Year-end Special: TTG Asia’s ‘Likes’ & ‘Dislikes’ of the year

LIKES

Curtains close on SeaWorld San Diego’s orca shows
SeaWorld San Diego in California has ended its long-running killer whale show in January, following years of outcry and criticism from celebrities and animal rights groups over such performance shows. The aquatic theme park has been featuring killer whale shows with Shamu in the first starring role back in the 1960s. SeaWorld stated they would transition to a more educational presentation, with a new show, Orca Encounter.

PPHG takes lead to foster inclusive hiring
In a tight labour market like Singapore, people with special needs remain an under-tapped manpower source but Pan Pacific Hotel Group (PPHG), together with a handful of corporate companies, is attempting to change that.

Earlier this year, Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore became the first hotel in the country to pilot SG Enable’s School-to-Work Transition Programme. Full-time roles have been identified for three of the four trainees who participated in the nine-month programme.

Designer hijab for AirAsia’s female pilots
In June, Muslim female pilots at AirAsia and AirAsia X were given a choice to don the white Naelofar Hijab, a product of the LCC’s collaboration with hijab brand Naelofar Hijab. According to AirAsia, its female pilots were involved throughout the design process to create a functional and comfortable headscarf suitable for their day-to-day operations, and prototypes underwent multiple wear testing before being rolled out. The end result was a hijab made of stretchable fabric, adorned with the Naelofar Hijab symbol created in Swarovski crystals.

Chiang Mai hotel aids elephant conservation
Marking a departure from the elephant trekking tours typically offered in northern Thailand, Akyra Manor Chiang Mai took to raising awareness of elephant conservation with its new Elephant Day Care Package, which involves a day trip to an elephant hospital operated by Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) for guests to develop a connection with these majestic creatures, and understand the medical and well-being treatments provided by FAE. This will be followed by a visit to Elephant Parade Land, where guests can visit an exhibition of decorated elephant statues in aid of elephant conservation.

Making travel accessible for all  
Kudos to Amadeus for taking the lead in pushing for awareness of accessible travel in its white paper that was launched in June. It is estimated that 15 per cent of the world population has some accessibility needs, and this is not restricted to those with mobility or disability issues, pointed out vice president industry affairs, Svend Leirvaag. It could simply be a condition or temporary needs, such as a two-metre-tall person who requires more legroom on a flight.

The travel technology giant hopes to advocate to the industry the commercial opportunities and social responsibilities that companies when it comes to inclusive travel, while encouraging suppliers to implement measures and standardisation in catering to this market segment, Amadeus executives told TTG Asia during an interview on the sidelines of the WTTC Global Summit in Bangkok.


DISLIKES

Dragging incident on United
Need we say more about the dragging incident on United Airlines that sparked global outrage? A doctor was violently dragged out of his seat on an overbooked flight from Chicago, with the entire process caught on video. But the troubles didn’t end there for CEO Oscar Munoz, who, already embattled with a public image crisis, at press time has to grapple with the death of a valuable giant rabbit named Simon after a long flight on the airline from London. Looks like misfortunes never come singly.

Fifth UK terror incident this year
Over 19 commuters were hospitalised after an explosion on the District line near London’s south-west Parsons Green station, the fifth in a string of terror-related incidents in the UK including the Westminster attack. Following the incident, which was claimed by the Islamic State, the UK terror threat level was raised to ‘critical’ then lowered back to ‘severe’.

Gulf-Qatar row weighs on air travel
Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, as well as Yemen, Libya’s eastern-based government, and the Maldives in June announced the breaking of diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing the tiny Gulf state of supporting extremism in the region.

The row affected air travel in the region, as Qatar Airways had suspended all flights to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt while Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain had closed all transport links by land, sea and air with the Qatari peninsula. Other airlines in the affected countries – including Emirates, Etihad Airways, Bahrain’s Gulf Air, flydubai and Air Arabia – also cancelled flights to and from Doha.

India feels pinch from cash crunch
To curb the flow of black money in the Indian economy, the Indian government on November 8, 2016, declared all currency in denominations of Rs500 (US$7.40) and Rs1,000 illegal tender, resulting in long queues outside banks and ATMs.
The Indian trade feared that business would be considerably affected if the cash crunch was not resolved soon, as foreign tour operators and tourists had raised concerns over the availability of Indian currency at ATMs and across hotel counters. As well, a number of historical monuments managed by Archaeological Survey of India accepted cash as the only mode of payment, which presented a challenge for tour operators when they booked for groups.

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