The metrics by which tourism is measured “will be completely different” from pre-pandemic yardsticks, PATA CEO Liz Ortiguera said at the Southeast Asia Development Symposium 2022 organised by the Asian Development Bank earlier in March.
While in the past tourism metric was much more singular around physical arrivals, she said the focus will no longer be on heavy traffic. “We don’t want that. We have dispersion, we want longer stays, we want a new form of travel that will emerge,” she said.
Tourism performance will no longer be determined by large volumes, but by quality dispersion, longer stays, and tourist receipts that flow into the local community
She added that tourist dollars must “come to the community as well and stay with the local economy”.
Ortiguera pointed out that the metrics will evolve in many ways as a number of evolutions are happening in travel including longer and multi-purpose journeys, shifts in source markets and geopolitics, and the emergence of modern, responsible travellers.
“The metrics will reflect and encourage these changes,” she emphasised, and will help tourism leaders to steer towards the right direction in terms of what products and services to encourage when tourists come back to Asia.
Emerging is the modern, responsible traveller who looks more deeply into the destination, not just doing an Instagram tour and getting a very superficial introduction of the location, Ortiguera said.
The traveller now goes for “intelligent luxury”, which means a wholistic wellness not just for the self but also for the community and for the environment, and is much more inclusive and sustainable.
Accor recently reaffirmed its commitment to achieve net-zero by 2050, and is supporting myriad sustainability initiatives that can help it deliver on its promise.
One such initiative is the sponsorship of Energy Observer’s (EO) round-the-world voyage, which last month, saw it dock at Singapore’s ONE °15 Marina in Sentosa Cove from March 10 to 20. The ship was accompanied by a pedagogical exhibition village, which aimed to raise awareness of the issues of energy and ecological transition among the public.
Accor is sponsoring Energy Observer’s round-the-world voyage and green innovation research
EO is the world’s first hydrogen-powered, zero-emission and self-sufficient vessel, and serves as a laboratory for ecological transition. From its stop in Singapore, it is sailing onwards to berths in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
On why Accor chose to work with EO out of the many sustainable projects around the globe, Garth Simmons, CEO, Accor South-east Asia, Japan & South Korea, told TTG Asia: “We share a common vision with EO whereby we want to allow people to explore the world in a more responsible way.
“By partnering with EO, our vision is to engage our teams worldwide in our goal to offer guests a truly sustainable experience, and inspire people to think about the positive outcomes of a greener future.”
This sponsorship has led to Accor dedicating a floor of its global headquarters in Paris to the EO team, where space is used to house an innovation lab as well as specialists and energy experts.
As to how EO’s learnings will translate into green innovations for the French hospitality giant, Simmons said both parties are working on various projects to develop low impact solutions and new technologies for its hotels.
“One of the most innovative solutions derived from EO is the EMS (Energy Management System). EMS has multiple applications, especially for smart-grids applications and therefore hospitality entities. For instance, the co-generation of heat and electricity from a fuel cell system provides the best efficiency for any kind of building, including temporary structures or outdoor events,” Simmons explained.
“Together, we hope to develop new technologies that will help us rethink the way we travel.”
Partnering with EO is only the tip of Accor’s sustainability ethos.
Aside from promising to removing all guest-related single-use plastics by the end of 2022, Accor also joined the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance in September 2021.
In November 2021, Accor and 13 other members of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance announced a new Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality. Supported by the WTTC, this initiative offers a practical framework for hotels – both chains and independents – to improve their environmental impact.
However, as Accor is more of a hotel management company as opposed to building owners, the company also needs to educate owners that its sustainability strategy will help to create value for them.
When asked how this was done, Simmons relayed that each hotel’s green objectives are monitored through an in-house tool, which tracks food waste reduction, adherence to sustainable F&B, the elimination of single use plastics, eco-friendly amenities, and usage of cleaning products.
“We have also integrated sustainability responsibilities into our Hotel Management Agreements which our owners need to respect,” he added.
Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts will plant its first Australian flag in Sydney early in 2025, following a signing last week for the Waldorf Astoria Sydney within the One Circular Quay mixed-use development.
Construction has commenced on the 28-floor, 220-key luxury hotel, which will enjoy a prime location in the city and offer guests unrivalled views of the iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House.
Sydney will welcome Australia’s first Waldorf Astoria
Room inventory will comprise 179 guestrooms and 41 suites, while other facilities onsite include the Waldorf Astoria Spa on level one, two original restaurant concepts, a rooftop bar, and Peacock Alley, a signature central gathering place.
“As the first Waldorf Astoria property to debut in Australia, Waldorf Astoria Sydney signals Hilton’s commitment to expanding our luxury portfolio to the world’s most sought-after destinations,” said Nils-Arne Schroeder, vice president, luxury & lifestyle, Asia Pacific, Hilton.
Qantas and Jetstar will grow their international network out of Sydney, with new direct routes to India and South Korea taking off this year, accelerating New South Wales’ post-Covid tourism recovery.
The flag carrier’s new direct Sydney-Bengaluru service will be offered four times weekly from September 14, using the Airbus A330 aircraft.
Qantas Group’s expanded service network in India and South Korea will speed up New South Wales’ tourism recovery
These will be the first non-stop flights between Australia and southern India by any airline, and will cut almost three hours off the current fastest travel time from Sydney to Bengaluru.
Qantas will continue to operate up to five flights a week between Melbourne and Delhi, making it the only airline offering direct flights between Australia and both northern and southern India.
At the same time, Qantas intends to enter into a codeshare agreement with Indian domestic carrier, IndiGo, which will make flights to and from Sydney more accessible to Indian travellers from more than 50 Indian cities.
The partnership will extend to Jetstar customers who will be able to book connecting flights on IndiGo services from late April.
Meanwhile, Qantas and Jetstar will both commence direct flights to South Korea’s Incheon International Airport later this year.
Jetstar will become the only low-cost carrier to fly direct on the Sydney-Incheon route. It will begin thrice-weekly operations from November 2, 2022.
Qantas will begin direct Sydney-Incheon service from December 10, marking the first Qantas scheduled service to Seoul since January 2008.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the new routes would help New South Wales’ tourism sector recover from Covid.
“Sydney is one of the world’s truly global cities and these new direct flights to India and (South) Korea will make it easier for millions of people to come here,” Joyce said, adding that demand for international flights has rebounded since borders reopened.
“It’s clear that Australia is back on the map for international travellers,” he remarked.
Poet's Trail, a self-guided jungle trek for guests of The Datai Langkawi
The Datai Langkawi in Malaysia has developed a number of fresh nature experiences, relaunched its signature The Chef series, and launched two new room categories, as Malaysia’s borders reopen.
New for 2022, The Nature Centre at the Datai Langkawi invites guests to participate in reef protection activities at the centre’s new Coral Nursery, learn about the resort’s reforestation efforts at the Native Tree Nursery or discover how to harvest the unique Trigona itama honey from the resort’s stingless beehives with a new “Bee a Beekeeper” activity.
Poet’s Trail, a self-guided jungle trek for guests of The Datai Langkawi
Meanwhile, the resort’s sustainable craft-making centre, The Lab – built from over 9,000 used wine, champagne, and liquor bottles – has also been extended with an open-air annexe to conduct upcycling workshops.
Outdoors, the resort’s inspirational Poet’s Trail has been relaunched with a series of poems by Max Wallis, Khalil Gibran and The Datai’s Resident Naturalist, Irshad Mobarak.
The Datai Langkawi also welcomes back The Chef Series, a signature chef residency dining experience that welcomes culinary stars to its kitchens throughout the year. Previously, guest chefs included luminaries as Michel Roux, Nils Henkel and Michel and Sebastien Bras.
The focus for this year is ‘Eclectic Malaysian’ Dining, spotlighting the country’s culinary talents. From April 22-23, 2022, chef Azli Ahmad from OpenHouse KLCC, will champion Malaysian flavours based on recipes handed down by mothers and grandmothers.
For their menus, the chefs focus on local ingredients, especially what they can hand-pick from the resort’s own permaculture garden where the resort team grows turmeric, chilli, lemongrass, pandan and many more ingredients essential to authentic Malaysian fare. Fresh fish and seafood are predominantly sourced from Langkawi’s fishermen and organic chicken is available from a local village farm.
Some of the chef residencies are accompanied by cooking demonstrations and cooking classes, where guests are able to enjoy a hands-on gastronomic experience creating and enjoying their own culinary creations, under the guidance of the chefs themselves.
The Datai Langkawi has also introduced two new room categories: the Canopy Garden and the Rainforest Premium Villa. The five new Canopy Garden rooms are ideal for larger groups, offering direct access to an outdoor private patio and seating area, while the Rainforest Premium Villa offers enhanced privacy views of Anak Datai River and Sungai Datai.
Tickets for the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2022 will be up for sale from April 13 at 10.00.
The night race, slated to take place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit from September 30 to October 2, was put off for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2022 returns after a two-year hiatus
According to a press statement from race promoter Singapore GP, the Singapore Grand Prix 2022 will offer a variety of three-day grandstand offerings, priced between S$298 (US$218) and S$1,288 as well as combination packages from S$698 to S$1,088 that will enable spectators to experience both race and off-track entertainment from different parts of the Circuit Park over the weekend.
Hospitality suites will be available at the exclusive Formula 1 Paddock Club, Sky Suite, Twenty3, The Green Room, and Lounge@Turn 3.
The race will return with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc battling for pole position this season, as well as Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Haas’ Mick Schumacher, and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi racing through Singapore for the very first time.
A full entertainment line-up is promised off-track, and details will come in the coming weeks.
TUI BLUE Hotels & Resorts has made three new hires based in the Hong Kong office, as the brand rolls out its expansion plans in Asia-Pacific.
From left: Jacqueline Cheng, Bob Jiang, and Wipawee Peamsilpakulchorn
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Jacqueline Cheng has been appointed as team head overseeing the team in brand development in the region.
She has extensive hospitality experience working with international hotel players such as InterContinental Hotels Group, Maritim Hotelgesellschaft, Webin International, sales & marketing, project development, pre-opening and operations.
Next, Bob Jiang has been appointed as managing director, Greater China, where he is responsible for hotel development, pre-opening as well as operations management.
Jiang possesses 30 years of extensive industry experience involving asset management, hotel design, pre-opening and operations across different corporate levels to owners in China.
Lastly, Wipawee Peamsilpakulchorn has joined TUI BLUE Hotels & Resorts as head of business development, South-east Asia. She has extensive knowledge on hotel development, having worked with well-known corporations in the region such as Singapore’s CapitaLand Development, and Thailand’s TCC Capital Land.
Prior to her move, she was assistant vice president business development and asset management with The Ascott Limited in Bangkok, overseeing business development in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.
Thailand plans to scrap the mandatory on-arrival Covid-19 PCR test for foreign visitors starting from May, as the country steps up efforts to lure more tourists back.
The PCR tests will be replaced with the quicker ART tests at airports, Thailand’s deputy health minister Sathit Pitutecha said on Friday, after a meeting with the Covid-19 panel.
Baggage claim area at Suvarnabhumi Airport
Vaccinated travellers will also no longer need to reserve a one-night hotel stay to secure visas, joining other countries such as the Philippines and Singapore in easing border restrictions.
The Test & Go scheme has been seen as a major deterrent for travellers, and the hospitality industry has long asked for the programme to be scrapped.
Thailand’s Covid task force will review the proposed visa relaxations again over the new few weeks.
Carolyn Smith is the general manager of Courtyard by Marriott Melbourne Flagstaff Gardens – the Courtyard brand’s first hotel to open in Melbourne.
Smith brings 20 years of hospitality and luxury hotel management experience, having worked at numerous properties like The Westin Melbourne, The Langham, London, and the Sheraton Melbourne.
Prior to this appointment, Smith was director of operations at Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Port Douglas.
She is one of the company’s youngest female general managers in Australia, and oversaw all aspects of the new-build four-star property and 20-plus-strong opening team.
Vu Ngoc Linh – a hospitality veteran with a decade’s experience in F&B – has stepped into the position of sustainability officer at Alma Resort in Vietnam.
Vu has been tasked with tracking the property’s energy use, resource conservation, recycling, pollution reduction, waste elimination, transportation, education efforts and building design.
The role also involves creating sustainability programmes, budgets and schedules, evaluating the success of sustainability initiatives, and managing three staff committees focused on ‘green products’, ‘innovation and solutions’ and ‘people and partnerships’.
One of Vu’s new projects is the installation of 5,634 solar panels totalling 12,500m2 at Alma. With a capacity of 2,480 kilowatts peak, the solar power system will fuel between a quarter to almost half of Alma’s energy needs depending on occupancy.
Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts will plant its first Australian flag in Sydney early in 2025, following a signing last week for the Waldorf Astoria Sydney within the One Circular Quay mixed-use development.
Construction has commenced on the 28-floor, 220-key luxury hotel, which will enjoy a prime location in the city and offer guests unrivalled views of the iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House.
Room inventory will comprise 179 guestrooms and 41 suites, while other facilities onsite include the Waldorf Astoria Spa on level one, two original restaurant concepts, a rooftop bar, and Peacock Alley, a signature central gathering place.
“As the first Waldorf Astoria property to debut in Australia, Waldorf Astoria Sydney signals Hilton’s commitment to expanding our luxury portfolio to the world’s most sought-after destinations,” said Nils-Arne Schroeder, vice president, luxury & lifestyle, Asia Pacific, Hilton.