Hong Kong will put all visitors under a two-week quarantine starting midnight on Thursday (March 19) to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The government has also advised residents to avoid all non-essential travel.
Hong Kong expands quarantine policy to all arrivals from foreign countries amid the rise in imported cases
Those arriving in Hong Kong will be put under home quarantine, the South China Morning Post reported. The new restrictions will not apply to arrivals from mainland China, Macau or Taiwan, it added.
Since February 8, anyone arriving in the city from mainland China, except Hubei province, have to serve a mandatory quarantine for 14 days as part of efforts to contain the spread of the virus.
Residents from Hubei province have been barred from entering Hong Kong since January.
Hong Kong went to an emergency lockdown for three weeks in January and February to stem the spread of the virus – a tactic which seemed to have worked in the city’s favour in ebbing the spread of the virus.
As of Monday, Hong Kong has 157 confirmed cases and four deaths in the city.
“In many countries the number of confirmed cases can be described as explosive. If we don’t adopt some strict measures … I’m afraid all precaution efforts done in the past two months would be wasted. It will affect the public health of Hong Kong,” chief executive Carrie Lam said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
The suspension of schools, which was originally supposed to end on April 20, is also likely to be extended, said Lam.
Further capacity cuts have been ordered by Singapore Airlines (SIA), Qantas, Jetstar and Air New Zealand (Air NZ) as travel demand plunges even further on the back of tougher government containment measures to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.
SIA will be suspending additional services across its network amid what it calls “an unprecedented time in the airline industry”.
Singapore Airlines reduces flight capacity by 50 per cent amid Covid-19 travel curbs
The suspensions mean that SIA will operate only 50 per cent of the capacity that had been originally scheduled up to end-April, said the airline in a statement.
SIA CEO Goh Choon Phong said: “We have lost a large amount of our traffic in a very short time, and it will not be viable for us to maintain our current network. Make no mistake – we expect the pace of this deterioration to accelerate. The SIA Group must be prepared for a prolonged period of difficulty.”
Full details about the suspended flights will be announced on the SIA website today (March 18).
As well, Qantas and Jetstar will cancel almost all international flights and make steep cuts to domestic flights until June. The move will render a 90 per cent reduction in global capacity until at least the end of May, a sharp increase from the 23 per cent capacity cuts announced last week.
Domestic capacity will be slashed by around 60 per cent over the same period, a major increase from the five per cent reduction last week.
The cuts will see the grounding of around 150 aircraft, out of about 300 across the group, including almost all of its wide-body fleet.
Affected Qantas and Jetstar flights will be announced by the end of the week.
In a similar move, Air NZ will further reduce capacity on its longhaul network by 85 per cent over the coming months.
The airline will operate a minimal schedule to allow Kiwis to return home and to keep trade corridors with Asia and North America open. Full details of this schedule will be unveiled in the coming days.
For its longhaul network, the airline will suspend flights between Auckland and Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Buenos Aires, Vancouver, Tokyo Narita, Honolulu, Denpasar and Taipei from March 30 to June 30. It is also suspending its London-Los Angeles service from March 20 (ex Los Angeles International Airport) and March 21 (ex Heathrow Airport) through to June 30.
The Tasman and Pacific Island network capacity will be significantly reduced between April and June, with details of these schedule changes to be announced later this week.
Domestic capacity will be cut by around 30 per cent in April and May, but no routes will be suspended.
In an open letter published on Tuesday, Gloria Guevara, president & CEO of World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), has called on governments of all countries to take immediate action to help ensure the survival of the critical travel and tourism sector which is facing an existential threat during the current pandemic.
Guevara wrote: “No one can doubt that we are in uncharted territory. The coronavirus pandemic means the world is facing a threat on multiple fronts not seen in peacetime. The travel and tourism sector is uniquely exposed, and we estimate 50 million jobs globally are at risk.
WTTC’s Gloria Guevara calls on government support for tourism sector
“To put it bluntly, travel and tourism is in a fight for survival.
“Travel is the backbone of economies around the world. It brings in essential currency and inward investment, creates jobs and stimulates every sector.
WTTC figures show travel and tourism contributes to 10.4 per cent of global GDP and 320 million jobs. It is responsible for creating one in five new jobs and, for eight successive years, has outpaced the growth of the global economy.
“Without travel and tourism, economies around the world face an existential threat.”
Guevara identified three vital and immediate measures to be taken by governments everywhere to “help ensure the survival of this critical job-creating sector”.
She emphasised that “any delay will be costed in millions of lost jobs and almost incalculable damage worldwide”.
She wrote: “Firstly, financial help must be granted to protect the incomes of the millions of workers in the sector facing severe economic difficulties.
“Secondly, governments must extend vital, unlimited interest-free loans to global travel and tourism companies as well as the millions of small and medium sized businesses as a stimulus to prevent them from collapse.
“Thirdly, all government taxes, dues and financial demands on the travel sector need to be waived with immediate effect at least for the next 12 months.”
These measures, she opined, taken in addition to recovery funds, will protect a sector which is already facing collapse.
“We are calling upon the world to take urgent and immediate action to prevent this global health crisis becoming a worldwide economic catastrophe. Doing nothing is not an option. We implore every government to take drastic and decisive action now to preserve and protect the contribution of the travel and tourism sector, on which more than 320 million people and their families depend on for their livelihoods,” she concluded.
Malaysia’s unprecedented nationwide movement control order, which takes effect tomorrow until March 31, has left hoteliers with a sense of uncertainty around operational continuity and their obligation to protect and care for their guests.
Nardya Wray, director at Campbell House in Penang, told TTG Asia that his property has a mother and daughter from Holland whose travel agent is trying to help them leave through Kuala Lumpur as soon as possible.
Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, Penang still has foreign guests in-house as time draws closer towards Malaysia’s nationwide lockdown on Wednesday
“While they stay with us, we will continue to look after them. But we are not sure if we are allowed to remain open and have staff working during this lockdown period,” Wray added.
She revealed that other foreign guests had checked out early on Tuesday to avoid being caught in flight disruptions.
Loh-Lim Shen Yi, executive director at Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang, also raised similar concerns about next steps.
“As a hotelier, it is our obligation to honour bookings by guests and remain open. The news broke late Monday night and we still have foreign guests with us. Some may want to stay put in the hotel as they are afraid of flying and contracting the virus,” he said.
While there are no new bookings from April onwards, Loh-Lim said he was unsure if local guests who had made advance bookings for late March would still be allowed to proceed with their stay.
Kingston Khoo, director of sales and marketing at Taman Negara Resort in Pahang, said many foreign guests had checked with their travel agents on Monday about the possibility of returning to their countries earlier but one of the hurdles they faced, especially with the longhaul market, was the lack of flights now that many international airlines have severely reduced capacity.
For existing European guests who choose to extend their stay, Frangipani Langkawi Resort & Spa managing director, Anthony Wong, is offering huge discounts.
He explained: “We know we won’t get new guests in March, so we don’t mind offering discounted rates to existing guests. Some think it is safer to stay on in Langkawi than to return to Europe at this point in time.”
In response to hoteliers’ queries, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has offered an unofficial statement, which at press time, was still pending approval from the Malaysian National Security Council.
The ministry said hotels are allowed to continue operating and serving in-house guests who have checked in before March 18, but no new check-ins or bookings are allowed during the lockdown period from March 18 to 31.
Due to the rapid rise of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia over the last few days, the government has implemented an unprecedented nationwide movement control order, locking down the whole country to counter the spread of Covid-19 starting from tomorrow until March 31.
Prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a special live broadcast on Monday night that all mass gatherings including religious, sports, social and cultural activities will be prohibited during this period.
All government and private premises will be shut when Malaysia goes into lockdown from tomorrow
All government and private premises, kindergartens, schools and institutions of higher learning will be closed. An exception are government and private businesses providing essential services such as water, electric, energy, telecommunications, postal, transportation, irrigation, oil, gas, fuel, lubricants, broadcasting, finance, banking, health, pharmaceutical, fire, prisons, ports, airports, security, defence, cleaning, retail and food supplies.
In addition, Malaysians are also banned from travelling overseas and foreign visitors from entering the country. Those who have just returned from overseas are required to undergo health screening and self-quarantine for 14 days.
As of Monday, the total number of Covid-19 infections in Malaysia stood at 553. Many of the new cases are linked to a Muslim convention at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling mosque attended by 14,500 people from February 27 to March 1.
Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents’ (MATTA) president, KL Tan, shared that the government’s initiative was a timely and wise decision.
Tan elaborated: “It will provide Malaysia with an opportunity to recover quickly from the outbreak. This, in turn, will inject public (both local and international) confidence in the destination.
“We are doing our part to stem the outbreak, just as many European nations have done and more countries are expected to follow suit. The global outbreak of the coronavirus has reached a scale where nations have to take bold and drastic measures.”
MATTA has also postponed two fairs, one scheduled for April and another for May.
On the business events front, Malaysian Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers’ (MACEOS) president, Vincent Lim, said he supported the movement restriction as it has proven effective in stemming the spread of human to human transmissions in China.
He said the association will be sending out a circular to its members urging them to support the government’s direction and not organise events and conferences during this period. He said: “We urge members to work from home, stay healthy and prepare for a rebound.”
Nathan Vaithi, general manager of Zenith Putrajaya, agreed, indicating that the government’s precautionary measures were the right move. The few bookings from the government and corporate sector have also deferred to 2H2020 anyway.
To cope with low occupancy since the start of the year, hotel staff have been encouraged to clear their leave from 2019, while it has also frozen overtime wages and hiring of new staff,
When contacted early Monday morning, Francis Teo, head of Setia City Convention Centre, shared with TTG Asia that he was waiting for a directive from the management on the next course of action, such as whether staff should work from home or the centre be temporarily shut down.
Cambodia is the latest in a growing list of South-east Asian countries which are introducing bans on travel from Europe and the UK, as governments struggle to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Cambodia has banned entry of travellers from five countries – Italy, Germany, Spain, France and the US – for 30 days starting today (March 17), as Phnom Penh records two new infections on Friday.
More South-east Asian countries are imposing bans on travellers from Europe; Passengers arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport being screened using a thermal scanner pictured
In addition, the country has urged its citizens to refrain from travelling to Europe, the US and Iran. All government officials and citizens returning from Europe, the US, and Iran are also required to self-quarantine for 14-days, in accordance to the procedures set by the Ministry of Health.
In addition, all international river cruises are banned from entering Cambodia from March 13 until further notice.
Since March 15, Vietnam has banned travellers with a travel history to the UK, Northern Ireland and Schengen countries in the past 14 days. The ban will last for 30 days.
Vietnam’s government has also suspending the issuance of visas on arrival to travellers from all countries for a month. The ban excludes diplomatic and business travellers, but they face health checks and possible quarantines, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
The decision follows Vietnam’s suspension of visa waivers for people from the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. As well, travellers from South Korea and Italy are required to obtain a visa from an embassy ahead of arrival.
From March 16, Sri Lanka will also not allow people arriving from the UK or who have travelled through the UK into the country.
As well, the Foreign Office has advised against all non-essential travel to the country.
Elsewhere, Malaysia has also widened its ban to include seven provinces in Italy, Japan and Iran. The areas are Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna in Italy; Hokkaido in Japan; as well as Tehran, Qom and Gilan in Iran.
Under the ban, visitors who have been to those cities or provinces within 14 days of their arrival to Malaysia will be barred from entering the country.
This is in addition to Malaysia’s prior travel bans on visitors from Daegu city and Cheongdo district in Korea, as well as Hubei, Zhejiang and Changdu provinces in China.
Since Sunday, Singapore has also banned all visitors who have been to Italy, France, Spain and Germany within the last 14 days from setting foot in the country.
The total number of Covid-19 cases worldwide has crossed 132,000, with a death toll of 5,000, most from China where the virus is believed to have originated, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Europe has now become the epicentre of the pandemic, recording more cases and deaths outside of China, said WHO officials last week.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) will be pushing out a HK$400 million (US$51 million) trade support plan to stimulate tourism and inbound business events once the Covid-19 crisis tapers off.
The announcement comes on the heels of newly released figures that signal a steep crash in visitor arrivals to the country. The provisional figure for visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in February was 199,000, down more than 96 per cent from the same time last year, said HKTB in a press release.
As tourism slows to a trickle, HKTB will be rolling out a US$51 million subsidy to aid the battered industry
Prior to the major border closure measure implemented by the government on February 8, there were 10,000 to 20,000 arrivals per day. Following after, the average daily arrivals fell to 3,300, about 80 per cent of whom were non-Mainland visitors. In view of the current development of the pandemic, HKTB expects a further drop in arrivals this March.
HKTB executive director Dane Cheng said: “The initiatives will cover local and overseas travel agencies, hotels, airlines and attractions, as well as the retail, dining and MICE industries. The estimated budget for the plan will be HK$400 million, funded by the proposed marketing budget in the 2020/21 financial year and the additional funding earmarked in the Budget.”
The plan focuses on three areas, namely, boosting domestic spending confidence and ambience; partnering with trade to intensify promotions in source markets; and stepping up MICE promotion to attract high-yield overnight visitors.
HKTB will offer subsidies to the retail and catering sectors for joint consumer promotion, as well as waive the renewal fee for Quality Tourism Services (QTS) Scheme accredited merchants and offer a 50 per cent reduction in the application fee for new joiners.
The tourism board will also work with the trade to stimulate local spending, including stepping up promotions and support for the QTS Scheme.
In terms of subsidising the trade in their promotions, HKTB will waive the participation fees of the more than 40 trade activities it organises in visitor source markets, including trade fairs and travel missions, and provide subsidies for related air tickets and hotel accommodations.
The organisation will also fully host travel delegations to conduct roadshows in key markets, invite the travel trade in key markets on familiarisation trips to Hong Kong, reintroduce the matching fund for attractions for promotions, as well as increase the subsidising proportion for the Explore Hong Kong Tours support scheme.
In addition, it will partner with the travel trade from Hong Kong and source markets to conduct tactical promotions to attract visitors.
On the business events front, the NTO will subsidise event organisers to bid for large-scale conventions and exhibitions, lower the threshold for applying funding support for small & medium-sized meetings and incentives activities, and extend the scheme to the hotel sector, as well as waive the participation fees for relevant promotion activities organised by the HKTB in source markets and provide subsidies for related air tickets and hotel accommodations.
To attract business event visitors through enhanced promotions, the tourism board will also team up with the hotel sector on a new initiative, MeetON@HongKong, to provide groups with free meeting packages or dining packages.
In 2020/21, the proposed marketing budget, together with the additional funding announced in the Budget for the HKTB, is worth about HK$1,120 million.
Nobody knows when the travel industry will see the light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel as events and corporate meetings continue to be cancelled or postponed, while airplanes, hotels, restaurants and attractions are half-empty.
While recent projections of the financial impact on various sectors are sobering and some say it is too early to talk recovery, industry associations and the private sector are jumping into action to cushion the blow as best as they can.
Risk of catching Covid-19 on a flight “extraordinarily low”: IATA
IATA said it could be up to US$113 billion with broader spread of Covid-19, while a Global Business Travel Association survey released at the end of February put it at US$46.6 billion per month, or 37 per cent of the total 2020 forecasted global spend for corporate travel.
IATA’s two-day Aviation Resilience & Health Workshop in Singapore on March 4 and 5 brought airline members and industry partners together to discuss how they could meet medical and regulatory aspects of the Covid-19 outbreak and work with governments. By holding the workshop, which was organised in just 10 days, IATA hoped to reassure people the travel process was safe, indicating that catching Covid-19 on a flight was “extraordinarily low”.
Mario Hardy, CEO of PATA, based in Bangkok, who said he personally chose to attend the workshop, noted: “I believe that with precautionary measures and regular hand washing and use of hand sanitisers, it is fine to travel.
“I’m also conscious that this is a personal choice and not everyone may be as tolerant to risk. I would recommend everyone to first consult WHO, their respective country CDC and travel restrictions listed on IATA’s website before confirming their travel plans.”
Hardy further revealed that PATA is in the process of forming two task forces led by its volunteer board members to address industry concerns and issues as well as recovery.
He expressed that “the industry is in the process of organising itself” and shared that a Uniting Travel leadership conference call – with representatives from ACI (Airports Council International), CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association), IATA, ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), PATA, UNWTO, WEF (World Economic Forum) and WTTC – was organised the week of March 9 to discuss joint strategies.
“PATA has also joined a tourism task force with WHO, World Bank, IMF, ADB and CDC to discuss, understand and look at actions needed regarding health and economic recovery. It is still in early stages as we had our first call last week,” Hardy noted.
Kitty Wong, president, K&A International and former president of World PCO Alliance, said it was important for companies to “make their own judgment” on who and what to believe amid all the information out there.
Agreeing with Hardy, she pointed out: “Be sensible and do your own risk assessment. Take care of yourselves, follow the instruction/guidelines set by our governments – if you trust them – look after your staff and protect your clients.”
Wong shared that partners and stakeholders in Taiwan had pledged to honour contracts for postponed events with hotels and venues agreeing “to cooperate” on such cases until the end of the year.
“Work closely with your local MICE industry/community to prevent further losses and/or damages,” she urged. “The aftermath and recovery will rely heavily on our collaboration with partners and stakeholders. Some governments already have plans for economic recovery and I am sure the governments and the private sector will work hand-in-hand going forward.”
In reacting to IATA’s call for rational messages, an industry veteran observed that with so many unknowns about Covid-19, whatever messages that need to be sent cannot be “too clinical”.
“We need to look at restoring travel confidence, that is key. But how to convey that is the challenge we face,” he quipped.
Regional hotel operators should avoid dropping room rates to draw bookings during the current travel and tourism downturn, urge hospitality solution providers specialising in distribution and revenue management, who are instead recommending value-added deals and courtship of new market segments through technology.
These industry specialists were participants at the recent WiT Indie Conference at Penang Institute.
Hoteliers should not tap lower rates to woo guests during current downturn, say hospitality players
Dan Lynn, co-founder, Zuzu Hospitality, shared that some hotels in Malaysia and Singapore were slashing room rates to shore up their businesses amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He said putting quantity over quality would not help to make up for the revenue at this point in time.
Rather, he opined, hotels should look at intelligent promotional strategies targeted at domestic and regional travel which is holding up well at the moment.
He also suggested that hotels should create flexible pricing structures with refundable options to boost guests’ confidence in making bookings.
Kim Ong, vice president strategic sales & account management – Asia-Pacific at D-Edge Hospitality Solutions, stressed the importance of maintaining rates and providing added value such as free room upgrades, discounts on F&B offerings and working with retail partners on promotions.
Hoteliers should identify their USPs and leverage on them, Ong said, and added that new segments could be targeted within the domestic market.
While small independent hotels lacked the “deep pockets and the resources of the big brands”, they could play up their advantage of offering more privacy and personalised services to their guests, opined Brendan Wong, director of sales – Malaysia at D-Edge Hospitality Solutions.
“They can work with hotel technology vendors who know the market and where opportunities lie,” he added.
Meanwhile, Francois Sigrist, general manager, Lone Pine Hotel in Penang, has called for tourism stakeholders in Malaysia to collectively address the general fear of travelling and infection, and to collaborate with the national and state tourism boards on destination promotions.
This year’s 11th edition of Vivid Sydney, the city’s annual light, music and ideas festival, has been cancelled, following recommendations by the federal government and health authorities to limit non-essential organised gatherings to under 500 people.
The event, which was originally slated to run from May 22 to June 13, 2020 at various locations around Greater Sydney, will not proceed at any of its planned locations.
This is the first time in 11 years that Vivid Sydney will not take place
Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, said in a statement: “While the cancellation of the event is disappointing and another major setback for the tourism industry, it is the right thing to do to control the spread of infection and keep people safe.”
A spokesperson for Destination NSW added: “Vivid Sydney is a bright star of Sydney’s event calendar so the decision to cancel was not taken lightly. As the event owner, we must follow the advice of health officials to ensure the health and safety of our citizens and everyone involved with Vivid Sydney.”
In 2019, Vivid Sydney attracted a record 2.4 million attendees, and generated A$172 million (US$106 million) for the NSW economy.
Destination NSW has assured that the event would return in 2021.
