Mandy Tran Thi My Dung has joined The Anam Cam Ranh as director of sales and marketing.
She makes the move from Hyatt Regency Nha Trang, where she was the property’s director of sales and marketing for a year.
Prior to that, the Vietnamese was with Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel and Spa for eight years, where she served as the hotel’s director of sales and marketing for almost seven years.
With nearly two decades of experience, the seasoned hospitality professional has served as director of sales at the Dalat Palace and Dalat Du Parc Hotel (formerly Sofitel Dalat and Novotel Dalat, respectively), as well as a wholesale sales manager for the Park Hyatt Saigon and Hotel Equatorial Ho Chi Minh City.
• Biosecurity clearance that supports a ‘test and trace’ approach is recommended
• Study shows consumers are willing to sacrifice privacy for right to travel
• Implementation is, however, easier said than done
National governments in Asia, Australia and Europe have rolled out contact-tracing apps to curb the spread of Covid-19 on home soil, but what if similar technology could be harnessed in the skies and effectively bring the travel industry back to life?
Biometric identification to verify an individual’s health status can help restart air travel
This may seem far-fetched, but later this month, a blockchain-powered health app, which has been backed by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), will be tested on a flight from Madrid to Canary Islands.
The Health iCard App, known as Hi+ Card, was developed by Madrid-based Tourism Data Driven Solutions (TDDS) and securely stores medical records to certify that travellers are Covid-free.
In a statement, TDDS CEO, Antonio López de Avila, said the app is compliant with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and creates a unique Digital ID for each user based on data supplied by a national authority and accredited health entities.
“So, there is no chance of creating fake profiles or manipulating the medical records. Users ask these entities to directly store the info, in a cryptographic and secure way, in their profiles using the blockchain,” he said.
A similar app has also been developed by the International Chamber of Commerce, which teamed up with a number of global organisations, including medical and security services firm International SOS, to develop ICC AOKpass.
“The app allows users to privately and securely verify their health information with third parties anytime, anywhere,” AOKpass co-founder Dorjee Sun told TTG Asia.
“It can adapt to whatever rules apply to any given country, based on medical science, regulation and best practice as they evolve,” he said.
Biosecurity is the new normal
Global leaders in the travel and tourism industry also support the use of biometric identification to help kick-start regional and international travel.
On June 25, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) released a new set of guidelines that advocate a ‘test and trace’ approach to replace “highly damaging” quarantine measures.
“This is consistent with advice from WHO (World Health Organization) and other leading health authorities that the best way to control and reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus, is through early identification of carriers to ensure they don’t travel,” WTTC president & CEO, Gloria Guevara, said.
WTTC’s advice includes the systematic roll-out of biometric identification at each stage of the travel journey.
Responding to questions by TTG Asia, a WTTC spokesperson said the organisation supports technologies that establish a traveller’s identity using government-issued ID (like a passport for international travel or a driver license for domestic travel) and integrate biometrics such as e-certificates for Covid-19 testing and/or vaccination.
“Test certificates, for travel use, are defined by governments and should include test result, date of the test, test type, testing location, and test result. In the immediate term, as tests are not broadly available, a self-declaration symptoms questionnaire may be required,” the spokesperson said.
Creating a global standard?
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) also supported the use of biosecurity measures as part of a “layered approach” to reopen borders.
“There is no single measure that will reduce risk and enable a safe re-start of flying. But a layering of measures that are globally implemented and mutually recognised by governments can achieve the needed outcome,” IATA director general and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, said.
The recent opening of travel bubbles in Europe and a ‘green lane’ between Singapore and China are examples of such ‘mutually recognised’ measures. But these are in their infancy and, for the most part, based on bilateral agreements.
If there’s any hope of reviving the international travel industry before the discovery (and deployment) of a vaccine, a digital heath passport must be recognised globally.
According to PATA CEO Mario Hardy, that’s easier said than done.
“The WHO, ICAO and other UN agencies can certainly recommend best practices, but may not have the ability to enforce adoption. In order to be valid, a digital health certificate/passport would have to be issued by governmental health authorities,” he said.
Digital health passports have to be implemented by governmental health authorities: Hardy
Hardy suggests the best way forward is to incorporate health information into existing processes such the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS), which the airline industry uses to transfer security information to government authorities.
“In addition, rapid testing needs to be available at departure/arrival and for that information to be transmitted to the destination’s health authorities as well as recorded in a contact tracing app,” he said. “There are several variations of this scenario being discussed with authorities around the globe, however none of them are 100 per cent perfect.”
Privacy concerns
Apps like AOKpass, according to Sun, can help to connect the various checks and balances that exist in each country, while also ensuring the strict protection of personal data.
“If different and incompatible digital health passport systems are adopted across countries, this will substantially increase the time and cost for government authorities, businesses and travellers to comply,” he explained.
“Digital health passports that rely on centralised systems to access/store personal health data will also infringe on the privacy rights of individuals.”
After months of lockdown, travellers may even be more willing to share their personal data if it means a safe return to the skies.
A recent survey by telehealth and travel insurance provider, Global Rescue, revealed that 91 per cent of travellers are prepared to share personal medical history and their travel plans as a pre-condition to returning to travel.
Travel agents play a guiding role
Digital solutions that enable a ‘low-touch’ travel experience will likely prevail. Cybersecurity will therefore be a key concern moving forward, as will compliance to data privacy laws and rebuilding trust with clients.
President of the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS), Steven Ler, said travel agents will need to help clients navigate the brave new world of tracking technology, and provide additional aid to elderly travellers who may be less tech-savvy.
Ongoing communication and engagement with clients will also prove crucial on the road to recovery.
In a post-Covid world, travel and tourism will play a role in rebuilding societies and economies — but so will blockchain technology.
Global travellers looking to book holiday accommodation in the post-Covid era prioritise sanitation and hygiene over price and location, according to a Skyscanner survey.
The survey, which sought to find out how planning for a stay will evolve post-Covid-19, was conducted among 2,300 travellers from the UK, the US, Australia, South Korea, and Singapore (131 respondents) visiting Skyscanner’s site from June 12-22, 2020.
Stringent sanitation and health checks are the new must-haves: Skyscanner
When it comes to booking a property in the future, 55 per cent of Skyscanner users score sanitation and hygiene practices as “extremely important”, compared to price (48 per cent) and location (45 per cent). Reward and loyalty programmes ranked lowest (11 per cent), after brand reputation (21 per cent) and star rating (20 per cent).
When it comes to the importance of flexible room change/cancellation policies, nearly half of (47 per cent) Singapore travellers rate it as “extremely important”, the highest across all surveyed countries, against the global average of 29 per cent.
This shift in traveller preference can be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic, with travellers saying that hygiene and sanitation practices (73 per cent) and flexible cancellation policies (61 per cent) have become “more important than before”.
In response, Skyscanner has recently introduced cleanliness ratings on most accommodation listed on its site. These ratings are retrieved from TripAdvisor’s reviews in real-time.
Ulf Waschbusch, director of product – hotels for Skyscanner, commented on the new feature: “The cleanliness rating provides a clear indication of the accommodation’s hygiene standards, allowing travellers to make more informed accommodation choices.
“It is still early days for the industry’s recovery, but travellers have already determined that hygiene and flexibility are the new necessities in the face of Covid-19. Moving forward, it is imperative that travel providers not only implement measures to instill consumer confidence, but also find new ways to inform the holiday booking experience.”
Cleanliness scores are currently presented on Skyscanner desktop and mobile web platforms
Skyscanner data also revealed that the hotel experience will be reshaped. Nearly half (46 per cent) of the surveyed travellers said they will avoid shared amenities and common areas such as fitness facilities. Some 40 per cent of them would also prefer to dine outdoors, if given the option.
Having activities in-room is especially attractive to Singapore travellers, with nearly a third of them (31 per cent) saying they will look out for in-room experiences offered by the property, as compared to the global average of 19 per cent. This presents accommodation providers with opportunities to reinvent the hotel experience to offer add-ons such as private spa treatments and indoor workout videos.
It has been tough for big players of the embattled Philippine travel and tourism, but more so for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) – comprising the majority of the industry – that have moved for their own survival amid scant government support, awaiting indefinitely the 58 billion pesos (US$1.15 billion) stimulus package including loans and tax holidays for the industry.
MSME tourism players have had to invest in complying with the new health and safety protocols despite having no business four months into the government-imposed lockdown.
Tours guides in the Philippines are struggling for survival, as they await stimulus payouts from the government; a tour guide bringing tourists around Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar in the Philippines pictured
Faced with many uncertainties, 150 independent and MSME hotel owners and operators of the action group HOT Philippines (Hotel Owners for Tomorrow) have bonded to support each other, and one way is by validating the suppliers of safety protocols such as personal protection equipment (PPEs) to get better pricing and improve the procurement process.
It eases the supply chain to the benefit of the hotels, said Cyndy Tan Jarabata, CEO and president of Tajara Leisure and Hospitality Group, who co-organised HOT Philippines along with Eric Ricaurte of Greenview Singapore.
The Hotel Sales and Marketing Association opened an online store where members whose hotels have closed due to the pandemic can sell assorted commodities, from food and plants to PPEs and face masks.
Travel consultants have organised barters and food deliveries while others have temporarily shifted to online classes, teaching English as second language, and working for business process outsourcing to survive the current no work, no pay norm.
Romano Del Rosario, Philippine Tour Guide Federation vice president for Luzon, said tour guides especially in provincial destinations are hardest hit by the pandemic as they are mostly self-employed and freelancers.
He said it was double whammy for guides in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) due to the January eruption of Taal Volcano followed by the pandemic in mid-March. Fortunately, affected guides were able to get through tough times on rice and food handouts by tour operators in Bohol, he added.
Rosario is looking forward to a wage subsidy for tour guides representing 55 to 75 per cent of their wage for two months once the US$1.15 billion tourism stimulus package is ready.
Jarabata co-organised action group HOT Philippines to bring together smaller players in the hotel industry for mutual support amid the virus crisis
Josie Costales of Costales Nature Farm also hoped to get loan assistance from the stimulus package, as the farm and farming school ceased operations when seminars and farm trips were cancelled and the restaurants that they supply with high-valued vegetables had to shutter. Money from the loan will also go towards repair works on their cottages for overnight stays.
Today, Costales said his son started offering organic technology for free on YouTube as their farming school is closed and the farm shifted to planting lowland vegetables which barely yield profits.
Lax Junnel Mendoza, tourism officer at Dolores Provincial Office, bemoaned the DoT’s “no intervention at all” for MSMEs, especially in the provinces which have limited funds and are the most affected by the pandemic. They are “self-sustaining as they fear borrowing funds and (are following) all regulations for fear of being shut down”, Mendoza said.
Mendoza, whose travel agency was one of the casualties of the pandemic, said that to survive, about 80 per cent of the members of the Association of Travel and Tour Agencies in Calabarzon have taken to planting and selling honey, coffee, turmeric and other produce in Dolores. The sale will soon be expanded to Tayabas, also in Quezon, and later, in coordination with local government units, to other parts of Calabarzon.
Some 21 Shangri-La hotels in South-east Asia and Sri Lanka are donating 12,500kg of used, clean bedsheets, duvet covers and pillowcases to local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and volunteer groups to be repurposed into reusable face masks for vulnerable members of society.
Done in partnership with global hygiene and cleaning company, Diversey, the hotel company’s initiative also presents employment opportunities for members in low socio-economic community groups in cities such as Yangon, Manila, Johor Bahru, Colombo, Surabaya, Jakarta and Bangkok.
Two refugee children help each other with their masks at Cedar Learning Center in Bangkok
In Singapore, the group’s four hotels are looking to contribute up to 80,000 reusable face masks for communities in need during this period, with volunteer groups such as Dirtylinen and Keeping Hope Alive distributing the masks to the elderly often living alone in rental flats. The masks will also be distributed to teachers and students in need at NGO Intercultural Theatre Institute.
The upcycling of clean, used linen into face masks also provides Shangri-La a meaningful way to help reduce environmental wastage.
Citing an independent study by Metabolic in The Netherlands on the life cycle analysis of cotton and poly-cotton linen and cotton towels used in top hotel chains, Shangri-La noted in a press statement that the production of 500,000 fabric face masks using new linen would have incurred 60 million litres of water – the equivalent of 23 Olympic-size swimming pools – and a carbon footprint of 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to 63,000 litres of petrol being combusted.
Volunteer sewing face masks with donated linens
Chan Kong Leong, regional CEO for Shangri-La Group in Southeast Asia & Australasia, said: “At Shangri-La, we have dedicated our last 50 years to caring for our guests, colleagues and local communities. Just as we have elevated our cleaning and safety protocols in our hotels as part of our Shangri-La Cares commitment to our guests and colleagues, we are heartened to be able to continue helping and caring for the communities around us throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Linens For Life Face Masks programme provides clear health, social and environmental benefits for communities during these challenging times.”
Shangri-La’s partnership with Diversey on the Linens For Life Face Masks programme builds on the successful Soap For Hope collaboration between the two entities globally, which has seen 427 tonnes of hotel soap slivers recycled into 3.5 million new soap bars for at-risk communities over the past three years.
Contactless check-in kiosks, as well as facial and iris recognition for immigration clearance, are part of heightened safety measures rolled out by Changi Airport, in anticipation of the return of the flying public.
These new innovations will be rolled out airport-wide, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said in a press release on Wednesday.
New contactless and cleaning innovations, such as the proximity touch screens, will enhance the health and safety for travellers at Changi Airport
Proximity touch screens and infrared sensors will be installed progressively at the airport’s check-in and bag drop kiosks, enabling travellers to select options by pointing their finger close to the screen without touching it.
For those who need to check in at counters staffed by customer service agents, acrylic screens will provide a safe barrier between passengers and staff.
Additionally, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority has upgraded the automated immigration lanes at the airport with a new biometric system that uses facial and iris recognition technology as the primary means for identity verification. This replaces traditional fingerprint scanning.
Cleaning innovations have also been introduced by CAG. Autonomous cleaning robots that roam the terminals have been fitted with a nozzle that sprays a light disinfecting mist on carpets and floors during cleaning.
The group is also testing the use of UVC LED technology to disinfect the handrails of escalators and travellators. A trial is also being conducted on the use of contactless infrared technology for passenger lifts, where travellers just need to hover their finger over the lift button to activate it.
Tan Lye Teck, CAG’s executive vice president for airport management, said: “Passengers will expect airports to deliver the highest standards of safety and hygiene to give them peace of mind during their journey, and we will rapidly bring on board new measures as we go into a new normal for air travel… CAG will work with other aviation partners to instill a high sense of confidence among travellers going through Changi Airport when air travel eventually resumes.”
The world’s tourism industry is set for a slow recovery, with global outbound travel numbers expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels only in 2023, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The same report also predicted that international tourism receipts will only rebound nominally in 2022.
Global outbound travel not set for full recovery before 2023, with countries turning to domestic tourism to jumpstart recovery
In the meantime, domestic tourism is expected to fill part of the demand-supply gap at some destinations and increase occupancy rates at hotels. However, countries that rely heavily on foreign tourism are finding the relatively small domestic market woefully inadequate to buoy the sector.
Additionally, the shrinking Chinese outbound tourism market is expected to have a knock-on effect on destination markets worldwide. Prior to the pandemic, Chinese travellers contributed to nine per cent of outbound travel numbers globally and 18 per cent of international tourism receipts.
According to data from OAG, flight capacities decreased by at least 50 per cent across the globe for the week beginning June 15, 2020, compared to the week starting January 20.
The South-west Pacific region, South America and Western Europe faced the greatest decline – air capacity fell by approximately 90 per cent, more than 80 per cent, and around 80 per cent, respectively.
These were followed by South-east Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Central America. Across all of these regions, flight capacity decreased by about 70 per cent.
Central and Eastern Europe faced the least capacity cuts overall, though flight capacity was still significantly reduced by about 50 per cent. Meanwhile, in North America, capacity plunged by more than 60 per cent.
While flight capacity is starting to recover, this is not an indication of a rebound in the travel industry, said the EIU.
The global tourism crisis has a ripple effect on other industries. For instance, in aviation, the fall in the number of scheduled flights caused cargo rates to soar and disruptions in the supply chain. Countries have been pulling together financial relief initiatives for airlines due to the impact the aviation sector has on other industries.
Interestingly, for Hong Kong, the fall in retail prices amid the pandemic have led huge numbers of Chinese tourists to take their dollars to the city.
– Translated by Angela Teo; this article was first published in TTG China
The Travel Corporation’s Trafalgar and sister brand Costsaver is offering private trips in Europe for groups of 12 or more, to ease travel anxiety amid the pandemic.
Available on all Autumn, Winter and Spring itineraries, this new initiative is designed to give enhanced peace of mind for families and friends who prefer to travel as their own private group.
Tralfager, Costsaver gives families and friends the chance to travel as a private group on its Europe itineraries
They will be accompanied by a dedicated on-road team trained in enhanced social distancing and hygiene protocols while travelling on luxury coaches during the private tours.
Surcharge for private group tours is based on group size. For groups of 12 to 15, there will be a 30 per cent surcharge tacked on to the advertised price; for groups of 16 to 19, 20 per cent; and for groups of 20 to 25, 10 per cent. For 26 guests or more, there will be no additional surcharge.
Qatar Airways resumed flights to 11 more destinations worldwide on Wednesday, in its largest single day of restarts, as it works to rebuild its network devastated by the pandemic.
The destinations are Bali Denpasar, Beirut, Belgrade, Berlin, Boston, Edinburgh, Larnaca, Los Angeles, Prague, Washington DC, and Zagreb.
Qatar Airways reinstates 11 destinations on July 1, in the largest single day of flight resumptions in the airline’s network rebuild
The airline said that it intends to expand its network to more than 430 weekly flights to over 65 destinations by mid-July. Planned additions include Toronto (July 4), Ankara (July 9), Zanzibar (July 11), Kilimanjaro (July 13), as well as Bucharest, Sofia and Venice (July 15).
Qatar Airways said in a statement that it “continues to work closely with governments around the world to resume commercial flights in line with entry restrictions”.
The carrier said that it plans to resume almost two-thirds of its pre-Covid-19 network by the end of the month. The airline expects its number of flights to almost double in July with close to 3,500 flights scheduled, compared to just under 2,100 in June.
Qatar has extended its booking policies to allow greater flexibility, including unlimited date changes. Passengers can also change their destination as often as needed, provided it is within 5,000 miles of the original destination. The airline will not charge fare differences for travel completed before December 31, 2020. All tickets booked for travel up to December 31, 2020 will be valid for two years from the date of issuance.
People walking along and taking pictures of Sakura in Chidorigafuchi Park in Tokyo. People are wearing face masks during the coronavirus outbreaking.
Japan will add another 18 countries to its growing entry ban list, bringing the total number of affected nations and regions to 129, as part of the country’s measures to stem the spread of Covid-19.
Starting July 1, Japan will deny entry to foreign nationals arriving from Algeria, Cuba, Iraq, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Costa Rica, Eswatini, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Senegal.
Japan has strict border control measures in place to stem virus spread; visitors wearing face masks strolling through Chidorigafuchi Park in Tokyo amid the pandemic pictured
Japan will also extend the suspension of visa issuance in the listed countries and regions until the end of July, said the Foreign Ministry.
The country has lifted the state of emergency imposed to curb the virus spread, but remains cautious about a second wave of infections. Already, the city in Fukuoka Prefecture is in the grips of a second wave.
Meanwhile, the government is contemplating loosening travel restrictions on countries that have successfully contained the coronavirus. Last week, a chartered flight carrying business travellers took off from Japan to Vietnam, marking the resumption of travel between the two countries.
Some 21 Shangri-La hotels in South-east Asia and Sri Lanka are donating 12,500kg of used, clean bedsheets, duvet covers and pillowcases to local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and volunteer groups to be repurposed into reusable face masks for vulnerable members of society.
Done in partnership with global hygiene and cleaning company, Diversey, the hotel company’s initiative also presents employment opportunities for members in low socio-economic community groups in cities such as Yangon, Manila, Johor Bahru, Colombo, Surabaya, Jakarta and Bangkok.
In Singapore, the group’s four hotels are looking to contribute up to 80,000 reusable face masks for communities in need during this period, with volunteer groups such as Dirtylinen and Keeping Hope Alive distributing the masks to the elderly often living alone in rental flats. The masks will also be distributed to teachers and students in need at NGO Intercultural Theatre Institute.
The upcycling of clean, used linen into face masks also provides Shangri-La a meaningful way to help reduce environmental wastage.
Citing an independent study by Metabolic in The Netherlands on the life cycle analysis of cotton and poly-cotton linen and cotton towels used in top hotel chains, Shangri-La noted in a press statement that the production of 500,000 fabric face masks using new linen would have incurred 60 million litres of water – the equivalent of 23 Olympic-size swimming pools – and a carbon footprint of 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to 63,000 litres of petrol being combusted.
Chan Kong Leong, regional CEO for Shangri-La Group in Southeast Asia & Australasia, said: “At Shangri-La, we have dedicated our last 50 years to caring for our guests, colleagues and local communities. Just as we have elevated our cleaning and safety protocols in our hotels as part of our Shangri-La Cares commitment to our guests and colleagues, we are heartened to be able to continue helping and caring for the communities around us throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Linens For Life Face Masks programme provides clear health, social and environmental benefits for communities during these challenging times.”
Shangri-La’s partnership with Diversey on the Linens For Life Face Masks programme builds on the successful Soap For Hope collaboration between the two entities globally, which has seen 427 tonnes of hotel soap slivers recycled into 3.5 million new soap bars for at-risk communities over the past three years.