Travellers flying to and from Singapore on Emirates can look forward to the newly retrofitted A380s, featuring its latest Premium Economy cabins, from March 1 next year.
On a four-class Emirates A380, the Premium Economy cabin is located at the front of the main deck with 56 seats laid out in a two-four-two configuration and offers spacious seating, in-seat charging points and a side table. It also includes curated in-flight amenities, menu, and beverage options.
Emirates’ Premium Economy features spacious seating, in-seat charging points and a side table
Rashid Al Ardha, country manager, Singapore & Brunei, Emirates, said: “The premium travel experience that these cabins offer have received a hugely positive response since they were introduced in other markets. Customers loved the quality and comfort and the thoughtful touches we have made to enhance their in-flight experience.
“We are committed to offering our passengers the distinct Emirates experience whenever they fly with us, and will continue innovating to provide customer-centric, future-forward inflight experiences.”
Besides Singapore, Emirates will also be introducing Premium Economy from December to New York JFK, San Francisco, Melbourne, and Auckland.
Sydney will become the first city in the Emirates network to offer Premium Economy seats on all flights from December 15, and London Heathrow will receive its third daily service with Premium Economy from January 1, 2023.
Emirates will ramp up A380 services to 42 destinations by the end of March 2023.
Starting from November, the airline will begin upgrading and retrofitting works for the interior cabins of 67 Airbus A380 and 53 Boeing 777 aircraft – by 2025, nearly 4,000 new Premium Economy seats will be installed, 728 First Class suites refurbished and over 5,000 Business Class seats upgraded to a new style and design
Crank up the fun quotient this school holiday with An Otterly Adventurous Staycation with Otah & Friends at participating Pan Pacific hotels from September 1 to December 31.
Inspired by Singapore’s wildlife, the package is themed around the adventures of Otah and his little brother, Chaotah, in an engaging stay where parents can bond with their kids through fun and games.
Families can have fun together with An Otterly Adventurous Staycation with Otah & Friends
Priced from S$489 (US$347), this kids-friendly staycation includes a one-night stay with breakfast for two adults and one child, a pair of Otah and Chaotah plushies, snacks, clue kit, and many more!
The four participating hotels are Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay, Parkroyal Collection Pickering, Parkroyal on Beach Road, and Parkroyal on Kitchener Road.
From just 26 hotels at the launch of Small Luxury Hotels of the World’s (SLH) Considerate Collection a year ago, there are now 38 in the network of properties that are committed to the critical trio of environment, community and culture conservation.
Five more members will soon be announced.
Mark Wong, senior vice president, Asia Pacific of SLH, told TTG Asia that the creation of the Considerate Collection has allowed the company to identify many attractive and responsible hotels that “were not on our radar”.
Bhutan Spirit Sanctuary, one of the Asian properties listed under the Considerate Collection, encourages guests to live in harmony with the surrounding forest and farmland, brings traditional doctors and local herbs into its wellness programmes, and makes it easy for guests to support local community projects
The Considerate Collection is set for continued growth, shared Wong, evident in the number of keen properties approaching SLH at the early stage of development.
“They want to be included in the Considerate Collection and are taking our suggestions very early on about incorporating sustainable features and materials into their architecture. They know that it is easier and cheaper to incorporate such features at the design stage than to retrofit them later,” said Wong.
Wong recalled that SLH decided to launch the Considerate Collection after realising that more and more people have used the pandemic downtime to reflect on their buying choices, and have decided to be more conscious when they return to travel.
“That desire is recognised by many names – conscious travel, purposeful travel and responsible travel. Travel itself leaves an environmental impact because people fly, but travellers can be conscious about how they travel in the destination, use the hotel, and interact with the people and environment. There is greater social consciousness about the act of travel,” he added.
He noted that there are many responsible hotels around the world – particularly in Thailand, Indonesia and the Maldives in Asia – and SLH can use its global reach to bring such properties to the attention of many travellers and travel buyers worldwide.
These are properties that do more than just end their reliance on single-use plastics, which Wong said “is so basic and expected now”.
He said: “We partner with recognised organisations like Greenview and Global Sustainable Tourism Council as well as topic experts and travel agents specialising in this field to provide us with guidance and ensure we are not just greenwashing our approach.
“All our Considerate Collection hotels have to undergo strict assessment across three levels – Environmentally Conscious, Cultural Custodians, and Community Minded. Our members have to take these pillars into their operational consideration to qualify and ensure that these are achieved both behind the scenes and in guest-facing experiences.”
Wong noted that travellers often question how luxury travel could be sustainable, but clarified that “it is possible” since the delivery of a luxurious experience requires authenticity and a uniqueness that cannot easily be bought.
“For example, instead of gifting guests an imported turn-down gift, we rope in the locals to craft something using native or upcycled materials. That is unique, very local, and very authentic. Another example, at Amilla Maldives Resort, guests are taught how to be sustainable so that they can bring those practices home.”
Wong added that responsible travel is now more than just a trend.
“It won’t go away any time soon and will become a requirement among conscious travellers. In fact, our corporate RFPs now come with a request for our hotels to submit details on their sustainability policy and programmes,” he said.
“SLH launching the Considerate Collection last year puts the company ahead of the game, and this will continue to be expanded in time to come,” he concluded.
Editor’s note: Fifty-one Considerate Collection properties were listed in the earlier report by mistake.
Recognising that the Maldives is usually physically out of bounds for differently-abled travellers, no thanks to its sandy island paths, water jetties and layout of villas and restaurants, one private island resort has made it its mission to make its space welcoming for everyone, including those with additional mobility, sensory and cognitive requirements.
Taking guidance from Inclucare, a UK-based organisation that works to remove barriers to travel for disabled people across the globe, Amilla Maldives Resort has ordered staff training to ensure its team is able to deliver inclusion excellence and has had its facilities audited by Inclucare officials.
Amilla is equipped to welcome guests with additional mobility, sensory and cognitive requirements
The property is now waiting for the certification process to be completed.
General manager Jason Kruse, who was in Singapore recently to meet with luxury travel news media, said Amilla Maldives Resort is equipped to meet inclusive travel needs. It already boasts many universally accessible villas on the ground level, all designed with wide doorways and accessible showers. These units also come with beach wheelchair, floating wheelchair for swimming, and in-villa phones that light up when they ring, for the benefit of hearing-impaired guests.
Differently-abled guests can soon expect deaf-alert systems, induction hearing loops, magnifying glasses, adaptive yoga, aroma and sound experiences through the jungle for vision-impaired holidaymakers, and more.
Kruse shared that facilities that regulate sensory input for guests on the Autism spectrum will soon be made available at the resort.
He believes that making the resort universally accessible is “a sensible decision” because eight per cent of people with a disability are wheelchair bound, and that these individuals should be able to enjoy a good vacation with their family and caregivers.
Victoria Kruse, director of sustainability & wellness, shared that the resort’s achievement in universal accessibility has earned it plenty of government attention and interest, and there are discussions now for it to possibly host an inclusive conference in 2023.
Roel Constantino is the new general manager of Marco Polo Plaza Cebu.
He joins Marco Polo Plaza Cebu from Park Inn by Radisson in Davao where he was also general manager.
Constantino’s other posts include director of sales and manager, and resident manager, of Marco Polo Ortigas Manila; and director of sales and manager in Shangri-La properties in the Philippines, Bangkok, Fiji and Jakarta.
SiteMinder’s World Hotel Index, the indicator of hotel reservation and guest arrival trends globally, showed that by July 2022, 45 per cent of forward bookings to its Indonesian hotels have been from international travellers — a trend that has been accelerating since February 2022 when restrictions on incoming travellers were relaxed.
Bali leads as the top destination receiving international bookings, followed by Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta.
Bali leads as the top destination receiving international bookings
Booking volumes for SiteMinder’s Indonesian hotels are currently at 94 per cent of the pre-pandemic level, compared to August 2020’s booking volumes which were less than 40 per cent of the same period in 2019 when international bookings were below 10 per cent. This showed a big drop from that of January 2020, when international bookings shed nearly 60 per cent of total bookings.
Thanks to the country’s large population, hotels have been kept afloat by the domestic market.
Justin Williams, regional manager (Asia), SiteMinder, told TTG Asia that the domestic market “remains important to the local accommodation industry” but as international travel rebuilds, it will be relied upon “less heavily by Indonesian accommodation providers”.
He said: “This August, for example, roughly half of all bookings to Indonesian hotels were from local guests; however, international travellers are taking up a greater share with each month.”
SiteMinder’s market vice president – Asia Pacific, Bradley Haines, commented: “With a strong reliance on international travel, Indonesia’s accommodation sector has certainly felt the repercussions of restricted global movement more than most in recent years. However, a trait of this period that’s represented in this data is the speed at which things can change.
“With thousands of both large and small hotel operators in Indonesia that contribute significantly to the country’s economy, but haven’t always had access to the technology that we can provide, there is a tremendous opportunity awaiting every Indonesian accommodation business currently, as international travel rebounds.”
SiteMinder helps to educate the growing Indonesian team through regular events where local businesses are provided with the latest information on how to run a successful accommodation operation.
To celebrate the return of international travel to Indonesia, and to discuss its implications for local accommodation businesses, SiteMinder hosted a roundtable event in Bali last July, featuring a panel of general managers from the local hotel industry.
Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) has revealed that growth plans are underway in Australasia that will leverage strategic partnerships and non-traditional business models to increase its footprint in the region significantly.
Its multi-bucket strategy includes leases in key cities, master franchise agreements, as well as mergers and acquisitions operated and managed from its new office in Sydney.
Fenianos: committed to deploying capital and resources to the Australasian market
RHG currently has four hotels across Australasia (Australia, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea), with another five properties in the pipeline, including in New Zealand. The group expects to have about 50 hotels in its Australasian portfolio by 2025 as part of its expansion plans across Asia-Pacific for 1,700 hotels.
Ramzy Fenianos, RHG’s chief development officer, Asia Pacific, told TTG Asia that to get this exponential growth, they have “added more tools that are new to the market”, adding that the pandemic allowed them much time to sharpen their pens to execute the five-year plan.
He said: “We’re not going to do the real estate side of the business but we will consider acquiring platforms of existing brands that might be available for acquisition straightaway or joint venturing with existing local partners to grow our brands.”
He shared that after a massive mapping exercise across Australasia to understand the market and find potential targets, RHG is presently in active discussions with a couple of groups – including an owner who has just five hotels.
RHG said its plans coincide with the growing demand for hotels and resorts in Australia as it recovers from the pandemic, and ahead of the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane. Apart from Brisbane, it has targeted capital cities and popular regional destinations across Australia and New Zealand such as Sydney and Melbourne, and there are hotels in the pipeline in Queenstown.
The hotel group also cites research that shows investors are keen to invest into hotel assets in Australasia, with a focus on a “flight-to-quality” strategy and returns gained through both conversions and mid-market property. To this end, RHG will focus on its mid-scale brands with Radisson Individuals, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson and Radisson RED spearheading its growth.
“I don’t think any other hotel group is doing this at all,” said Fenianos, when asked if the strategy was unique in the hotel industry.
“From my knowledge, most operators are just doing organic growth. Eventually, some of them will consider leases but I don’t think they’re going to the extent that we are. I think it’s a real commitment from the company to deploy capital expenditure and resources into the Australasian market,” he continued.
Fenianos also told TTG Asia the company has invested heavily in recent years in technology and systems to improve the customer experience, and learning from other industries like fashion and the airlines.
“Technology means driving more revenue to the hotel, maximising profits to owners and improving guest satisfaction. (For example) we are working on guests having the ability to choose their room and what floor they’d like to be on for perhaps a quieter space, which is a technology that doesn’t exist yet but will give the best guest experience (regardless of their budget),” he said.
RHG is offering hotel partners in Australasia access to brands such as 7 Days and Metropolo. It has also secured rights to develop and operate the Golden Tulip, Kyriad and Campanile brands, from Louvre Hotels Group.
Klook and real estate developer Central Pattana have joined hands to drive travel recovery in Thailand – the first-ever travel platform and retail partnership in the country.
The partnership leverages the strengths of Central Pattana’s leading retail presence (over 37 shopping centres across Thailand’s most popular destinations) and Klook’s digital capabilities and global user base to position Thailand as the destination-of-choice for travellers from key Asian markets, including Singapore, India, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Klook and Central Pattana form the first-ever travel platform and retail partnership in Thailand
“We’re excited to be the first travel and leisure e-commerce platform to partner Central Pattana on an integrated marketing campaign to drive tourist arrivals and increase spending in Thailand,” said Marcus Yong, vice president, global marketing, Klook.
“This partnership enables us to tap on our respective strengths and innovate on offerings that combine travel and retail to help build travellers’ confidence and drive recovery.”
Starting in October, the collaboration will include a variety of digital marketing initiatives and online-to-offline campaigns to increase visibility of Thailand’s tourism businesses and exposure to international markets. Klook will also collaborate with Centara Hotels & Resorts to offer customers curated deals and seamless accommodation booking experiences.
“Central Pattana and Klook share a common goal in reviving Thailand’s tourism industry. We look forward to working closely with Klook to create joint offerings that will attract and help us welcome more tourists back to Thailand by launching exclusive promotions for foreign customers,” said Nattakit Tangpoonsinthana, executive vice president of marketing, Central Pattana.
According to Klook’s data, Thailand has experienced a strong rebound since the start of 2022. There is also a strong demand for car rentals, suggesting that travellers are going beyond the usual hotspots and exploring untouched areas such as Chiang Rai and Pang-Nga.
“At Klook, we are ramping up to support and drive the next stage of travel recovery in Thailand, which will not only see tourists resuming their favourite pre-pandemic activities like eating local cuisines and shopping, but also branching out to discover more of what Thailand has to offer,” added Yong.
Taiwan will resume visa-free entry for visitors from countries including the US and Canada from next week in the government’s latest reopening step while containing the spread of Covid-19.
However, it has removed Singapore, Malaysia and a host of other countries from the initial list of nations, according to breaking news reports.
Taiwan will resume visa-free entry for international visitors from next week
Reasons have yet to be confirmed at press time.
This announcement follows after Taiwan’s quarantine reduction for arrivals in June.
A three-day quarantine and on-arrival PCR test will remain a requirement for all arrivals, while Taiwan continues to uphold its cap on 50,000 arrivals per week.
Following the resumption of arrival operations at Changi Airport Terminal 2 (T2) earlier in May, Changi Airport will reopen T2’s southern wing for departure operations from October 11.
This will add to the airport’s capacity ahead of year-end travel peak by spreading out passenger operations more evenly across the other terminals.
Changi Airport Terminal 2’s southern wing features automated check-in kiosks and immigration clearance gates
Singapore Airlines (SIA) will be the first airline to operate out of T2, with services to Malaysia and Thailand starting from October 11. All other SIA flights flying to the rest of South-east Asian destinations will depart from T2 from October 13.
SIA flights arriving in Changi Airport will continue to be assigned gates at Terminals 1, 2 or 3 – updates on the terminal assigned will be available two hours before the estimated flight arrival time.
Air India and Air India Express will also move to T2 from October 18. The list of other airlines using T2 will be announced subsequently.
T2 has been refreshed and designed with automated check-in kiosks, automated immigration clearance gates, and will offer various F&B and retail offerings in the public and transit areas. The terminal’s transit hotel and pay-per-use lounge will be open to departing and transit passengers, while eligible Singapore Airlines customers may use the SilverKris Lounge.
More F&B and retail options, as well as new attractions to enhance passenger travel experience through Changi Airport, will be on offer when the northern wing of T2 is fully completed by 2024.
In the weeks ahead, Changi Airport Group will be conducting more operational readiness trials with airline and airport partners to ensure that all systems and processes are in place for a smooth opening of T2’s southern wing.
Constantino’s other posts include director of sales and manager, and resident manager, of Marco Polo Ortigas Manila; and director of sales and manager in Shangri-La properties in the Philippines, Bangkok, Fiji and Jakarta.
