Credit: 2015 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix

WHILE last year’s Singapore Grand Prix saw a blanket of haze overshadow the event, this year, gloom is being cast in the form of a virus.

A locally transmitted strain of the Zika virus sprouted in Singapore since August 28 and cases of infection in the city-state have reached 355 at last count.

However, the race event, which sees approximately 40 per cent of attendees from foreign countries, is not shifting to a lower gear because of Zika fears.

Tour East has not experienced any impact immediately following the outbreak, neither has it seen cancellations for the F1 window period, according to Judy Lum, senior vice-president sales & marketing of the Singapore inbound operator.

This is despite a number of countries, including Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, the UK and the US having issued travel warnings to Singapore.

The Singapore Tourism Board and race organisers Singapore GP have both voiced their confidence in a successful event and stated that ticket sales are not affected.

Almost 87,000 spectators attended last year’s race and a full crowd is expected for this year’s circuit as well.

“I am not sure if it is due to the fact that Tour East’s clients are predominantly from Europe and Australia that we did not experience any cancellations for F1,” commented Lum.

According to Q2 data from travel solutions provider Sojern, travel intent and forward bookings from Europe to Singapore during the F1 period remains strong and unchanged from last year.

“From a long-term basis, we are seeing week-on-week growth from Western Europe, which is the core region of F1 fans,” explained Russell Young, managing director Asia-Pacific at Sojern.

The allure of the event, the only night race in the F1 circuit, seems to be holding up in spite of recent worries, especially so for fans.

“Traditionally, the top markets in no particular order are Australia and the UK, as well as fans from Japan, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines,” said Fiona Smith, director media and communications at Singapore GP.

Accommodations booking data from Hotels.com confirms that the major markets of Japan, Australia and the UK, among others, account for most of the reservations made over the September 15-18 period when the race takes place.

But surprisingly, South Korea took pole position for the most number of room reservations made during the F1 weekend, ostensibly signifying the market’s potential.

Concluded Lum: “With all the entertainment events and performing artistes lined up for the F1 weekend proceeding as normal and with the F1 drivers at the race as scheduled, this is a very clear message to the public that it is business as usual and perhaps the extent of the Zika fears were unwarranted.”

AS Royal Caribbean International’s Singapore season approaches, the cruise line has unveiled a contest to reward top selling agents.

For the first 30 bookings made on the Singapore sailings of Mariner of the Seas, Ovation of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas, agents will receive S$50 (US$36) worth of shopping vouchers. For every subsequent five bookings, an additional S$5 will be given.

The top sales agent who achieves the highest number of bookings will win a three-night cruise aboard the Mariner of the Seas in a balcony stateroom. The contest ends on October 6.

This is the longest-ever Singapore season for Royal Caribbean with 55 sailings over 8 months in total starting mid-October.

A premier room in Dorsett Wanchai Hong Kong

DORSETT Hospitality International has appointed Hotels & Resorts Representative Service (HRS) as its GSA for the South Korean market.

The hotel operator hopes that with the move, the Dorsett brand will be “firmly entrenched” in South Korea, which is a key source market for the group, according to Winnie Chiu, president and executive director for Dorsett Hospitality International.

“We hope to tap into HRS’ strong network of wholesalers, tour operators, travel agencies, media and airlines to assist us in not only expanding our reach and presence in South Korea but also to develop new business accounts for our hotels in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mainland China, Singapore and the UK,” she added.

HRS is headed by president Jimmy Lee, who had worked for Harbour Plaza Hotel & Resort in Seoul, and as GSA for AccorHotels, Movenpick Hotels & Resorts, Banyan Tree, Aston & Aqua Hotels & Resorts, as well as Constance Hotels & Resorts, among others.

HUMANOID robots with speech capabilities have been deployed at Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport to act as mobile information providers.

Built by Hitachi, the EMIEW3 robots are at present being activated on a trial basis with plans to deploy them full-time by this year-end.

The robots – around 90cm tall and roving throughout the airport on wheels – are equipped with artificial intelligence technology that enables them to reply verbally in a number of languages to questions posed by travellers.

They are also able to share information with other EMIEW3 units and, if they are accidentally knocked over, able to independently resume a standing position, according to Hitachi.

Remarkably, they can interpret the movements of a human and autonomously initiate an interaction as well, inquiring if the traveller requires assistance, if deemed needed, such as when travellers are seen consulting a map.

Hitachi added there are plans to further develop even more advanced robots that can exist symbiotically with humans to a greater degree.

Passenger boats from Lombok to Gili Trawangan

TWO passengers were killed and 20 others injured when a boat carrying international travellers exploded at Padangbai, Bali yesterday.

A statement from the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management stated that the Gili Cat 2 fast boat bound for Gili Trawangan, Lombok left Pandang Bai Harbour Bali at 09.25 with 35 tourists and four crew members.

Ten minutes later, after having travelled about 500m away from the Bali Harbour, an explosion took place at the boat’s rear passenger area.

Bali Police dismissed terrorism as the cause following initial assessment by the bomb squad. Investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the explosion.

Fast boats are popular means of transportation for tourists between Bali and Lombok. Gili Cat is one of several companies offering this service.

Hasiyanna Ashadi

GROWING interest from Indonesian tourism stakeholders to attract domestic travellers have prompted the Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) Jakarta Chapter to organise its own travel mart.

The ASITA Jakarta Travel Mart (AJTM) 2016, a B2B table-top event held yesterday, saw 108 travel related companies from 24 cities and provinces in Indonesia selling their products to buyers who came from some 200 travel companies in Jakarta.

Hasiyanna Ashadi, chairman of ASITA Jakarta, said: “There are now many regional tourism offices doing roadshows to Jakarta. Each of them come at different times and request to meet with 20, 30, or 50 ASITA Jakarta members.

“This got us to organise a travel mart with a focus on domestic travel. We invite our members in the region to come as sellers and meet not only with a small number of buyers but hundreds of them.”

Pauline Suharno, executive committee member of ASITA Jakarta, said the growing interest to travel within the country did not only come from leisure travellers but also incentive groups.

Unlike other travel marts and fairs in Indonesia which are usually dominated by hotels and airlines, AJTM 2016 offered a greater variety ranging from car and bus rental to online solutions, souvenirs, training centres and financial products.

Said Pauline: “We have invited these different suppliers to facilitate our members with information and products that they can use to upgrade not just sellable products, but also for their own capacity building.

“We hear their concerns over the growth of OTAs consuming their business. We want to convince them that there is more they can do than just sell tickets and that there are products and services in the market that can help them.”

LIA Foundation, a language training centre, for example, has six-month courses for tour leaders and guides, offered in English and Mandarin.

Meanwhile, Permata Bank offers payment solutions especially for offline travel companies and those wanting to enter the online business.

“Some 70 per cent of Indonesian travellers use debit cards to pay for their travel products and our payment channel allows debit card payments from all banks in Indonesia,” said Sofyan, sales manager e-channel business & payment solution of Permata Bank.

“A small or new startup with limited IT infrastructure can still use our service through payment gateway partners like DOKU, Veritrans or FirstPay,” he added.

Tourists in the Sultanahmet Park, near Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey

LONGHAUL bookings into Europe have steadily declined throughout 2016 as travellers avoid the region following a spate of terrorism related incidents.

For the period between June 1 and August 31, international travel into Europe fell 0.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, bucking the 6.2 per cent average positive growth trend of the last five years, according to data by ForwardKeys.

The decline is due to a drastic fall in volume from several major destinations, namely France (-9.6 per cent), Turkey (-26.7 per cent), Germany (-4.1 per cent) and Belgium (-21.4 per cent), which all suffered from dramatic terror attacks this year. Intra-Europe travel meanwhile fell by 6.9 per cent.

The Asia-Pacific (-2.4 per cent), African (-2.8 per cent) and Middle East (-1 per cent) source markets contributed most to Europe’s falling international arrivals, with China (-3.7 per cent), Japan (-18 per cent), the UAE (-13 per cent) and South Africa (-7.7 per cent) contributing most to the declines.

Only the North and South American markets (2.5 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively) showed positive growth in traffic to Europe.

However, other European destinations are enjoying a diversion in longhaul traffic from affected destinations as they are deemed as being safer to travel to.

Over the same period, Spain (10 per cent), Portugal (5.2 per cent), Ireland (18.1 per cent), Scandinavia (6.1 per cent), Russia (18.2 per cent) and Poland (26.1 per cent) all benefited from the shift in traveller preferences.

The third quarter figures continue from the year’s second quarter declinations of negative 3 per cent year-on-year.

SINGAPOREAN travellers are one of the world’s most likely to travel internationally to enjoy a beach holiday, coming in second only to Austrians.

According to Expedia’s 2016 Flip Flop Report on the behaviours and preferences of beach vacationers worldwide, 96 per cent of Singaporean beachgoers travelled internationally to do so. This the second highest globally, with Austrians (98 per cent) taking the top spot.

Meanwhile, 82 per cent of Singaporean respondents further indicated that they prefer to ‘do nothing’ while on a beach vacation, compared to a global average of 74 per cent.

This signifies that Singapore travellers may be using beach holidays as an opportunity to wind down from their hectic lives back at home, according to the Expedia study.

Most of them travel with family members (73 per cent) as well, similar to other South-east Asian travellers, with 74 per cent of Malaysians and 79 per cent of Thais also opting to take their family members to the beach.

When asked to rank their top fears at the beach, Singaporeans highlighted theft (38 per cent), bad weather (15 per cent) and drowning (13 per cent) as their top three causes for concern.

Singaporeans are also tops when it comes to Wi-Fi use at the beach, with 68 per cent opting to browse the internet and their social media feeds, compared to the global average of just 48 per cent.

Silversea Cruises has appointed Roberto Martinoli as CEO effective from September 19, replacing Enzo Visone.

Martinoli has been a board member with Silversea since 2013 and has had a successful career in the cruise and shipping industry.

He will be based at the company’s headquarters in Monaco and will report directly to executive chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio.