Lego activities and workshops, including a special Lego box set while stocks last.
Upon completing these activities, kids will also be presented with a special Resorts World Cruises and Lego certificate from the Sailor Lego mascot.
The Indian travel market is leading the recovery of British Airways in Asia, where the carrier is operating 56 flights a week in India, exceeding its pre-pandemic schedule of 49 weekly flights in 2019.
Addressing a media roundtable in New Delhi last week, Sean Doyle, chairman & CEO, British Airways, said: “One of the first markets that we were keen to rebuild all our presence was in India. We’re back flying to all of our flight gateways in India, (and) seeing a positive picture in terms of demand from the leisure and VFR segment although corporate travel has been slow to recover.”
British Airways now flies to five Indian cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai; the India Gate in New Delhi, pictured
Doyle was in the Indian capital to officially open CallBA, the airline’s new call centre located in Gurugram, near Delhi. The centre will offer round-the-clock support to thousands of customers worldwide.
In China, British Airways resumed its flights to Shanghai in April while flights to Beijing began just last month. Beyond India and China, the airline is also operating flights to Singapore, Tokyo (Japan), Hong Kong and Sydney (Australia). Prior to the pandemic, British Airways flew to Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, Bangkok and Seoul – these flights have yet to be reinstated.
“There are a lot of footprints that we would like to reestablish. We would look to add our previous gateways back into the schedule before we add completely new destinations,” said Doyle.
Even though the carrier has no immediate plans to add more destinations to its Indian network, Doyle sees the strong Indian economy paving the way for future growth of the carrier.
“Fifteen years ago, we were flying to 20 to 21 cities in the US, and today we fly to 31 destinations. We don’t see any reason why we should not record that rate of expansion in India too and increase existing frequency,” he added.
British Airways now flies to five Indian cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The airline also flies from London to Asia-Pacific destinations 113 times a week.
Visitors to Singapore this month can join the city-state’s sustainability journey, as the Go Green SG festival adopts a destination experience angle through a collaboration with the Singapore Tourism Board.
The festival, formerly known as Climate Action Week, is led by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment and features a host of sustainability-related events and activities in July that are put together by the public and private sectors.
Tribe’s Zero to Hero Food Sustainability Tour offers exclusive behind-the-scenes access to high-tech waste management processes as well as a walk through lively local food markets
Gardens by the Bay offers Sustainability Garden Cruiser Audio Tours as part of Go Green SG, where visitors will ride a cruiser to get an overview of the attraction’s sustainability features through the 30-minute audio tour. The tour runs daily at 12.00.
The attraction also conducts various activities under the Nature and Sustainability Tour banner – such as a Biodiversity and Ecosystems tour that looks at diverse habitats from around the world; and a Carbon and Climate tour that reveals Gardens by the Bay’s efforts in cutting carbon emissions.
Over at resort island Sentosa, visitors can join a two-hour guided bus tour that conveys the transformation of the island’s environment, or sign up for one of many enriching SentoSights activities organised by The Untamed Paths.
Green discoveries in July are available beyond major attractions, as curious ones are also invited to wade through freshwater forest streams and learn about stream ecology; find out how Black Soldier Fly contributes to waste management; spot flying lemurs in a secondary forest; uncover Singapore’s urban farms; and more.
One of Singapore’s most innovative tour designers, Tribe, is also contributing to the festival with its new Zero to Hero Food Sustainability Tour, which takes participants to various locations to find out what Singapore is doing to ensure and secure its food supply, and how ugly food can remain useful.
Tribe’s head of partnerships & business development, Yock Song Law told TTG Asia that the tour will remain on the market as a monthly experience, even as Go Green SG concludes, and will be offered mainly to corporate groups and niche international traveller segments.
Indie Singapore Tours, also known for curating unique tours of the city-state, has developed two programmes for Go Green SG – Planting Seeds, Harvesting Culture, which explores innovative sustainable initiatives in the Henderson area; and the History Wanderers, a kayaking tour that takes participants on kayaks down Marina Bay, where they will learn about Singapore’s relationship with water and commitment to water conservation. These activities will also be available beyond the festival.
Thiam Wei Toh, founder and chief storyteller of Indie Singapore Tours, said these sustainability tours could appeal to travellers, as “Singapore’s sustainability journey is unique”.
“We are limited in many different ways, but because of that we have to come up with innovative ways to solve the different ‘problems’ that we have,” said Toh.
Pointing to his History Wanderers kayak tour, he said the experience is a good way to understand how Singapore as a country approaches and resolves issues around natural resources.
Agoda and Fliggy have expanded their partnership, providing an opportunity to leverage strengths and collaborate in areas such as overseas hotel supply chain, digital marketing, and innovation in accommodation.
This will give hundreds of millions of Fliggy users access to Agoda and Booking.com’s 3.6 million global inventory of hotels, homes, apartments, and other accommodation options, as well as value deals.
The partnership enables Fliggy to customise and tailor inventory and initiatives from Agoda and Booking.com
Accommodation partners will benefit from a stronger presence in China.
At the same time, the partnership enables Fliggy to customise and tailor inventory and initiatives from Agoda and Booking.com. Through data and technological solutions, Agoda and Fliggy will share insights to enhance the consumer experience and create opportunities to expand their international travel market presence even further.
Fliggy’s CEO Zhuoran Zhuang said: “(The partnership) will position our international accommodation offerings at the forefront of the industry, providing Fliggy’s customers with the opportunity to book great value hotel stays globally.”
Zhuang hopes the partnership will also cater to Chinese travellers’ higher expectations for high-quality and wide ranging accommodation options.
Omri Morgenshtern, CEO at Agoda, added: “Our partnership with Fliggy continues to help us make headway in the Chinese travel market and with the upgraded store we hope to strengthen our foothold even further.”
Trip.com Group plans to invest one billion yuan (US$137.6 million) on childcare subsidy to support its employees in family planning and promote working families.
Global employees who have been with the company for three years or more will receive an annual cash bonus of 10,000 yuan for each new-born child every year from the child’s first birthday until the child reaches the age of five.
Trip.com Group’s goal is to empower its employees to balance their family and professional lives
James Liang, executive chairman of the board of Trip.com Group, said: “Employees are our greatest asset to the company and we are committed to creating a better and more supportive working environment for them. Through the introduction of this new childcare benefit, we aim to provide financial support that will encourage our employees to start or grow their families without compromising on their professional goals and achievements.”
This childcare subsidy is a further commitment towards the company’s goal of building an inclusive and supportive workplace, to empower its employees to balance their family and professional lives.
Trip.com Group also implemented a hybrid working scheme through which employees across various markets could opt to work remotely on certain days of the week – it was the first internet company in China to implement the scheme, which has now been adopted in 14 regions and countries, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and Australia.
Centara Hotels & Resorts has signed a hotel management agreement (HMA) with Thai Hospitality Management Company for Centra by Centara Ratchada Hotel Bangkok, slated to open in December 2024.
The partnership marks Centara’s sixth hotel in Bangkok and the second HMA to be signed with Thai Hospitality Management Company.
Centra by Centara Ratchada Hotel Bangkok will open in December 2024
The 306-room hotel is located 10 minutes from Ladprao MRT station, and will feature an all-day dining restaurant, rooftop restaurant, meeting rooms, swimming pool, spa and gym.
With Sanya Phoenix International Airport relaunching its international terminal, Hong Kong Airlines has also restarted its daily return flights between Hong Kong and Sanya.
In the coming months of July and August, the airline will increase flight frequency and provide passengers a wider range of travel options by operating services to nine destinations in China and 14 regional destinations.
Hong Kong Airlines has restarted its daily return flights to Sanya
It will also continue to adjust its flight schedule to offer more travel and transit options.
Mandarin Oriental, Guangzhou is welcoming children to an immersive and magical jungle experience with the launch of its MiniMO-themed rooms and suites.
The hotel’s Deluxe Room and Premier Suite have been transformed into a fun jungle with the MiniMO collection’s panda, lion, owl, monkey and turtle as part of the décor.
The child-friendly rooms feature a bunk bed with a slide
Starting with a tailor-made room key card, the child-friendly rooms feature a bunk bed with a slide, a panda bed and a lion sofa. The themed room and suite also provide an exclusive MiniMO panda bathrobe and slippers for the kids little fans, as well as a treasure trove of delights which include MiniMO pandas, puzzles, paint kits and a selection of themed treats.
Anjali Chandra has been promoted to the position of president, Travel Corporation Asia (TCA).
In her new role, Chandra will assume responsibility for the TCA brand, while maintaining her role as managing director of global groups at The Travel Corporation (TTC).
Chandra has 23 years tenure with TTC, initially managing the Australian Groups Desk for Insight Vacations for many years before taking on her elevated global groups role based out of London in 2014.
Chandra has 23 years tenure with TTC, initially managing the Australian Groups Desk for Insight Vacations for many years before taking on her elevated global groups role based out of London in 2014.
