TripAdvisor’s tour company Viator has rolled out more than 100 virtual experiences, including pasta-making courses, self-guided wine-tasting, and sight-seeing trips, as part of its new project #RoamFromHome, which enables tour guides and experiences hosts to bring their activities online.
The curated experiences are a mixture of free and paid-for, with roughly 80 per cent of the latter run by small businesses. For the paid experiences, Viator will waive commission, with all proceeds going to the operator.
Viator will offer virtual experiences in culture, sightseeing, food & drink, and more
Viator said the initiative is to allow travellers to quench their wanderlust during lockdown, while supporting tour operators hit hard by Covid-19.
Travellers can access Viator’s new virtual experiences in a dedicated section on its website. Experiences are organised by category, including culture, sightseeing, and food & drink.
Homebound travellers can prepare vegetarian dishes like mattar paneer in a private cooking class with a chef broadcasting from her home kitchen in Mumbai, or learn to make pasta at home from a chef in Florence, who has been running Italian food tours with her family for over 15 years.
While the experiences are currently only available in English, Viator said they may expand to include additional languages in the future.
Mid-April New Year celebrations were cancelled in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia in a bid to halt the spread of Covid-19, along with existing border restrictions on foreign arrivals.
While Cambodia is currently not under a lockdown, its borders with Thailand, Vietnam and Laos remain closed until further notice. A travel ban is in place for entry from Germany, the US, Italy, France, Spain and Iran.
Lively New Year celebrations this month were absent in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia due to Covid-19 fears
International visitors must go into mandatory 14-day quarantine, with visa-on-arrivals currently postponed.
Bars, beer gardens, karaoke bars, spas and massage parlours have been closed, with restaurants, markets, hotels and other stores remaining open. During the cancelled Khmer New Year period, a one-week provincial travel ban was enforced.
In Myanmar, all international commercial flights have been suspended until April 30. Beaches have been shuttered early for the season, with the government recommending hotels in Mandalay and Bagan close. Many have reportedly followed the suggestion. Some hotels in Yangon have closed for April and May.
The government is encouraging people to stay at home until the end of the New Year holidays on April 20; while celebrations have been cancelled the public holidays remain in place.
Anti-Covid-19 measures are stiffer over in Laos. A lockdown came into effect on April 1, restricting people from leaving their homes except only to buy essential goods, visit hospitals or to work in limited essential services such as restaurants and cafes.
Hotels are allowed to operate but only to provide F&B services and accommodation. International and inter-provincial borders are closed to all movement apart from those transporting goods.
The measures are slated to be reviewed on April 19.
On April 1, Vietnamese authorities imposed a 15-day social distancing and stay-at-home order. It has said these will continue this for “some time” in regions considered high-risk while other areas will see restrictions relaxed.
From April 9, all visitors arriving at Ho Chi Minh City’s airports and train and bus stations must receive a Covid-19 test.
As of April 15, Vietnam has 266 confirmed cases and no deaths; Cambodia has 122 and no deaths; Myanmar 63 and four deaths; and Laos 19 and no deaths.
Princess Cruises is canceling all voyages through June 30 this year, a decision that overwrites its earlier move to pause sailings for two months between March 12 and May 10, 2020.
The latest decision was made in continued response to the impact of the Covid-19 global outbreak and the recent order from the United States Centers for Disease Control.
Along with the continued hibernation, Princess Cruises will cancel all Princess Alaska Gulf cruise and cruisetours. The five wilderness lodges, trains and buses operated by Princess in Alaska will not open this summer. However, round-trip sailings from Seattle to Alaska on Emerald Princess and Ruby Princess will continue.
Princess Cruises is canceling all voyages through June 30 this year; Majestic Princess pictured
Princess Cruises will protect travel advisor commissions on bookings for canceled cruises that were paid in full, in recognition of the critical role travel advisors play in the cruise line’s business and success.
For affected guests, Princess Cruises is offering two cancellation options.
Those paid in full will receive a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) equivalent to 100 per cent of the cruise fare paid and, as an added incentive, an additional 25 per cent FCC.
Guests can also choose to get a full refund for monies they have paid for affected sailings.
“This global outbreak continues to challenge our world in unimaginable ways. We recognise how disappointing this is to our long-term business partners and thousands of employees, many of whom have been with us in Alaska for decades,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises.
“We hope everyone impacted by these cancellations – especially our guests, travel advisor partners, teammates, and the communities we visit – understand our decision to do our part to protect the safety, health and well-being of our guests and team. We look forward to the brighter days and smooth seas ahead for all of us.”
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) will open the Regent Shanghai Pudong on May 16, marking the property as the first new addition to the Regent portfolio since its acquisition of the brand in March 2018.
Regent Shanghai Pudong, located in Shanghai’s prime Lujiazui area, is a rebranded property secured through a new management agreement with Shanghai 21st Century Hotel Co.
Regent Shanghai Pudong to open this May
IHG will also take over the management of Shanghai 21st Century Hotel Co’s luxury apartments, which sit above the hotel in the same tower.
Along with this milestone, IHG is ready to transform the iconic InterContinental Hong Kong into a Regent hotel in 2022, bringing the hotel back to its roots as it first opened its doors as a Regent in 1980.
The hotel will be shut from April 20 this year for what will be its biggest renovation in 30 years.
The transformation will span all guestrooms and suites, all public areas, restaurants and event venues. The building façade will also gain a contemporary new look.
InterContinental Hong Kong will close for a transformation this April, and resurface as a Regent hotel come 2022
Yan Toh Heen, the hotel’s one-Michelin star Cantonese restaurant, will remain open throughout the renovation, with access via the adjoining K11 Musea.
colleagues will be supported with opportunities, wherever possible, within IHG properties after the hotel closes. They will also be given priority to re-join the hotel when it re-opens and be part of the transformation for its re-opening and relaunch.
In addition, the Regent brand is also expecting new openings in Phu Quoc, Vietnam later this year; Bali, Indonesia in 2021; as well as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Chengdu, China in 2023.
Booking.com has announced the winners of its 2020 Technology Playmaker Awards, which recognises the achievements of women in technology and celebrate diversity in the global technology sector.
Winners were selected from among 45 finalists spanning 20 countries, which was narrowed down from a total of nearly 850 nominations received this year.
Leanne Robers who runs She Loves Tech, a global platform for women tech entrepreneurs, has been named Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020
This year’s winners represent five continents and come from Argentina, France, India, Nigeria, Singapore, the UK and the US.
From a business leader revolutionising women’s health and lifestyle through smart technology, to a fintech entrepreneur redefining online security and payments through biometrics, and a software developer empowering African women technologists through training and mentorship, the winners represent the achievements that visionary women are making in technology every day.
Gillian Tans, chairwoman at Booking.com, said: “While we are unable to celebrate the winners in person this year as we had planned in light of the Covid-19 outbreak, at this time of such great global uncertainty, it remains more important than ever to recognise those who are making such lasting and impactful contributions in technology, as well as inspiring each other.”
Emerging the Champion of Change and Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020 is Singaporean tech visionary Leanne Robers, co-founder and co-CEO of She Loves Tech, an accelerator programme which has helped over 2,000 female tech entrepreneurs and women-impact tech start-ups.
To select the champion, the judging panel reviewed the individual category winners for one stand-out entrant demonstrating leadership, technological innovation, impact and serving as a role model.
Other winners include Ada Nduka Oyom, founder of She Code Africa, an organisation that provides skills training, mentorship and support for African women in technology; Seema Khinda Johnson, co-founder and COO of Nuggets, a blockchain payments and ID platform; Sheila Harkatz, founder of Mujeres En Carrera, a platform providing financial education to women and girls in Latin America; and Tania Boler, founder and CEO of Elvie, which aims to improve female health through smart technology.
Each winner received a prize of 5,000 euros (US$5,470). The overall winner received an additional prize of 10,000 euros.
For a full list of the winners, visit techplaymakerawards.com.
Genting Cruise Lines (GCL) has announced a slate of enhanced precautionary measures and safety protocols for its Dream Cruises and Star Cruises ships, in a bid to increase safety levels for the cruise industry due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation.
Under the new protocols, guest cabins, public spaces and recreational areas on board will undergo thorough sanitisation and disinfection as well as enhanced hygiene practices. The directive will also clamp down on food and beverage safety as well as crew health.
Dream Cruises and Star Cruises ramp up precautionary measures in light of Covid-19
Additionally, GCL will mandate stringent health screening processes and protocols prior to embarkation and disembarkation. These include temperature screening, pre-boarding health declarations for all guests, and infrared fever screening system at the ship gangway. Guests aged 70 and above are to provide a doctor’s certificate of fitness for travel.
Kent Zhu, president of GCL, shared: “All of Genting Cruise Lines’ ships allow for 100 per cent external fresh air to be filtered and supplied to each passenger cabin as well as on board public areas, ensuring a constant and healthy flow of fresh air throughout the vessels. Besides that, isolated wards are available in the Medical Centre and cabins can be converted into quarantine rooms if required.”
Training for the crew has been underway since the onset of Covid-19. These measures are set to become the new norm for preventive standards for GCL’s fleet when operations recommence.
Michael Goh, president of Dream Cruises, told TTG Asia: “Covid-19 has led many cruise lines such as ourselves to further relook and rethink (ways) to enhance our measures. Genting Cruise Lines will further collaborate with the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association to contribute to the publishing of a white paper for the cruise industry’s prevention and response plan against Covid-19, providing a comprehensive and unified standard for the cruise industry to ensure the safety and well-being of all cruising guests and crew members.”
In Singapore, a major cruise hub that showed promising growth before the pandemic, GCL is working with Singapore Cruise Centre and Marina Bay Cruise Centre to create additional waiting areas for guests, who will have to undergo staggered times for both embarkation and disembarkation in the future.
The company is also working with Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the aforementioned cruise centres to map out cruise recovery plans for the country.
Goh expressed: “We understand that the recent publicity centred around cruises may deter new cruisers from making their bookings now. Therefore, it is imperative for us to regain consumer confidence by educating the public and providing a better understanding of the high levels of sanitation standards on board cruise ships.”
He added that GCL has communicated its enhanced measures through its various brands and travel partners’ platforms, and that it will share these protocols with future cruise passengers to provide assurance.
STB is also taking the industry’s downtime to improve cruise training and accreditation for travel agents, which account for 80 per cent of cruise packages sold in the region.
In the meantime, GCL is offering consumers a flexible 48 hours pre-cruise cancellation policy on new and existing bookings made for any Dream Cruises or Star Cruises sailings prior to or on July 31, 2020. Consumers can receive a full refund in future cruise credit to redeem any Dream Cruises or Star Cruises sailing, embarking on or before December 31, 2020.
Vietnamese sustainable travel company Triip has launched a new global Stay Home Heroes initiative that allows homebound travellers to earn points by staying at home which can then be used for future travels.
With a third of the global population on lockdown, the rewards programme supports broader government-led initiatives calling on citizens to stay at home and practise social distancing to protect public health.
Triiip users who stay at home can accumulate points that could be used for future travel
From April 1, Triiip will reward users who use the startup’s Stay Home Heroes app feature to check in at their homes with a photo uploaded.
Payment will be made daily to homebound users with unique travel points, called TIIM. Users who check in at home will be offered 1 TIIM per day, which can then be used to redeem for later travels.
While sheltered, users can also earn TIIM by sharing Triip with their friends via a unique, personalised link; submitting photos of their past travels to the platform; and sharing their future travel plans within the app.
Triip said that it is making available 15 million points through the end of the lockdown orders to each of its users to incentivise them to stay home.
Agoda has launched EasyCancel which allows participating partner hotels and properties worldwide to offer their guests greater booking flexibility, with the option for free cancellations up to 24 hours before arrival.
This initial phase will apply to all bookings made until June 30, 2020 on the platform.
Agoda’s new EasyCancel feature allows participating hotels to offer their guests greater booking flexibility
Agoda unveiled the new product in response to customers’ desire for broader flexible booking solutions.
This differs from Agoda’s Book Now, Pay Later option because hotels, which normally only offer non-refundable options, can also opt in.
Hoteliers who sign on benefit from Agoda’s ability to capture what demand there is currently available, helping improve productivity.
Already, the programme, which launched last month, has seen strong support from hotels across South-east Asia, China, Japan, South Korea, India, the US, and the UK.
Agoda’s vice-president of partner services, Errol Cooke, said: “We want to help all our partners by attracting customers that still want to book a hotel, but are perhaps reluctant to do so because of uncertainty around evolving travel restrictions.”
All participating properties offering the EasyCancel flexible cancellation policy will benefit from onsite merchandising and highly visible Agoda EasyCancel icons.
However, any guest’s booking cancellation received within one day before arrival date will incur the full period charge, while failure to arrive at the hotel or property will be treated as a no-show and no refund will be given, as stipulated within the property policy.
As part of its Covid-19 response, travel intelligence company Adara has rolled out a new data product for destinations, which will provide the most up-to-date destination trends and projections by country and by state.
Integrated into the company’s new Covid-19 Resource Centre, the Adara Tourism Dashboard helps destinations and tourism marketers track how searches and bookings are trending and offers projected changes in behaviour in the future in order to accurately assess changes in demand and plan future visitation accurately.
Adara’s new platform provides a breakdown of current and future travel trends by destination
“Destinations everywhere are in a state of suspended animation as the coronavirus pandemic limits travel and tourism around the globe. The Tourism Dashboard is designed for destinations to have the real-time insights they need to assess changes in demand now and in the coming weeks, so that they act with full confidence,” said Piyush Shrivastava, director product management – analytics at Adara.
“With this new offering, destinations can see accurate timing in the inflection between downward and upward trends by origin, aiding both accommodation and marketing plans.”
The Tourism Dashboard helps destination marketers have a better grasp of global trends, including the volume of the rebound and the origins that are rebounding first, so that they can tailor their marketing plans accordingly.
For instance, current data indicates major decreases in search and booking behaviour to destinations affected by Covid-19 restrictions, with a rebound projected in the coming weeks.
In detail, bookings are down 89 per cent year-over-year for worldwide travel to the US from all global originations for the week of March 30, while demand for travel continues to decline week over week with searches down 37 per cent.
However, looking at the demand for the future 20 weeks, shows an uptick from week 10 onwards, indicating more confidence as the summer progresses.
Following the recent closure of Koh Lanta island in Thailand’s Krabi province, Pimalai Resort & Spa will be using this downtime to renovate 20 of its hillside ocean-view villas.
As well, the 20-year-old resort is also conceptualising the first wedding chapel on the island, which will be designed by Habita, which has previously taken on projects for Six Senses and Soneva.
Pimalai leverages temporary closure period to renovate its pool villas
To keep team morale up during this temporary closure, the resort is also offering staff training for professional development, such as regular English classes, folk-design tutorials, and music lessons.
In addition, a full deep-cleaning and maintenance programme is in progress across all 48ha of the resort including accommodation, public areas, restaurants, spa and gardens. Alternative energy programmes, composting and organic growing are all in full swing.
Meanwhile, to ensure they stay top of mind with guests, Pimalai is offering free online yoga classes three to four times a week.
