Armed guards with mask in traditional period costume standing at the entry gate of Deoksugung Palace, a tourist landmark
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) have earmarked 29 billion won (US$24 million) for an accommodation-centric discount coupon programme, as part of efforts to boost the tourism industry reeling from the impact of Covid-19.
Under the scheme, one million discount coupons will be distributed to accommodations – including hotels, resorts, guest houses and motels – across the nation from August 14, reported The Korea Times.
A discount coupon programme rolled out by South Korea’s government aims to stimulate domestic tourism consumption; royal guards at the entrance of Deoksugung Palace in South Korea pictured
Of these, 200,000 coupons offer 30,000 won discounts for accommodations costing under 70,000 won, while the remaining 800,000 coupons offer 40,000 won discounts for those more than 70,000 won.
Citizens are entitled to one discount coupon each when they book accommodations via 27 online platforms, including Yanolja, Interpark, Gmarket, 11st and Myrealtrip, according to the report.
The coupons are valid for use during the off-peak travel season of September and October, it added.
However, the report cited officials from some travel agencies as lamenting that the programme is not effective in helping them to ride out the crisis.
An unnamed official from a Seoul-based OTA was quoted as saying that the company will suffer “a deficit” by joining the programme, as participating travel agencies have to shoulder 10,000 won per coupon.
In response, a culture ministry official told The Korea Times that four times as many discount coupons for accommodation costing more than 70,000 won have been issued, as compared to those under 70,000 won, adding that this will ease the burden on travel agencies.
The programme is expected to stimulate domestic consumption amounting to about 567 billion won, according to the official.
Night view of Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay on April 6, 2013 in Singapore. Spanning 101 hectares of reclaimed land in central Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has partnered with India-based travel platform Tripoto to launch a microsite within Tripoto’s website, as part of efforts to keep Singapore top-of-mind among Indian travellers even as Covid-19 travel restrictions prevail.
Designed as a one-stop guide for Indian travellers, the microsite boasts content encouraging them to “Rediscover Singapore Now, Travel Later”. Besides being able to virtually experience Singapore’s attractions like Sentosa and Gardens By The Bay in the Singapore@Home section, users can also try their hand at whipping up Singapore delicacies like kueh dadar and chwee kueh with the stay-at-home recipes.
A microsite on Tripoto’s platform aims to encourage Indian travellers to rediscover Singapore’s attractions like Gardens by the Bay (above) for visit later when her international borders reopen
To appeal to kids, there is also a Fun@Home series of interactive games with Merli, a character illustration of Merlion, Singapore’s most famous icon. The microsite also links to STB’s website containing its latest Covid-19 travel advisory information for visitors and tourism businesses.
GB Srithar, regional director – India, Middle East & South Asia, STB, said: “Although travel restrictions are still in place, it is important for destination brands to continue with engaging consumers creatively and staying connected. Over the last few years, the STB has increasingly used digital marketing in our destination promotion efforts. We are happy to collaborate on this endeavour – a first-of-its-kind microsite by a National Tourism Organisation on the Tripoto’s platform.”
This marks the second collaboration between STB and Tripoto, following the travel web series Trails 2 Passion – Singapore Redefined in 2019, which showcased the experiential exploration of Singapore by actors Naveen Kasturia and Veer Rajwant Singh.
India was the third-largest visitor source market for Singapore in 2019, with 1.42 million visitors, after China and Indonesia. A recent global survey conducted by Blackbox Research, Dynata, and Language Connect showed that Singapore is the top outbound destination for Indians when it comes to post-pandemic travel.
TFE Hotels will be building a new Travelodge hotel that will form part of the multi-million-dollar West Grove development in Sydney’s western suburbs, under a partnership with Drill Management.
Slated to open in 2023, the 100-room hotel will sit at the gateway to Westmead’s Health Precinct – Australia’s largest health and biomedical research precinct – targeting both the hospital and medical industries as well as nearby corporates.
Travelodge Westmead is slated to open in Australia’s largest health precinct come 2023
The hotel’s proximity to the Westmead Hospital will also provide a midscale accommodation option for patients and their families.
Designed by Chada studio, the hotel will feature contemporary interiors throughout including the rooms, sixth level lobby, eatery and bar. Construction on the hotel is expected to start in 2021.
Central design features of the West Grove development include a lush landscaped courtyard space activated with restaurants, cafes and bars.
Airasia airplane parking at Don Muang international airport in coronavirus crisis
AirAsia is set to grow its medical tourism business by providing charter flight services from Indonesia, giving patients and medical tourists from Indonesia greater access to medical treatments and health services in Malaysia.
On August 14, AirAsia welcomed its first international medical charter flight from Medan into Penang International Airport. The next medical charter flight from Indonesia will be from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur on August 24.
AirAsia set to grow medical tourism business with charter flight service from Indonesia
The medical charter service will be expanded to other cities in Indonesia and soon develop into an end-to-end service offering under the AirAsia.com platform.
AirAsia.com CEO Karen Chan said that the carrier is committed towards connecting people to their critical needs amid Covid-19 travel restrictions.
“These are stressful times for families with members suffering from chronic illnesses that require specialised medical treatments. AirAsia is working closely with medical institutions and government authorities to ensure inbound patients have a seamless travelling experience from Indonesia to Malaysia,” she said.
She added that the airline will continue to work with strategic partners like Island Hospital in Penang, and with the full support of Malaysia Healthcare Travel.
According to Chan, Indonesia as a country accounts for the highest inbound healthcare tourists arriving into Malaysia.
UrCove will cater to the upper-midscale segment of frequent business travellers
Hyatt Hotels Corporation’s first UrCove property in Shanghai is now accepting reservations, ahead of its October opening.
The new hotel brand was created under a joint venture of Hyatt and BTG Homeinns Hotels Group, one of China’s largest hospitality groups.
UrCove is slated to open on October 1, 2020
The UrCove (pronounced as “your cove”) brand, which will be largely based in China, has been specifically designed to meet Chinese business travellers’ preferences and growing expectations for a seamless travel experience in the upper-midscale market.
The first UrCove hotel, UrCove Shanghai Jing’an, located in the prime location of the Jing’an Temple shopping and business area in Shanghai, is expected to open on October 1, 2020, and is currently accepting guest reservations via Hyatt channels as well as Homeinns channels.
World of Hyatt members booking an eligible UrCove stay through Hyatt channels can earn and redeem points, while guests booking through Homeinns channels can participate in BTG Homeinns Club, Homeinns Hotels Group’s loyalty programme.
The Ascott Limited (Ascott) has transformed selected apartments into conducive work suites which are now open for bookings, as part of its Work in Residence initiative at participating properties worldwide.
These self-contained work suites are available at over 60 participating properties across more than 10 countries. Ascott’s Work in Residence offers fully-furnished and well-equipped work suites that enable guests to check-in and start work with minimal disruptions. Larger apartments with separate living and dining areas, kitchen and individual bedrooms are also available for project groups.
Ascott’s fully-furnished and well-equipped work suites offer alternative work or study spaces
Guests can choose from daily, weekly or monthly packages. Depending on the length of use and location, the work suites come with a dedicated workstation, regular housekeeping, complimentary coffee and tea or complimentary parking at selected serviced residences. Nespresso coffee machines are also available in selected apartments.
Telecommuting essentials such as high-speed WiFi, wide-screen monitor, webcam for videoconferencing and Bluetooth speakers with microphones are available on demand. To enhance the work-stay experience, task lights, wireless charging stand for tablets and mobile phones, power plugs and USB charging ports, as well as a stationery kit are provided for guests. A range of services are also available, including food delivery, grocery shopping, printing, concierge and book-a-chef for in-room dining.
The launch of Work in Residence follows Ascott’s successful pilot in countries such as Australia, France, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Turkey.
Agoda has launched a beta version of its day use feature across hotels in South Korea, giving guests the option of booking a room for just a few hours.
Currently available at 7,000 hotels across South Korea, the new feature provides guests who do not require a full night’s stay with more flexible booking options, while helping hoteliers maximise room occupancy.
To book a day use room, Agoda users can start by searching for any destination in South Korea on the Agoda mobile app, select the “day use” tab, enter the check-in date, and browse a wide range of properties across the country, including in cities such as Seoul, Jeju Island, Busan, Daegu and Incheon.
Day use rates are available for two- to ten-hour blocks, depending on the hotel’s availability. Users can select from available check-in timeslots before 23.00.
South Korean users can look forward to a full roll-out of the day use feature in the next few weeks. Agoda said that it will work with accommodation partners to increase the selection of day use rooms, as well as look to expand the day use offering in other destinations in the coming months.
The Travel Corporation (TTC) has unveiled a US$300 million Peace of Mind promise as way of reassuring its travel agent partners of the company’s financial health.
The promise sees the company divulging that it has fixed assets in excess of US$300,000,000 as of December 31, 2019.
As a privately-owned company, TTC said that information around the financial status of the business is usually not released.
“However, these challenging times call for transparency and the reassurance of TTC’s current financial strength and integrity,” it said in a statement.
The company owns 40 travel brands including Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Contiki, Uniworld, Red Carnation Hotels, and Luxury Gold.
TTC CEO Brett Tollman said: “As The Travel Corporation celebrates our 100th year anniversary, we continue to be a very stable and solvent company. Our Peace of Mind Promise gives the reassurance to our loyal travel advisors and their clients that their monies for future travel are safe and this goes beyond our commitment to having a memorable holiday with us.”
The lifting of domestic travel restrictions in Indonesia from May has sparked a rise in hotel and flight searches, with hotel searches for domestic travel to Bali increasing by 400 per cent since then.
As well, when it comes to international travel to Bali, hotel searches have almost bounced back to pre-Covid levels, as the Indonesian island looks to welcome international tourists again in September.
The top five international origin countries of travellers wishing to travel to Bali in September include the US, Australia, the UK, Germany, and Japan; Tanah Lot Temple in Bali, Indonesia pictured
These findings are part of Sojern’s latest insights on Covid-19’s impact on the travel industry in Asia-Pacific, as part of a blog series designed to aid travel marketers in their recovery efforts from the global crisis. The insights are based on data of over 350 million traveller profiles and billions of travel intent signals collected on August 11, 2020. However, the data does not capture one hundred percent of the travel market.
Domestic travel within Asia-Pacific fluctuates
When looking at changes in domestic travel in Asia-Pacific since April 5, Sojern noticed changes in the trends. Flight and hotel search and booking trends correspond with each other when it comes to the following countries – Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore.
Australia was found to have the most dramatic decline in travel intent, beginning early July. Initially, when domestic travel was open, Sojern observed a 600 per cent increase in flight and hotel searches and bookings. Now, travel intent is at 300 per cent. This decline could be attributed to the increase of Covid-19 cases within the country.
It is said that flights from Victoria to New South Wales (NSW) are being treated as ‘international’ arrivals at Sydney Airport, with passengers being required to take 14 days of mandatory hotel quarantine. While flights depart from domestic terminals in Melbourne and at other airports across Victoria, Sydney is the only NSW airport still accepting flights from Victoria but at the international terminal. Again, travellers will undergo strict identification and health screening checks.
The past weekend, Queensland announced that it was also closing its borders to travellers from NSW and the Australian Capital Territory, which houses Canberra, Australia’s capital city.
Likewise, New Zealand peaked in travel around early July and has since declined, both for flight and hotel searches and bookings. In Japan, an increase in travel intent was observed in late June (up 300 per cent). Since then, Sojern noticed a decline (up 200 per cent), which could be due to the latest Covid-19 outbreak. Likewise, Taiwan and Thailand saw domestic travel to be high, peaking in July. However, as soon as an increase in Covid-19 cases occured in these areas, domestic travel went down.
On July 24, Danang, a tourism hotspot, saw Vietnam’s first domestically transmitted case in 100 days. Since then, the virus has spread to at least 10 places, including popular domestic travel cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Sojern’s data is reflective of what is transpiring in the country – from mid-July onwards, there was a decline in both domestic flight and hotel searches and bookings.
Since Singapore Tourism Board (STB) revealed the first set of staycation-approved hotels across the Red Dot, Sojern saw an increasing number of hotel searches and bookings, particularly from late July. This is clearly indicative of the pent-up demand for staycations allowing for residents and locals to book their local getaway. The list pulled together by STB continues to grow as more hotels conduct their safety checks and get added to the list.
Domestic hotel and flight searches and bookings
State of travel for Bali – domestic and international
The Indonesian government announced that it will be shifting its focus to boost the domestic tourism market and pursue local tourists. What this means is that the central government has set aside 3.8 trillion rupiah (US$256.6 million) to develop quality destinations and launch new marketing initiatives such as #IndonesiaCARE and Bali Rebound, among other promotional programmes, some of which are being driven by social media campaigns.
As such, it is observed that hotel searches for domestic travellers within Indonesia to Bali have almost recovered to pre-Covid levels. When compared to January, hotel searches are down only 20 per cent and have increased by 400 per cent since May. Domestic travel restrictions in Indonesia were gradually seen to have been lifted from May and Sojern’s data indicates that both hotel and flight searches have started recovering since.
When looking at international travel to Bali, it is seen that hotel searches have almost recovered to pre-Covid levels, but flight searches haven’t shown a recovery yet. That being said, international travel restrictions to Bali will be lifted starting September and our data is reflective of the travel demand then. The top five international origin countries of travellers wishing to travel to Bali in September include the US, Australia, the UK, Germany, and Japan.
Domestic hotel searches to Bali
International hotel searches to Bali
Dreaming of the Maldives
Following the reopening of Maldivian borders to international visitors on July 15, Maldives has announced that 94 per cent of its resorts will reopen by the end of October 2020, following health and safety measures set out by the Ministry of Tourism. Sojern’s data shows that both flight and hotel searches have had some gradual recoveries, but are still far from the levels we saw in January.
That being said, since May, there has been a 50 per cent increase in flight and hotel searches. In early June, when the Maldivian government announced the lifting of travel restrictions to the country starting from July 15, Sojern continued to notice a recovery trend in booking confidence for both flights and hotels.
Well known for the ‘one-island-one-resort’ concept, the top six international origin countries of travellers wishing to travel to the Maldives in September include the US, India, the UK, Germany, Canada, and UAE. Interestingly, in the US, Californians specifically are dreaming of the Maldives as we see it to be one of the top searched international destinations for them in the last 60 days.
Given the current Covid-19 climate, new tourism regulations, and naturally ‘socially’ distanced islands, Maldives is said to be one of the safest destinations to holiday in. Privacy at its best!
International flight searches to the Maldives – May to date
International hotel searches to the Maldives – May to date
In conclusion, the findings this month include changes in domestic travel in Asia-Pacific aligned to the waves of the virus, Bali showing signs of recovery of domestic and international travel, and lastly, the Maldives proving to be a safe haven with the opening of its borders to international tourists.
Tour buses wait for passengers at National Mosque. Over 25 million people visited Malaysia in 2013.
Tourism Productivity Nexus (TPN) has proposed to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC) to relook existing regulations for tourism businesses to tide them through these challenging times of Covid-19.
TPN chairman, Uzaidi Udanis, said in a meeting on Tuesday chaired by the tourism, arts and culture minister, Nancy Shukri, that he had proposed for the MOTAC to temporarily abolish the requirement that tour operators and travel agents need to maintain a physical office to renew their licenses.
Malaysian tourism players are proposing for the licensing of recreational vehicles and caravans to operators; tour buses outside National Mosque of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur pictured
He added: “Many operators and travel agents are currently working from home due to the ongoing pandemic. Yet, they have to maintain an office and pay rental. We proposed that the ministry consider a two-year exemption as it will take about that period for the industry to recover.”
TPN had also proposed for a wider choice of licensed vehicles for the purpose of transporting high-end domestic tourists who are willing to pay more for a comfortable journey.
Uzaidi said: “We proposed the licensing of recreational vehicles and caravans to operators. Under the current regulations, bus operators can convert their tour buses to recreational vehicles, but it has to be licensed under a personal name. Thus, it cannot be used for commercial purposes.”
Also brought up during the meeting was the need to upskill and retrain tourist guides to deepen their knowledge on local destinations so as to cater for the medium to high-end domestic market, shared Uzaidi.
He explained: “It is crucial for tourist guides to provide in-depth story-telling at the destination as this is what local tourists want. They are familiar with the country they live in, so when on a domestic holiday, they seek in-depth explanations of the places they visit.
“We proposed for the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture to look at providing affordable courses on upskilling and retraining such as offering these courses at public universities with a nominal fee. This will encourage tourist guides to take such courses.”
He also put forth the suggestion for the MOTAC to register adventure operators in order to safeguard the safety of tourists. Currently, there is no special category for adventure operators to register with the ministry.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation’s first UrCove property in Shanghai is now accepting reservations, ahead of its October opening.
The new hotel brand was created under a joint venture of Hyatt and BTG Homeinns Hotels Group, one of China’s largest hospitality groups.
The UrCove (pronounced as “your cove”) brand, which will be largely based in China, has been specifically designed to meet Chinese business travellers’ preferences and growing expectations for a seamless travel experience in the upper-midscale market.
The first UrCove hotel, UrCove Shanghai Jing’an, located in the prime location of the Jing’an Temple shopping and business area in Shanghai, is expected to open on October 1, 2020, and is currently accepting guest reservations via Hyatt channels as well as Homeinns channels.
World of Hyatt members booking an eligible UrCove stay through Hyatt channels can earn and redeem points, while guests booking through Homeinns channels can participate in BTG Homeinns Club, Homeinns Hotels Group’s loyalty programme.