Tourism players in Jeju are struggling to attract visitors after the Chinese government banned travel agents from selling package tours to South Korea.

The resort island usually attracts three million Chinese tourists a year, but arrivals have plummeted more than 44 per cent in the three weeks since the ban was imposed.

Tourists at Seongsan Ilchulbong or Sun Rise Peak, Jeju

Brian Kim, assistant manager of the Jeju Tourism Organisation (JTO), observed: “Almost all flights and cruise ship port calls have been cancelled, which is a very serious problem for the tourist industry here.”

In response, the JTO is stepping up marketing efforts elsewhere in Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, Kim said, but the impacts on businesses are expected to be severe. “We see the problem continuing for at least one year,” Kim said.

As well, the provincial government is attempting to lend a hand to the tourism sector through a price slashing campaign. Access to 28 tourist sites across the island will be complimentary throughout April, while hotels, attractions, souvenir shops, restaurants and golf courses are cutting prices by up to 65 per cent.

It also plans to attract South Koreans who have cancelled their trips to China amid the political tensions.

Meanwhile, Hank Kim, owner and CEO of Jeju-based Core Travel, said: “I feared a problem like this would happen sooner or later, so we began to diversify our client base a while ago.”

“We are fortunate to have a lot of clients from the rest of Asia but a lot of companies have discovered that they were overly reliant on Chinese travellers,” he added.

Han Son-hwi, a spokeswoman for the Kal Jeju Hotel, said that the marketing department has been trying to attract more guests from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore to make up for the Chinese cancellations since early March.

Right as Airbnb announced its rebranding in China, Chinese homesharing giant Tujia made known at its recent Open World Summit in Beijing that it will be pursuing a “3+1” development strategy for the year – undertaken from perspectives of consumer, host, property buyers and regionalisation.

With a focus on user experience, Tujia intends to upgrade products and services in three areas: select more resources and provide richer content to consumers; optimise services before, during and after the stay through addressing needs of safety, cleaning, search and payment; and upgrade user service guarantee.

In the third respect, it has already implemented a Concern-Free Living strategy combining house examination, premium hosts, two-way evaluation, Ctrip Credit, Zhima Credit and compensation.

The strategic plan is also related to upgrading and integration on the supply side, hence making property sharing easier for hosts from across the spectrum. To achieve this, Tujia would be gathering traffic, unify standards, improve efficiency and integrate fragmented resources.

Tujia also plans to establish a one-click management of eight platforms, including Ctrip.com and Qunar.com, to allow hosts to control price and availability, accept bookings and communicate with customers through an app.

As well, Tujia intends to provide operational training, security consulting, income management and other service support to help hosts become more professional.

On the front of property buyers and regionalisation respectively, Tujia will continue working the TuLifang Solution that combines housekeeping and property management as well as cooperate with regional governments and partners for integrated homestay services and poverty relief in the countryside.

To aid its strategy implementation, Tujia signed three partnerships at the conference, including with Scenario Lab to explore the innovative evolution of homestay products and build new IP.

Another signing is for the Beautiful Book House public benefit project, an innovative homestay project oriented towards helping children in the countryside.

Tujia also renewed its cooperation with Zhima Credit of Ant Fortune to provide more standardised services.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is eager to attract more Chinese visitors to the country by joining hands with Thai Airways International (THAI) to co-host a three-day fam trip of Phuket for travel agents and the media from China, as the airline inaugurates its first Beijing-Phuket flight this week.

THAI is operating four-times weekly Beijing-Phuket service using a 264-seat Dreamliner B787. The route is dubbed a “Phuket Express” service to highlight that visitors from China can now fly direct to the holiday island.

Bangornrat Chinaprayoon, director of TAT Beijing office, said: “This new THAI route is vital as Phuket becomes ever more popular with tourists and travellers from China who can now conveniently come here on weekends… This new air access will allow tourists from our largest market to fly here directly with no hassles and start enjoying the beach and local culture as soon as they touch down.”

Incoming flights from Beijing arrive in Phuket on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, while outgoing flights depart on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, allow travellers from Beijing to fly to Phuket for long weekend visits. The flight time is about five hours and 35 minutes for both legs.

In 2017, TAT expects Thailand to attract at least nine million visitors from China and generate some 570 billion baht (US$16.5 billion) for the Thai tourism industry.

Cathay Pacific Airways and the Lufthansa Group have entered into a codesharing and frequent flyer agreement, which is expected to improve the carriers’ European and Australia/New Zealand connections respectively.

Through this partnership, Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) and Austrian Airlines will each be able to offer their passengers four new destinations in Australia and New Zealand via Hong Kong from April 26, 2017.

(From left) Cathay Pacific Airways’s Ivan Chu and Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s Carsten Spohr

Passengers arriving in Hong Kong from Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Zurich will be able to transfer via Hong Kong to new destinations including Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Auckland.

In turn, Cathay Pacific passengers can now access 14 new European destinations through Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian connections from Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Zurich.

Thai LCC Nok Air and Henan Civil Aviation Development & Investment (HNCA) have recently signed an MoU to deepen their cooperation in developing an air network throughout China.

The MoU, signed by Nok Air’s CEO Patee Sarasin and HNCA’s chairman Zhang Mingchao, paves the way for both organisations to work together in areas related to tourism, culture, aviation and trade.

(From left) HNCA’s Zhang Mingchao and Nok Air’s Patee Sarasin shake hands after the signing

Patee said: “Henan is endowed with a superior geographical location, and it is one of China’s most significant transportation hubs. Potential air routes would enhance economic, social and cultural opportunities.

“This MoU marks a new milestone in the relationship between our nations with the aim to provide travellers from both countries with more positive options to choose from.”

Vietnam will welcome its first Rosewood hotel, Rosewood Hoi An, and fourth Okura property, Hotel Nikko Hai Phong, come 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Rosewood Hoi An will be part of the Hoiana integrated resort destination currently under development south of Hoi An. There will be 70 guestrooms as well as 30 residences, five of which will have their own dedicated spa treatment rooms.

Hotel Nikko Hai Phong (building on the right)

Facilities include three F&B options, an outdoor pool and Asaya – the brand’s wellness concept that offers 14 treatment rooms, a wellness lounge, yoga pavilion, gym and a relaxation area. A free-standing event space, The Pavilion, features a function room and an outdoor lawn.

Adjacent to the resort will be a golf club featuring an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II, 66 residences for sale, and a country club that will offer a swimming pool, fitness centre and tennis courts.

Meanwhile, the 269-room Hotel Nikko Hai Phong will be located within Waterfront City in Hai Phong, a coastal district under development 100km east of Hanoi. The hotel will have an average room size of 35m² and three F&B options.

This will be Okura Nikko Hotel Management’s fourth hotel in Vietnam, after Hotel Nikko Hanoi (1998), Hotel Nikko Saigon (2011) and The Okura Prestige Saigon (2020).

Thai luxury boutique hotel company Sala Hospitality Group will launch the 135-key Sala Samui Chaweng Beach Resort and Spa in two phases.

The Beach Wing will first open in November 2017 to offer 52 pool villas and pool suites sized between 74m² and 304m². Resort facilities include an open-air beachfront restaurant, beach bar and moon-shaped pool.

Sala Samui Chaweng Beach Resort and Spa

The second phase, Garden Wing, is scheduled to be completed a year later in 2018. It will comprise 83 rooms, a spa, gym, garden swimming pool, pool bar and open-air show kitchen.

This is the group’s third resort in Thailand – after Sala Samui Choengmon Beach Resort and Spa and Sala Phuket Resort and Spa – in addition to four boutique properties in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khao Yai and Ayutthaya.

High-impact incidents such as extreme weather events, medical outbreaks and sociopolitical volatility are the top emerging risks for Singaporean travellers over the next 12 months, according to data and forecasts by AIG Asia Pacific Insurance.

Compared with three years ago, the insurance company has seen an 85 per cent increase in travel claims made for high-impact incidents, with natural disasters being the costliest with an average claim amount of S$2,610 (US$1,872).

AIG predicts that these trends will continue throughout 2017 and result in a 10 per cent rise in demand for premium travel products offering a greater amount of cover.

Vice-president and head of group personal insurance, Ignatius Chng, said: “As Singaporeans continue to be savvy and frequent travellers, their global mobility and increased awareness of travel insurance will see them taking a proactive approach and insuring themselves against unforeseen circumstances.”

AIG further notes that travel insurance claims relating to sociopolitical volatility have more than doubled in the last three years, with travel disruption resulting from political instability, coup d’état, increased border security and terrorist attacks.

Chng observed: “Singapore travellers are demanding greater levels of coverage… especially since the global security environment has become increasingly volatile in recent years and high-impact incidents are more prevalent.”

Meanwhile, to meet growing demand for a more seamless claims and risk management process, AIG expects travel insurance providers to expand their digital capabilities.

“We have seen an increase in customers making direct purchases digitally, but technology does not stop at distribution. The next step would be for them to embrace disruption and move more service offerings towards the digital,” Chng said.

Crystal Bus, a 47-seater double-decker bus, has been launched in Hong Kong to offer sightseeing tours around the city while travellers dine on Michelin-star dishes.

Day tours last 2.5 hours and take place twice daily. The tour visits attractions such as the Hong Kong Observation Wheel, Lantau Link View Point and Hong Kong Space Museum, where travellers also have an opportunity to alight for photos.

Costing HK$380 (US$49) per person, day tour tickets include a Michelin-star dim sum set. Also included in the price are audio guide devices that provide guests with a history of each attraction in Japanese, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin and English.

Meanwhile, night tours are only available for entire bus book-outs. This five-hour tour will offer a customised attraction route, while Michelin-star meals include seafood, Chinese or Western cuisine.

The booking fee from Monday to Thursday costs HK$8,800, and on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and on the eve of public holidays will cost HK$12,800, including drinks and snacks. Additional charges for extra dishes or drinks apply.