TTG Asia
Asia/Singapore Tuesday, 7th April 2026
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Dusit sets up gastronomy academy in Thailand to drive innovation

By TTG Asia
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Thailand-based Dusit International is set to expand its hospitality education business in the kingdom with a unique joint venture offering experiential training in Italian, Japanese, and Thai cuisines – plus exclusive incubation services for F&B startups – in a facility in Bangkok.

Called The Food School, the project occupies 3,200m² of space set over three floors at the new Creative & Startup Village in the city’s Sam Yan district, just a five-minute walk from Sam Yan MRT underground station.

Equity partners in the The Food School development include Dusit International, Glowfish Co-Working Space, Allied Metals, and La Scuola Internazionale di Cucina Italiana

Equity partners in the 336 million baht (US$10 million) development slated to launch in 1Q2022 include Dusit International; Glowfish Co-Working Space (under privately owned real estate investment company, Heritage Estates Co.); Allied Metals, a supplier of professional kitchens and kitchen infrastructure; and La Scuola Internazionale di Cucina Italiana (ALMA), an education and training centre for Italian cuisine.

Designed to provide an experiential learning environment, and targeted at young professionals, keen amateurs, career-switchers, and entrepreneurs seeking to get the best possible start for their F&B businesses, The Food School will bring together three institutions – including Dusit’s own Dusit Thani College; Japan’s Tsuji Culinary Institute; and ALMA. Each will offer long-course modules in Thai cuisine, Japanese cuisine, and Italian cuisine and bakery, respectively.

Students will also have access to The Food School’s entrepreneurial incubator platform, The Test Kitchen, which will offer facilities for product testing and experimentation, business planning services, professional coaching and mentorship from local chefs, and exclusive opportunities to get financial support from investors during pitching sessions.

Regular events will showcase innovations and new F&B business trends. A community dining room, meanwhile, will serve as a venue for students, instructors, locals, visitors, mentors and mentees to exchange ideas and evaluate new concepts.

“The Food School aims to create a vibrant, dynamic and collaborative ecosystem that brings together Thailand’s food community to drive positive social, environmental, and economic developments in the food and beverage industry at large,” said Suphajee Suthumpun, group CEO, Dusit International.

Suthumpun added that no other facility offers such comprehensive services for culinary startups and young professionals in Bangkok.

She said: “By responding to the professional needs of the market in the new normal, fully leveraging Dusit’s rich experience in providing hospitality education for more than 20 years… we look forward to helping The Food School’s students, entrepreneurial associates, and community supporters to fulfil their potential with services, facilities and hands-on learning specially created to equip them for success in the brighter post Covid-19 days ahead.”

UNWTO, ICAO partner for aviation and tourism recovery

By TTG Asia
0

UNWTO and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have agreed to strengthen their partnership with the aim of supporting the safe restart of travel and tourism and accelerating the two sectors’ shift towards greater resilience and sustainability.

In the immediate term, UNWTO and ICAO will work to support aviation and tourism to bounce back from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

UNWTO-ICAO partnership to drive sustainable recovery for travel and tourism

Under the agreement, both organisations also commit to enhancing coordination at every level, from policy research and management areas, to border management and facilitation of safe and seamless travel.

The MoU also recognises the importance of securing relevant finance mechanisms to accelerate the shift towards greener travel and tourism, with a commitment to joint advocacy and fundraising efforts.

UNWTO secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili said: “Tourism and air travel are essential pillars of growth and opportunity, most notably for developing countries and communities. As air travel resumes and tourism restarts, both sectors must collaborate to support the livelihoods of today and to build a more resilient and sustainable future. The partnership between UNWTO and ICAO will allow exactly this.”

ICAO council president Salvatore Sciacchitano added: “This agreement is an important step to help our organisations address joint data and research initiatives, the modernisation and financing of aviation infrastructure, and the alleviation of economic regulatory constraints to enhance air connectivity and seamless travel.”

Meliá Phuket Mai Khao gets good response to bookings ahead of December opening

By Suchat Sritama
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The upcoming opening of Meliá Phuket Mai Khao, a 100-key resort on Phuket’s northwestern coastline, is set to create many local jobs and bring in a new landmark in southern Thailand.

Initially, the resort will employ about 50 local people, with the headcount expected to rise in tandem with the increase in tourist flows to Thailand as countries across the world ease travel restrictions.

Meliá Phuket Mai Khao is part of a rollout of the Meliá brand in key destinations across Thailand

The Spanish hotel chain will manage the property, which is owned by Phuket Villa Group.

Slated to open its doors on December 1, the five-star resort is part of a rollout of the Meliá brand in key destinations across Thailand, including Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

Meliá Phuket Mai Khao general manager Magdalena Martorell said it has always been the plan to open the resort in 2021, and the management decided that December is the most optimal time to launch the resort due to safety and business reasons.

“We believe it is safer to open in December as compared to earlier in the year (as the Covid-19 situation in the country has improved). From a business perspective, it also makes sense to open in December to coincide with Thailand gradually reopening to the world,” he said.

According to Martorell, the hotel is seeing a “good response” to its opening offer of up to 50 per cent off bookings made before December 20 this year for stays through August 31 next year.

Maetapong Upatising, Phuket Villa Group’s managing director, said the launch of Meliá Phuket Mai Khao will contribute to Phuket’s recovery in the wake of Covid-19 by creating much-needed jobs in the tourism sector and setting a new benchmark for hospitality on Thailand’s largest island.

Langkawi travel bubble SOP raises concerns among Malaysian industry players

By S Puvaneswary
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As Malaysia readies to reopen Langkawi to international travellers, the government’s recent announcement that arriving tourists will be required to enlist the services of tour agents registered with the ministry to arrange their entire trip has stirred up criticism among the trade.

Under the international tourism bubble for the Langkawi pilot project which will commence on November 15, tourists from all countries will be allowed into the archipelago, the minister of tourism, arts and culture, Nancy Shukri, said during an event at the Malaysia Tourism Centre on Monday (October 25).

Langkawi will reopen to tourists from all countries on November 15

“The agent will be the one who will arrange their entire journey and they will not come directly to Langkawi on their own. This is the mechanism we use, so if anything happens, like infection cases, the agent will be held responsible,” she said.

Adam Kamal, head of contracting & domestic market at Ice Holidays, expressed skepticism about how the rule will be enforced, and suggested making it a requirement that tourists must produce a booking confirmation from a travel agent before their visa can be processed.

“But what about South-east Asian and European tourists who apply for visa-on-arrival? Do you send them back to their country of origin if they do not show proof of a travel agent booking upon their arrival?” he asked.

A grey area he pointed out is whether bookings by foreign OTAs will be acceptable as some of these OTAs have licenses to operate in Malaysia.

Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners secretary, Anthony Wong, opined that it is “unfair” to hold tour operators responsible in the event that something happens, for example, if a client flouts Covid SOPs, as it can be difficult for agents to ensure full compliance among their clients.

He also pointed out that the FIT market is bound to grow worldwide in the new normal, with more and more foreign travellers making their own bookings and travelling independently. “Forcing such travellers to use the services of a travel agent will only prompt them to choose another destination where such rules don’t exist,” he said.

Wong added that it is sufficient that travellers are screened for Covid-19 twice – once before their departure, and another upon arrival in Langkawi.

TTG Conversations: Five Questions with Brendan Sobie, Sobie Aviation

By Karen Yue
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Airlines have responded to border reopening decisions across Asia-Pacific with ramped up operations, although pace of reinstating capacity and routes has differed based on their extent of hibernation during the pandemic, financial strength and ability to stimulate demand, observed Brendan Sobie, analyst and consultant with Singapore-based Sobie Aviation.

In this episode of TTG Conversations: Five Questions, Sobie also speaks to TTG Asia Media’s group editor Karen Yue about the likely slow and gradual return to travel; change in traveller mix; and the limitations of Singapore’s Vaccinated Travel Lanes.

Past and present episodes of TTG Conversations: Five Questions can be found on TTG Asia Media’s YouTube channel.

 

Indulge in child’s play with Singapore’s first Squid Game-themed staycation

By TTG Asia
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Travel platform KKday has partnered Goodwood Park Hotel in Singapore to launch the Sotong Game Staycation – a Squid Game-inspired stay experience featuring the ‘Red Light, Green Light’ doll, Dalgona candies and red jumpsuits.

Retaining the elements of the Netflix series with a local twist, players can challenge themselves at five old-school local game stations – five stones, goli, ring toss water game, hopscotch and pick-up sticks – held at the heritage hotel’s Tudor Courtyard.

The ultimate winner of the Sotong Game Challenge will walk away with one million Grab Rewards points

The top 10 winners each week will get to enjoy a three-course steak dinner for two persons at Coffee Lounge in Goodwood Park Hotel, while the ultimate winner will walk away with the grand prize of one million Grab Rewards points.

There is also a photo booth to capture snippets of the gameplay experience as well as photo opportunities with a three-metre ‘Red Light, Green Light’ doll inspired by the series.

Priced at S$360 (US$267) nett a night, the Sotong Game staycation includes a night’s stay for two persons in Goodwood Park Hotel’s Deluxe Mayfair Room, a pair of entrance tickets to the Sotong Game Challenge at the Tudor Courtyard, and two sets of the Sotong Game Curated Experience Box which include a set of outfits (red guard jumpsuit and green player tracksuit), Dalgona candies and chocolate milk.

The Sotong Game staycation package is available for booking here from now till November 22, 2021.

Those who prefer to go for just the Sotong Game without the staycation can also purchase entrance tickets here at S$30.

RWS taps Trip.com’s travel marketing hub to extend reach in China

By TTG Asia
0

Trip.com Group has launched the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) Star Hub Flagship Store on its Ctrip platform to serve as a one-stop online portal for users to make bookings with the travel guidance, food recommendations, and business travel and conference information available on the same platform at their fingertips.

The portal allows RWS to “better meet increasing demand from China’s emerging mass affluent segment and new millennials for more customised and personalised experiences”, said Trip.com Group in a release.

RWS’ partnership with Trip.com will allow Chinese travellers to make online bookings with greater convenience

The Star Hub travel marketing hub was unveiled by the group earlier this year to allow its partners to expand and enhance marketing activities on its Ctrip platform.

Bo Sun, CMO of Trip.com Group, said: “Since the introduction of the Star Hub channel earlier this year, we have seen active participation from hundreds of valuable partners as they seek to adapt to new and unique ways of connecting with their target customers. We will continuously seek to work with our partners to innovate and tackle new frontiers as we strive towards the recovery of the travel industry.”

As Asia’s leading lifestyle integrated resort situated at the gateway of Sentosa Island, RWS is one of the most popular travel destinations for Chinese tourists and business travellers. It is home to several attractions including Universal Studios Singapore and the S.E.A. Aquarium, six luxury hotels, the Resorts World Convention Centre, as well as a plethora of restaurants and boutique brands.

This latest partnership with Trip.com Group enables RWS to further enhance its destination marketing campaign in anticipation of greater demand when global tourism returns. Leveraging Trip.com Group’s rich marketing solutions, RWS can showcase its full suite of diverse product offerings, strengthen customer loyalty and improve the convenience of making online bookings.

In future, the two brands will also deepen partnership in international marketing to increase RWS’s social media presence across South-east Asia and global destination markets.

Indonesia forms tourism holding company to boost sector revival

By Tiara Maharani
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The Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) in Indonesia has officially formed a state-owned holding company for aviation and tourism-related enterprises, in a bid to revive those pandemic-ravaged sectors.

Aviasi Wisata Indonesia (Aviata), the holding company, in this initial stage, consists of Angkasa Pura I and II airport authorities, Hotel Indonesia Natour, department store Sarinah, tourist attraction Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, as well as Prambanan and Ratu Boko temple parks.

Indonesia’s government merges Garuda along with several other tourism businesses to form a holding company

According to BUMN secretary Susyanto, the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation is set to become a holding member by the end of this year, while national airline Garuda Indonesia is expected to become a member in 2023, pending its restructuring process. “As such, the whole process (is expected) to be finalised in 2023,” he said.

Triawan Munaf and Dony Oskaria, two former Garuda Indonesia top brass, will serve as Aviata’s president commissioner and president director, respectively.

With the formation of Aviata, Endra Gunawan, acting assistant deputy for tourism and supporting services at the BUMN, expressed hope that the holding company could benefit tourism-related businesses.

“(Aviata) is an ecosystem to integrate various functions (to become) a driving force that will (create a) positive impact on the tourism industry,” he said in a written statement.

Aviata is mandated to carry out investment and management consulting activities in the transportation, tourism, retail and other sectors related to business activities. In the long-term, the holding company is expected to develop an integrated tourism strategy to boost international arrivals and make Indonesia a world-class tourism destination.

Endra explained that the mechanism for establishing a holding company was carried out through the transfer of state-owned Series B shares in five state-owned companies as an additional state equity participation to the share capital of Aviata.

Commenting on the formation of Aviata, Budijanto Ardiansjah, director of My Duta Tour, believed that the holding company will encourage tourism development and benefit the community, consumers, and other businesses.

“This establishment can make the development of tourism destinations and marketing more focused and integrated,” he said. “However, the government, through the state-owned holding company, needs to continue to collaborate with associations and other industry players, especially in terms of marketing, (to foster growth).”

Singapore adds Australia and Switzerland to vaccinated travel lane scheme

By TTG Asia
0

Fully vaccinated travellers from Australia and Switzerland will be able to enter Singapore without quarantine from November 8, under the latest expansion of the city-state’s vaccinated travel lane (VTL) scheme.

For Australia, the VTL will facilitate two-way quarantine-free travel between the two countries for fully vaccinated Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).

Singapore’s vaccinated travel lane scheme allows travellers to enter the city-state without quarantine

CAAS said it expects student and business pass holders from Singapore to be able to enter Australia, after Australia has finalised the arrangement for their entry. “Other travellers from Singapore would not be able to travel to Australia until a later stage,” it added.

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison last week said that the country was in the final stages of concluding an arrangement which will see Australia opening up to more visa-class holders from Singapore, with details to be announced later.

CAAS noted that both Australia and Switzerland are in Category II of the Ministry of Health’s country/region classification for border measures, with similar or lower Covid-19 incidence rates than Singapore.

With the commencement of the VTLs for Australia and Switzerland, the current quota for the scheme will be increased from 3,000 to 4,000 travellers daily, said CAAS. “We will monitor the progress of the scheme closely before deciding on any further increases in capacity,” it added.

Under the VTL, fully vaccinated travellers from these countries may enter Singapore without quarantine and just need to undergo two Covid-19 PCR tests – one within 48 hours before departure and another upon arrival at Changi Airport. Children aged 12 years and below who are not vaccinated will be allowed to travel under the VTL into Singapore if they are accompanied by a traveller who meets all the requirements.

The VTL was launched on September 8 for Brunei and Germany, and was later extended to nine other countries – Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, the US, and South Korea.

CAAS said that the “successful implementation of the VTL scheme” has given it “the experience and confidence to extend it to more countries”. It added that it will continue to do so “in a cautious and step-by-step manner without compromising public health”.

Domestic tourism restart brings cheer to Philippine agents

By Rosa Ocampo
0

Domestic tourism in the Philippines has reopened – and looks like it can be sustained to meet the pent-up demand after a long pandemic hiatus.

At least 16 local destinations including Boracay, Baguio, Bohol, Cebu City, Mandaue City and Roxas are foregoing PCR swab tests and quarantine for fully vaccinated tourists, as the number of infections decrease drastically and more residents and tourism frontliners are vaccinated.

Filipinos hit the road again as the Philippines restarts domestic tourism engine; domestic tourists throng a beach in Calayo, Batangas, Philippines during the pandemic pictured

“More local government units (LGUs) are simplifying their travel requirements as we see more of the country open up… and we look forward to more destinations applying a risk-based approach to travel, as we work together to instil safe and convenient travel within the Philippines,” said Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice president for marketing and customer experience.

Residents are starting to travel again in time for the long All Saints’ Day holiday weekend and in the run up to the Christmas holidays. “I have movements already to the beach destinations of Siargao and Boracay and to the cooler clime of Baguio,” said Kasel Travel Solutions president, Eric George Papa.

“There has definitely been an uptick in domestic travel, but still a long way to go from where we were pre-pandemic. As more destinations ease access and continue to offer affordable rates, we might be able to sustain it,” said Tourism Congress of the Philippines president, Jojo Clemente.

“The only issue we anticipate is whether the VaxVertPh website is up to date as this will be the Covid-19 vaccination certification that will be accepted by LGUs,” Clemente shared.

The 40 staycation hotels in metro Manila are fully opened, tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said at the launch last Sunday of It’s More Fun With You video, part of the domestic tourism campaign Have A Safe Trip, Philippines.

Under the alert level system of the granular lockdown which places the metro on Alert Level 3, staycation hotels can only open if all of their staff are fully vaccinated, said Romulo-Puyat.

Ritchie Tuano, immediate past president of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association, said: “Some of the agents are really happy with these developments and are keeping fingers crossed that this really is the start of the reopening. Safety is still of paramount consideration.”

Tourist attractions including museums and amusement parks have reopened with due consideration for carrying capacity and other safety guidelines while interzonal travel is now also allowed for kids and fully vaccinated seniors, allowing families to travel together safely and encouraging more Filipinos to secure their vaccination jabs, said Romulo-Puyat.

She expects more destinations to open in the run up to the holidays, and said that “as restrictions are lifted, more tourism workers and stakeholders will get back the jobs and livelihoods they lost due to the pandemic”.

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TTG Asia TTGmice TTG India TTGssociations TTG Asia Luxury
TTG Asia | Thailand pivots to regional tourism hub
TTG Asia | BBTF 2026 to focus on gastronomy and destination readiness
TTG Asia | Frasers Hospitality expands Asia footprint