The Monday eruption of the White Island volcano off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island has killed at least six people and injured more than 30, with eight people still missing after the deadly tragedy at the popular tourist attraction.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a news conference in Whakatane, a town near the volcanic White Island tourist attraction, that aerial reconnaissance flights had shown no signs of life, Reuters reported.
The eruption of the White Island volcano killed at least six people and injured more than 30, with eight people still missing
Among those missing and injured include New Zealanders and tourists from Australia, the US, Britain, China and Malaysia, Ardern told reporters, adding that there were two explosions in quick succession.
Waikato police superintendent Bruce Bird was quoted by the report as saying that among the 47 people who visited the island on Monday, five were confirmed to have been killed and eight were missing.
Some 31 were in hospital while three had been discharged, it added. Many of the injured were in critical condition, most from burns, Ardern said.
Police said they did not expect to find any more survivors from the eruption, the report said, adding that a number of people were saved from the island during a rescue operation carried out post-eruption.
A number of visitors to the island during the eruption came from Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, which offered an excursion to the volcano.
According to New Zealand’s geological monitoring agency, GeoNet, the volcano sent ash plumes 3,700m into the air.
The volcano’s last fatal eruption was in 1914, when it killed 12 sulphur miners.
There was a short-lived eruption in April 2016. Daily tours allow more than 10,000 people to visit the volcano every year.
In an increasingly globalised world, travel payment solutions have progressively been transcending national boundaries. Riding on this momentum is payments giant Ingenico Group’s Amsterdam-based ePayments division, which has processed more than 230 billion euros (US$254 billion) in 2018.
In October, the company deepened its foray into the China market by launching its full-suite of Chinese payment methods that cater to the preferences of local consumers for international e-commerce players. It is also one of the pioneering international payment service providers (PSP) to support all use cases for WeChat Pay, including the capability to integrate into WeChat Official Accounts and Mini-Programs, as well as offering an upgraded Alipay integration that provides real-time payments on desktop and mobile devices.
Salisbury: Singapore “an ideal gateway to opportunities” in the e-payments sector within South-east Asia
Speaking to TTG Asia, Nathan Salisbury, Ingenico ePayments’ general manager, Asia-Pacific shared that four major forces – changing consumer behaviour, technological advances, government regulations and industry competition – are now shaping the travel payment sector.
A shift in e-commerce behaviour among consumers has led to the rise of frictionless payment technology like tokenisation and Internet of Things (IOT) devices such as Amazon Alexa & Google Home.
Earlier this year, Ingenico ePayments partnered with technology giant IBM to launch an innovative payment-enabled chatbot that utilises natural language processing to foster a seamless customer experience.
“The IBM Watson capabilities will allow us to better understand users’ requests once they have been captured. Moreover, it allows businesses to gather valuable information on bot users’ needs and desires, enabling them to tailor their offerings to meet their customers’ changing requirements and make data-driven decisions for the business,” he said, adding that Ingenico ePayments is also developing new payment protocols based on IOT devices.
Another trend is the emergence of payment as a service software, which adopts a customer-centric and collaborative approach to empower merchants to reach and connect with customers. These solutions range from direct API integration to hosted pages. Besides the Ingenico Connect suite of APIs and services, Ingenico ePayments also offer TravelHub, a solution that specially enables travel merchants to easily connect to payment capabilities in fast-growing markets.
Salisbury added: “This helps travel businesses provide the best digital customer experience and tackle the complexity of managing multiple systems, payment service providers (PSPs) and acquirers.”
Online payment companies also need to be mindful of government regulations that govern the sector, including the Payment Service Directive 2 in Europe and Payment Services Act in Singapore. These regulations guard against concerns such as fraudulent data and theft of customers’ personal data.
On operating in the Singapore market, Salisbury said: “Singapore is among the fast-growing financial markets in South-east Asia, making it an ideal gateway to opportunities in the region. As one of the most business-friendly countries in the world, from both a commerce and regulatory standpoint, Singapore is a key market for our business, and we are open to working with the government to ensure that the e-payments sector contributes to Singapore’s digital vision.”
With mounting competition in the e-payments industry, consolidations and investments are becoming commonplace in the fintech verticals, especially in Asia. Ingenico ePayments collaborates with startups and innovative fintech companies which have developed industry-leading technology that remove any friction and accept a range of payment methods.
To this end, Salisbury pointed out that Ingenico ePayments recently partnered with Spain-based CaixaBank and American fintech firm Global Payments to launch international innovation programme, Zone2Boost, which is aimed at encouraging innovation of new products and services for the business and fintech sectors to support their growth.
China is proving a valuable source market for Vietnam amid surging international arrivals, and tourism players claim that the country has the right ingredients to tap into China’s top tier of travellers.
According to the latest figures from Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), nearly four million Chinese visited Vietnam in the first nine months of 2019, marking a 4.4 per cent year-on-year increase.
Ha: Chinese travellers enjoy multimodal connectivity to Vietnam, which share many cultural similarities with China
With this figure expected to continue to rise, the country’s tourism sector is gearing up to welcome a new wave of affluent travellers, and is preening its products to ensure it stands out from neighbouring countries.
Pham Ha, founder of Luxury Travel Vietnam, said: “Vietnamese culture has many similarities with China, and as a neighbouring country makes it easy to travel from China by road, sea or air. Vietnam also has a workforce that is good at Chinese and capturing the tourist psychology.”
A recent Bloomberg report highlighted the huge potential that Chinese tourists hold for the country, with the projection that a 30 per cent increase in spending by Chinese tourists would boost Vietnam’s economic growth by almost one per cent.
A VNAT spokesman said that a 2018 survey carried out by the organisation revealed the average daily spend by Chinese in Vietnam has steadily climbed from US$119 in 2014 to US$130 last year. This compares with US$183 in Indonesia and US$180 in Thailand.
VNAT has been carrying out targeted roadshows in key Chinese cities in a bid to boost this figure further. The organisation remains confident that the continued promotion in these cities will help drive interest and position Vietnam as a prime South-east Asian destination for Chinese.
However, Nguyen Thi Tuyet, Asia DMC Indochina managing director, said that further investment needs to be ploughed into infrastructure and suppliers to operate deluxe travel experiences, as well as producing a masterplan for the management and training of tour guides.
She added: “The country also needs to improve its presence internationally as a luxury destination. It’s obvious that Vietnam needs to invest more in marketing activities with creativity and professionalism.”
Marriott International and Indian real estate firm Prestige Group have signed agreements to open six new hotels across India.
Under these agreements, Prestige Group will build new hotels bearing the W, JW Marriott, Tribute Portfolio and Moxy brands across India’s Southern belt, representing nearly 1,000 rooms.
Marriott and Prestige Group sign deal to open six hotels in India, including the W Bengaluru in 2025, which will be India’s third W-branded property after W Goa (pictured) and the slated opening of W Mumbai in 2022
The six properties in the pipeline include the 185-key W Bengaluru (opening in 2025), the 102-room Tribute Portfolio Resort Bengaluru (opening in 2021), the 32-key Tribute Portfolio Hotel Kochi Maradu (opening in 2022), the 299-room resort JW Marriott Bengaluru Prestige Golfshire Resort & Spa (opening in 2022), as well as the 125-room Moxy Chennai and 200-room Moxy Bengaluru (both opening in 2024) – of which the latter two will mark the millennial-oriented Moxy brand’s debut in India.
“This agreement marks a new chapter in our plan to expand in India, a critical growth market for Marriott International where we currently have 120 hotels across 16 brands. We are especially thrilled to have signed two Moxy locations – which will introduce our 17th brand in South Asia,” said Rajeev Menon, president, Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China), Marriott International.
Singapore’s Carlton hotel will be expanding to Thailand, with Carlton Hotel Bangkok Sukhumvit set to open come 1Q2020.
Located in the heart of Sukhumvit Road, the 34-storey Carlton Hotel Bangkok Sukhumvit will comprise 338 rooms and suites, an outdoor pool, a kids’ play area, fitness centre, spa, gym, and a range of dining options, including the signature Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant and a rooftop bar.
Carlton Hotel Bangkok will be opening in Bangkok come 1Q2020
With over 1,200m2 of meeting and event space, the hotel can also cater for boardroom meetings and grand banquets for up to 600 people.
In conjunction with the hotel’s upcoming opening, guests can enjoy a special offer which features any room category at 15 per cent off the hotel’s best available rate along with daily breakfast. The offer also includes 20 per cent off at the hotel’s F&B outlets (excluding Wah Lok restaurant), one glass of Chandon Brut sparkling wine, and complimentary late check-out.
This special offer is valid for bookings made now to March 31, 2020 for stays throughout March 2020.
The Reverie Saigon is spicing up its bespoke foodie offerings with the launch of guided excursions designed to help travellers navigate Ho Chi Minh City’s food scene through a four-hour exploration of the city’s streets.
Launched in partnership with tour company Hidden Saigon, A Taste of Hidden Saigon introduces guests to the evolution of Vietnamese cuisine – from street-food stalls and local markets, to sidewalk vendors and contemporary fine dining.
A Taste of Hidden Saigon
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More than just an opportunity to taste authentic Vietnamese dishes, the experience takes guests on a journey through the progression of Saigon’s rich and varied culinary landscape, through the eyes of someone who has been living it for over a decade.
Led by Linh Phan, a Vietnamese-Canadian creative producer whose work over the past 11 years has focused on highlighting the lesser-known side of Vietnam, the tour will bring guests to sample dishes and visit places that have shaped the country’s culture.
“So much of modern Vietnamese cuisine is inspired by what’s happening out on the streets and in the little eateries tucked into this and that corner of the city,” said Linh. “These vendors are going strong, but unless you know where to look, they’re all but invisible.”
Visitors can opt for a morning tour that concludes after lunch, or an afternoon excursion that wraps up with dinner.
The morning outing will feature a typical breakfast of popular eats, an introduction to Vietnamese coffee at a popular java joint, stopovers at a local eatery and a traditional food market, before culminating with a meal at Vietnam House, the first restaurant in Vietnam by Australian-Vietnamese celebrity chef, Luke Nguyen.
Guests who book the evening excursion can skip the coffee fix and opt for a cocktail instead with a visit to mixologists who infuse their own range of gin, or a stop at the tap room of one of the first local craft beer brewing companies in the country.
A Taste of Hidden Saigon is an optional add-on to The Reverie’s Sampling Saigon foodie package, which invites guests to take in the hotel’s own culinary offerings, including exquisite Chinese fine dining at The Royal Pavilion, or upscale Italian at R&J.
The two-night package includes round-trip airport transfers, the choice of buffet breakfast at Café Cardinal or in-room dining, and a $US200 dining credit for use at The Royal Pavilion or R&J.
Sampling Saigon rates start at US$410++, exclusive of off-site excursions.
A Taste of Hidden Saigon starts at US$280 per pax, for a minimum of two pax and a maximum of six pax.
Princess Cruises has christened its newest and fourth Royal Class ship Sky Princess in tribute to the pioneering women of the US Space Programme.
The godmothers of Sky Princess – captain Kay Hire, and engineer Frances “Poppy” Northcutt – were honoured for the key roles they played at NASA at the naming ceremony which was befittingly themed Reach for the Sky.
From left: Frances “Poppy” Northcutt; Sky Princess’ captain Heikki Laakkonen; Princess Cruises’ Jan Swartz; and Kay Hire at the naming ceremony
The duo recited the traditional cruise ship blessing before pushing a NASA-style “launch” button, releasing and smashing a 15-litre bottle of champagne, officially naming Sky Princess.
During her 30-year career at NASA, Hire first helped to launch more than 40 space missions as a mechanical systems engineer. Then, as an astronaut, she logged 700 hours in space, flew over 12 million miles, and orbited the earth 475 times. She was also the first female to be assigned to a military combat flight crew while serving in the US Navy.
Poppy Northcutt served as the first female mission control engineer during NASA’s historic moon landing mission 50 years ago. She was also part of the team that brought the crew of Apollo 13 back home safely when they became stranded in their service module.
“As we celebrate our newest, most technologically advanced ship – one whose spirit of adventure and discovery match the grandeur of her name, Sky Princess, we also applaud the groundbreaking women of the US Space Program,” said Princess Cruises’ president Jan Swartz. “Our godmothers, captain Kay Hire and Poppy Northcutt, remind us all of what we can achieve when we reach for the sky.”
The debut of the 143,700-ton, 3,660-guest Sky Princess marks the first MedallionClass new build. Powered by the OceanMedallion, a wearable technology device, MedallionClass vacations deliver personalised service through enhanced guest-crew interactions, while eliminating friction points and enabling interactive entertainment.
Sky Princess, which recently completed her inaugural season in Europe, is now sailing on voyages to the Caribbean through spring 2020.
South-east Asia is becoming a global hotspot for tech startups, thanks to the explosive growth in commercial innovation and investment activity which have risen in recent years to meet the needs of rapidly developing markets like Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The level of sophistication now seen in the regional travel tech startup ecosystem is also a far cry from barely a few years back, when Amadeus Next was initiated in 2015 as a programme to support the growth and development of startups by offering technology building assistance, expert advice, customer reach and funding referral, observed Matt James, senior manager, corporate strategy & business development at Amadeus Asia Pacific.
South-east Asia’s tech startup ecosystem is thriving, thanks to rapid growth in commercial innovation and investment activity
“We’ve an increase in the volume of startups, and we’ve seen an improvement in the maturity of the startups in Asia,” James noted. “When we first started Amadeus Next, startups were trying to replicate what’s already been done, and their focus was very much on B2C as many aspire to be the next big B2C player.”
Fast forward to 2019, Amadeus Next is now seeing more B2B startups at play in the region, a line that the travel technology company has been advocating to entrepreneurs in order to scale up their ventures. “We’ve been saying for a while – B2B is really the area which startups should focus on,” said James. “They should focus on those problems that companies can’t or won’t do themselves, and aim to be a niche player for companies, and have a B2B approach.”
The development of more polished travel tech startups in the region is in part due to a thriving ecosystem that has also grown bigger and richer with more venture capitalists, advisors, as well as accelerators and incubators, he added.
Since Amadeus Next’s founding, a number of major travel companies have also joined the fray to establish their own accelerators or incubators for startups, with notable ones including Lufthansa Innovation Hub, Ctrip’s Oasis Lab and the Changi Airport Group Living Lab.
At the same time, James said the Amadeus Next programme is no longer purely focusing on travel technology players but has also evolved to bring in other verticals including fintech, insurtech and healthtech.
The Amadeus Next programme doesn’t just benefit budding entrepreneurs but also offers takeaways for the Madrid-based travel giant.
Funding, for instance, is not the only thing that newcomers to the business seek, James told TTG Asia, but also “industry connections”, “domain expertise” and “technology”.
“The idea was that we could provide a lot more value to startups by orchestrating this community approach to bring together other stakeholders within that startup ecosystem,” he said, referencing Tune Labs, Chinaccelerator and the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) as some of the accelerators and organisations that are also part of Amadeus Next.
And in a highly fragmented region like South-east Asia, the community element is critical to the startup ecosystem, James stated, unlike serious tech startup hubs like the Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv and Berlin where there is greater support from venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and advisors.
Furthermore, the ecosystems in South-east Asia are also distinct across the regional countries, with “different government regulations in every single market”, James noted. Singapore is a regional standout in its many startup-friendly initiatives and low-friction government; Thailand, while lagging behind, has seen a great movement in providing support to startups under the country’s 4.0 strategy.
Meanwhile, China’s startup scene, which is backed by tech giants the likes of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, offer many advantages to startups with its big ecosystem. And Japan, despite its less entrepreneurial and startup-friendly spirit, is finally starting to see more entrepreneurs experimenting with ideas – and whose startups boost a higher success rate than elsewhere in the region.
James: Communities a boon to startup ecosystem in highly fragmented region like South-east Asia
Moving forward, James affirmed that the future looks bright in Asia-Pacific, where growth is primed to continue. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity to tap in South-east Asia, China and Japan. And our focus will remain on Asia-Pacific to compete, operate and orchestrate this community.”
“There’re lots of opportunities in the travel space that we’re in. If you look at the projected increase of travellers in general in Asia, growth is coming from mainly two markets (China and India), but Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand are part of that as well. We’re in a very interesting space,” he noted. “And when you have that convergence, plus the opportunities and the money coming in and the technology, I think we’re going to see some very big things coming, with AI, biometrics and 5G.”
Any advice to budding startups in South-east Asia? James is placing his money on the two niche areas of airport and hotel, where there exist abundant friction points, and likewise, opportunities, to improve the traveller experience for a seamless travel journey.
The Indonesian trade is urging the government to establish a special visa regime that would give preferential treatment to elderly travellers, in the hopes that such a move would provide the backbone for the development of retirement resorts within the country.
Allowing elderly inbound tourists extended stays in the country is “an additional facility” that would stimulate the emergence of retirement resorts across the archipelago, according to Hariyadi Sukamdani, chairman of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI).
Indonesia trade proposes special visa scheme for senior travellers for development of retirement resorts within the country; resort against the backdrop of Rinjani mountain scenery in Lombok, Indonesia pictured
“Developed countries in Europe and Japan have many retired people. Could we assign them privileges so that they can stay (in Indonesia) for over 30 days? This is an optional action (on the government’s part) to boost arrivals. But for us, it’s necessary,” he said.
“Whether it is one year or just six months can be discussed. This is a good target market because their spending is big. There are many things that they can do in Indonesia, including joining a social charity,” he added.
For Hariyadi, Bali and Bintan Island are among the potential retirement tourism destinations in Indonesia.
For its upcoming national gathering on February 8-10, 2020 in Karawang, West Java, PHRI will review president Joko Widodo’s signature free-visa policy for the nationals of 174 countries. The association’s members will select some of those countries which they deem “premium” and deserving of the special treatment visa.
“We will probably choose Germany; the Netherlands, which has historical ties with us; or Japan, as we know that Japanese people are well behaved and disciplined,” Hariyadi said.
The idea to develop retirement resorts in Indonesia had been mooted in the past, but it faded away in the absence of free-visa policy in the country, according to Hariyanna Ashadi, managing director of Marintur Indonesia and head of Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies.
The development of retirement resorts is aligned with the president’s recent mission to attract more premium tourists to the country, she posited, as elderly tourists were largely premium travellers.
However, her top-of-mind concern is the readiness of business players in providing premium services and facilities for the elderly tourists staying in such communities for long periods of time.
As senior travellers face various physical and mental health challenges, they have complicated needs, such as standby assistance by a caregiver, which premium resort players should pay attention to early on.
“Is there any cooperation between the retirement resorts and nearby clinics or hospitals? If yes, do they have sophisticated medical equipment? If yes, is it portable? This is important to ensure so that it can be easily carried to the resort if the hospitals are full (so that the resort’s residents need not) queue to get medical service,” she elaborated.
Hasiyanna, who has had extensive experience in handling senior tourists from Europe, said that although Bali was well-placed to be a retirement tourism destination, she hoped that such resorts would be located in Ubud or other cities that were not only less busy but also boasted cooler climates.
She added: “Sentul in Bogor and Lembang in Bandung are also suitable for the development of retirement resorts.”
The second edition of Further East, a luxury travel trade show organised by Beyond Luxury Media, took place from November 11-14, 2019.
A 400-strong community of exhibitors and buyers from Asia-focused luxury travel brands, as well as the media, gathered by the beach in Alila Seminyak to celebrate the region’s rich heritage and drive its future innovation.
Further East
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Doing business by the Alilia Seminyak pool
Acoustic networking evening
Barefoot business
Discuss stage featuring Nihi Hotels’ James McBride, Sumba Hospitality Foundation’s Inge De Lathauwer, and The Mango Agency’s Andrea Seifert
Jemma Uglow, head of Further East
Sunset drinks at AWAKEN, Potato Head Beach Club
Exhibitors are hand-selected for their high-end prestige, progressive outlook and uniquely Asian aesthetic, meeting buyers with luxury credentials and a global, high-net-worth clientele dedicated to Asia.
Proceedings kicked off at Potato Head Beach Club, where three stages of curated content hosted both hospitality titans and fascinating minds from outside the industry. From Tony Fadell (inventor of the iPod) to Elora Hardy (bamboo designer and creative director of IBUKU), Doris Goh (Alila Hotels and Resorts) and James McBride (Nihi Hotels), the focus was firmly on the future of luxury, sustainable hospitality, entrepreneurship, wellness and tech, to name but a few of the themes explored.
Delegates left Further East’s un-conference AWAKEN armed with multiple insights to drive their hospitality businesses forward, including why every hotel should have a human chatbot, why they should integrate nature as much as possible into their hotel design, and how to use literally every waste product creatively (including coasters with a former life as flip-flops).
Alila Seminyak was the home of the Further East marketplace for a second year, while Potato Head Beach Club hosted AWAKEN. Other collaborators included official airline partner Singapore Airlines, The Mango Agency, TTG Asia Media, the Japan National Tourism Organization, and Lifestyle Retreats; as well as five-star hotel partners Katamama and W Bali – Seminyak.
“As Further East goes from strength to strength proving itself to be Asia’s most innovative travel event, we will be back on the beach in 2020 pushing the boundaries of creativity with exciting brand collaborations and new developments that go beyond the marketplace,” said Jemma Uglow, head of Further East.
Next year’s Further East takes place from November 9-12, 2020. Exhibitor sales launch January 6 and buyer applications from February 1, 2020.
