Kolkata Metro Rail expects to complete its East-West project, which runs partly under the Hooghly river, by March 2022, after project costs doubled due to a series of delays, reported The Economic Times.
Total costs of the project rose to about Rs 86 billion (US$1.2 billion) for some 17km, from Rs 49 billion for 14 km, said the report.
The long-delayed underwater metro in India is slated to be completed by March 2022
The authority is awaiting a final instalment of Rs 200 million over the next two years from the Indian Railway Board, the report quoted Manas Sarkar, managing director at KMRC, as saying.
Part of the project is funded by a soft loan of Rs 41.6 billion from Japan International Cooperation Agency, it added. KMRC will repay the JICA loan over 30 years after an initial six-year moratorium, with the interest rate ranging between 1.2 per cent to 1.6 per cent.
India’s oldest metro, which began operations in 1984 with a North-South service, was due to expand by 2014 but faced problems including squatters on the planned route.
The new line is expected to ferry about 900,000 people daily – roughly 20 per cent of the city’s population – and will take under a minute to cross a 520m underwater tunnel, said the report.
Indonesian ride-hailing giant Gojek has launched its online insurance offering, GoSure, in partnership with local insurtech company PasarPolis.
GoSure offers insurance products related to travel, motor vehicles, and mobile device protection, according to a statement.
Gojek partners PasarPolis to launch online insurance offering, GoSure
GoSure’s beta version was introduced last October, providing travel insurance for a select group of users. Gojek said that thousands of policies have been sold through the service, demonstrating significant consumer demand in the space.
Sony Radhityo, head of third-party platform at Gojek, said: “The positive response and exponential transaction growth during GoSure’s beta phase affirm our belief that easy access to a variety of insurance products is what consumers want.”
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a management agreement with Elysian Hotel Management for a new property near Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand.
Set to open in 2020, InterContinental Khao Yai Swan Lake Resort will be an integral part of the Swan Lake mixed-use project which is being positioned as a “destination retreat”.
IHG’s Serena Lim (left) signs deal with Elysian Hotel Management’s Rena Udomkunnatum to open a new IHG-branded resort in Khao Yai
Spanning 40ha, the 61-key resort will feature a Club Lounge and Resort Centre, pool and gym. In early 2021, facilities will be expanded to include a spa, a kids’ club and wedding chapel.
Opening with 45 luxury rooms, the hotel will be adding 16 luxurious 80m2 train-car suites repurposed from heritage train cars as its premium accommodation in 2021.
Currently, IHG has 29 hotels across six brands in Thailand, with plans to double its portfolio in the next three to five years.
Luxury cruise operator Paradise Vietnam has launched a cruise ship in Lan Ha Bay, situated just south of famed Halong Bay.
Paradise Vietnam unveiled the first of two Paradise Grand vessels for overnight cruises on January 25, 2020, with the second vessel poised to set sail this April.
Paradise Vietnam’s cruise ship sets sail in Lan Ha Bay
Measuring 70m long and 13.5m across the beam, the five-deck steel craft caters for up to 80 passengers and houses 39 cabins with separate walk-in closets, ensuite bathrooms and private balconies.
Paradise Grand features a spa with four treatment cabins, a piano lounge, a sun deck, an outdoor movie theatre and adjacent sky bar.
Highlights on the new cruise’s one- and two-night itineraries include kayaking in Lan Ha Bay, trekking and cycling in Cat Ba National Park on Cat Ba Island, a cooking class, Vietnamese wine tasting, as well as sunrise tai chi and yoga onboard.
Passengers check-in at Paradise Vietnam’s lounge on Tuan Chau Island before departing for Cat Ba Island on the high-speed ferry, Paradise Express.
Paradise Grand offers 39 cabins, ranging from 28m2 to 35m2, across four cabin types – Grand Balcony, Executive Grand Balcony, Grand Balcony Suite and Captain’s View Grand Suite. Families and larger groups have the option of connecting Grand Balcony and Executive Grand Balcony cabins on the vessel’s first and second floors.
The Paradise Grand ships are available for private charters, targeting wedding ceremonies, birthday parties, corporate events and other special occasions.
Paradise Grand is priced from US$425 per cabin for two, with the Captain’s View Grand Suite priced from US$575 for two.
Philippe Bartholomi, co-founder and COO of Hospitality Resources – a new hotel management firm formed in Cebu last year – will also take on the general manager role for its first managed property, the soon-to-open The Reef Island Resort Mactan Cebu.
Bartholomi was previously with another management company, Hospitality Innovators, as corporate group director and general manager.
His general manager stints across the country include Century Park Sheraton Manila, Fridays Boracay Resorts and Manila Polo Club.
PATA Singapore Chapter and co-presenter TTG Asia Media have decided to reschedule their second SG Tourism Leaders Engagement Series to a later date, in consideration of the fluid situation surrounding the ongoing Novel Coronavirus outbreak.
The event, which was supposed to be held tomorrow at Changi Experience Studio @ Jewel for an intimate-sized audience, received “overwhelming interest from registrants” as soon as it opened for registration in mid-January.
SG Tourism Leaders Engagement Series 2020 Asia Pacific Aviation Outlook has been postponed
In a statement to registrants and industry colleagues, Wong Soon-Hwa, PATA Singapore Chapter chair and PATA vice chair, said: “In view of the coronavirus situation, we decided to postpone our event scheduled for tomorrow to a future date. (It) wasn’t an easy decision especially when the sign up was so good (200-plus) but we owe the duty of care to all attendees.”
Wong continued: “With support from all partners and stakeholders, including Changi Airport Group (as venue sponsor) and International Air Transport Association (as programme partner), we will stage the event at a future date to be decided and announced. It will provide a platform for all of us to come together to plan and execute post recovery measures.”
The postponement notice was first issued on February 5.
With the coronavirus outbreak taking its toll on travel businesses across the region, Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (MoTCE) is looking to cover the shortfall by targeting more domestic and regional tourists, as well as lobbying airlines to reroute their flights.
The Ministry will work with the industry and other government agencies to boost domestic tourism, particularly, in destinations most hurt by the drop in Chinese tourism like Bali, Manado and Bintan.
Indonesia looks to domestic and regional tourism to make up for the shortfall from China; tourists at Seminyak Beach in Bali pictured
Indonesia’s minister of tourism and creative economy and head of TCE Board, Wishnutama Kusubandio, said: “We will develop promotions to attract Indonesians to travel domestically and encourage government agencies and corporates to conduct events in (the most affected) destinations.”
The government will also lobby airlines that have cancelled their services to China to reroute their flights to the country’s favoured destinations, including Bali, which has been projected to lose about four million dollars due to the Indonesian government’s travel ban to and from mainland China amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.
Wishnutama said that he and Budi Karya Sumadi, minister of transportation, would discuss this issue with around 30 airlines in a bid to bolster local tourism.
“I know that this will not be easy as you cannot simply switch destinations like that, but we will work on it,” he said.
He would also propose for those airlines to reroute to North Sulawesi and Bintan Island in Riau, which he said were Chinese travellers’ favourite destinations.
“As we know, two million Chinese tourists visit the country every year … This means that we will probably lose about four million dollars a year from China alone. This is a big challenge for the tourism sector. But again, our main priority is to protect Indonesian people (from the outbreak),” he said.
Apart from promoting domestic tourism, the government will also be targeting other markets, including Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, and the US, according to Wishnutama.
This move has been welcomed by Bambang Sugiono, director of marketing and overseas promotion of Bali-based RD Tours, whose business has been hard hit from the virus outbreak, given that 70 per cent of around 5,000 inbound clients who had planned to visit Bali in February were from China.
He said he received a deluge of cancellations from groups and FITs from China who had planned to visit Bali for leisure in February and March, in the wake of the travel restrictions.
“I hope that the Indonesian government will eye India, Nepal, and Pakistan because it is easy to travel from there to Indonesia,” he said.
Hasiyanna Ashadi, managing director of Marintur Indonesia and chairperson of ASITA Jakarta chapter, supported the government’s plan to lobby airlines to reroute their flights to Indonesia, but she pointed out that Malaysia and other South-east Asian countries which are also facing similar loss of visitors from China might make a similar move.
Hence, the government should focus on select source markets, Hasiyanna said, hoping that Wishnutama would prioritise neighbouring countries, which can quickly make up for the shortfall in Chinese visitor numbers.
She also named India as a potential country to plug the gap. “Yes, there is no direct flight connecting India and Indonesia but the number of Indian tourists in the country is prodigious,” she said.
For AB Sadewa, corporate secretary of Panorama Destination, lobbying airlines is not enough.
He argued that the first thing the government should do is leverage Indonesia’s status as a coronavirus-free country to promote the country since as of today, no infected cases have been found in Indonesia.
Doing so might help edge out the competition from other countries who might also try to approach airlines for rerouting, he added.
Sadewa also said the government should collaborate with local tour operators in Indonesia which have B2B partnerships in targeted countries.
“In Europe, for example, the one who lures people to go on vacation is not the airlines but travel agents. They know how to influence travellers to switch their trip from China to Indonesia,” he said.
Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) is organising a week-long e-travel fair in late March, with the date to be confirmed, to push for the recovery of the domestic sector in view of the coronavirus outbreak.
It is heeding the tourism minister’s call to focus on domestic tourism as a quick fix to overcome the current slowdown in the tourism sector.
MITA will be organising an e-travel fair in March to boost domestic tourism amid coronavirus outbreak
MITA president Uzaidi Udanis said many of its members, including hotels, inbound agents, retailers and transport companies, have been badly affected by the overall slowdown in the tourism sector.
He added that MITA has negotiated special deals with discounts up to 70 per cent to be offered by local airlines, hotels and attractions during the travel fair.
Unlike previous fairs, this one will see MITA introducing digital platforms to sell the packages as well as a physical fair in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian inbound tourism players who have been dealt a devastating blow from the wave of cancellations from Chinese groups due to the coronavirus outbreak are calling on the authorities for assistance to tide over the crisis.
Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) president, Uzaidi Udanis, shared that its 60 members who are active in the Chinese inbound business have reported 80 per cent in cancellations.
Malaysian tourism industry calls on the government for assistance to pull through the coronavirus crisis; group of Chinese tourists in front of the Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia pictured
He said that MITA had expected around 300,000 mainland Chinese tourists to enter Malaysia via the Second Link checkpoint over this Chinese New Year period.
Udanis added: “Our members who own buses and have to service their loans are in trouble. Some members have 100 registered coaches. The monthly repayment for each coach can be as much as RM10,000 (US$2,400). Without any income as there are no Chinese groups coming in from Singapore, it will be almost impossible for them to service their loans.
We have informed the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) which in turn, has asked the Ministry of Finance to assist. We hope Bank Negara Malaysia will issue a circular to the banks to be more flexible on the repayment of loans for the tour coaches.”
Udanis also said that MITA has approached hotel associations to assist its members with refunds for cancelled groups.
“Some hotels are keeping the cancellation fee as a floating deposit for future groups. This is not a wise move as it involves a big amount and the money is needed by our members to cover their operational costs during these trying times,” he said, adding that the association is compiling a list of those hotels to send to the MOTAC to seek assistance.
At the same time, MITA has requested for incentives, such as special tax breaks and soft loans, to help its members – comprising tour operators, restaurants, retail outlets and hotels – tide over this difficult period.
On their part, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA), alongside key industry partner Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), has proposed to the government for a monetary and financial stimuli, including a temporary deferment of loan repayments, permits and licensing fee waivers, and a temporary lifting of the tourism tax.
MATTA president, Tan Kok Liang, said in a statement: “The various ministries could reduce or waive contributions and taxes such as those mandatory for the Employees Provident Fund, Human Resources Development Fund, tourism tax, road tax, and fees for various company licenses and vehicle permits. Financial institutions could give out special loans, reduce interest rates or allow deferment in loan repayment as tour buses are idle more often than running.”
Furthermore, MATTA has also proposed to MOTAC and Tourism Malaysia a series of recovery measures to tackle falling tourist arrivals to Malaysia due to the coronavirus crisis.
Tan shared: “We have proposed an increase of promotion and marketing initiatives for domestic and inbound tourism, easing the criteria and requirements for matching grants, and a review on the tourism tax rate to encourage more tourists to choose Malaysia as a preferred holiday destination.”
He added that other proposed measures include stepping up marketing efforts to correct misbelief that Malaysia is not safe; to promote cross-border tourism; to ease visa requirements, especially for Indian tourists, to make up the shortfall of Chinese arrivals; and harnessing the power of big data to create retargeting and other smart strategies that can be applied immediately to give the Malaysian tourism industry a leg up.
Some of the strategies proposed by MATTA and MAH to stimulate the local tourism industry include a social marketing campaign highlighting that #MalaysiaIsSafe through content created by industry stakeholders and the public; a coordinated marketing plan headed by Tourism Malaysia with content and input from various industry associations; more government events and functions to be held in hotels; as well as expanding the scope and easing the restrictions of the government’s matching grant.
The duo is also calling on the authorities to create a separate emergency fund for a digital marketing matching grant to encourage stakeholders in the private sector to widen their customer reach in a more cost-effective manner; streamlining and easing cross-border clearance to encourage more overland tourism; as well as issuing of frequent health and travel advisories or updates in multiple languages.
Tan said: “MATTA is hopeful that the economic stimulus package to be announced soon (by the government) would far exceed the RM8.1 billion growth plan rolled out in 2003 to help Malaysians mitigate the impact of the SARS outbreak, or the RM60 billion stimulus package announced in 2009 to invigorate vital sectors in the face of the global economic downturn.”
Hotel occupancy in mainland China showed a 75% decline over a two-week period during this year’s Chinese New Year holiday, according to preliminary data from STR, which said performance was significantly worsened by the outbreak of novel coronavirus.
“The Chinese New Year holiday week, extended by three days this year, normally sees a significant shift in travel patterns across the country with very specific hotel occupancy movements,” said Jesper Palmqvist, STR’s area director – Asia Pacific.
China hotels see a 75 per cent occupancy plunge over this Chinese New Year period: STR
“This is due to less business travel, school closings and many individuals who return home to spend the holiday with family. At the same time, it is normal to see ADR rise during the time of the holiday. What our preliminary analysis shows this year is that performance changes were even greater as coverage of the coronavirus outbreak has intensified.”
Mainland China’s occupancy reached 70% on January 14, but fell to a lower absolute level each day thereafter. On the final day of STR’s analysis (January 26), occupancy dropped to just 17%, meaning that eight of 10 rooms on average were left unoccupied.
ADR began to increase on January 19, and reached a monthly high of CNY754 (US$108) on January 26, which represented a 61% increase from January 19.
Since 2015, mainland China’s occupancy has fallen to an absolute level of roughly 55% during the week of Chinese New Year. Data from a shortened holiday week period in 2020 (January 24-26) showed average occupancy of 22%.
ADR, usually between CNY650-CNY700 for the holiday week, reached a preliminary average of CNY711. That 2020 preliminary occupancy figure represented a 71% decline from the comparable time period last year, while ADR was up 10%.
“While it is understandable to look for comparisons with the SARS outbreak that began in 2002, it is important to consider the significant differences in the market over the last two decades,” Palmqvist said.
“Dependence on smartphone technology, the widespread use of social media, significant differences in hotel inventory, greater volume in international arrivals to mainland China and overall economic conditions make it difficult to use that previous outbreak as an indicator this time around. There is also greater potential for hotel performance impact in other markets around the world because of the increase in Chinese outbound travellers.”
Tourism Economics, STR’s forecast partner, noted a potential 28% drop in visits to the US from China in 2020. That would equal a loss of 4.6 million hotel room nights sold and US$5.8 billion in visitor spending.
