TTG Asia
Asia/Singapore Saturday, 22nd August 2026
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PATA Gold Awards 2026 recognises 26 travel initiatives across Asia-Pacific

By TTG Asia
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PATA has revealed the winners of the 2026 PATA Gold Awards, honouring 26 initiatives across marketing, sustainability, and social responsibility.

The Sarawak Tourism Board, Malaysia, secured the Grand Title Winner in Marketing for its drone relay initiative, which achieved a Guinness World Record by flying 1,706.7km across the state to promote the destination ahead of Visit Malaysia Year 2026.

Grand Title winners and select category recipients were celebrated for innovation, conservation, and marketing across the Asia-Pacific region

The Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development, China, received the Grand Title Winner in Sustainability and Social Responsibility for its conservation and heritage project focused on the UNESCO-listed Dazu Rock Carvings.

Selected by an independent panel of tourism professionals and academics, other category winners included the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), SriLankan Airlines, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, Tourism Fiji, and the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA), Thailand. Recognition was also extended across industry media categories.

The awards ceremony highlighted key industry themes including climate action, emerging technology, cultural preservation, and community empowerment.

“PATA Travel Mart (PTM) is about building valuable, quality business connections that extend beyond the event and the opportunities they create that can grow into lasting partnerships,” said PATA CEO Noor Ahmad Hamid.

“By taking PTM beyond the region’s traditional gateways, we are deliberately opening international markets to smaller and emerging destinations, helping disperse tourism, broaden economic opportunities and show that the next generation of tourism growth can come from beyond the established hubs.”

The Hari hotels join IHG’s Vignette Collection

By TTG Asia
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The Hari London, The Hari Hong Kong and the upcoming The Hari Singapore will join IHG Hotels & Resorts’ Vignette Collection later this year, expanding a partnership between the Harilela Group and IHG that spans more than five decades.

The move will extend the companies’ relationship to six hotels across Asia and Europe. The Hari Singapore, scheduled to open in spring 2027, will become the first Vignette Collection property in Singapore.

The Hari London, The Hari Hong Kong and the upcoming The Hari Singapore, pictured, will join IHG Hotels & Resorts’ Vignette Collection, with Singapore becoming the brand’s first property in the market

Vignette Collection enables independent luxury hotels to retain their brand identity while benefiting from IHG’s global distribution and loyalty programme. Member hotels must meet criteria covering design, guest experience and community impact.

The Hari properties feature contemporary interiors and rotating collections of works by local artists. Guests also have access to destination experiences such as neighbourhood audio tours and curated local itineraries. The brand also supports community initiatives through programmes including The Hari Art Prize, EarthCheck certifications and charity partnerships.

Aron Harilela, chairman and CEO of Harilela Group and founder of The Hari brand, said: “The Hari embodies relaxed elegance punctuated by eccentricity, wit, culture and intuitive, heartfelt hospitality. Joining the Vignette Collection preserves The Hari’s character while connecting our brand to a global community of travellers who value individuality and authenticity.”

Rajit Sukumaran, senior vice president and managing director, East Asia & Pacific, IHG Hotels & Resorts, added: “Welcoming The Hari’s portfolio marks Vignette Collection’s debut in Singapore and strengthens our presence in London and Hong Kong.”

Navigating a more complex era for Asia-Pacific tourism

By S Puvaneswary
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Geopolitics, economic volatility, technology and rapidly shifting consumer behaviour will reshape how destinations compete, according to PATA Travel Mart 2026 Knowledge Forum speaker Gary Bowerman, managing director of Check-in Asia.

Bowerman said on Tuesday that tourism had become increasingly embedded in economic planning, trade negotiations and diplomacy as the industry contends with conflicts, trade protectionism, currency volatility, energy shocks and climate risks. Despite these pressures, travel demand remained resilient, although rising fuel costs put constant pressure on tourism economies.

Bowerman says tourism is entering a more complex era, with AI convergence and changing consumer demand redefining how travel businesses operate

He also highlighted the strength of intra-regional travel in Asia-Pacific since the post-Covid rebound, alongside a fundamental shift in how younger consumers view travel.

Rather than seeing themselves simply as tourists, they increasingly incorporate travel into a broader “lifestyle economy” that encompasses interests such as beauty, entertainment, technology, fashion, food and mobility.

Additionally, Bowerman reflected on how travel demand across the region was becoming harder to predict. Growing value sensitivity, currency volatility and shifting supply-demand patterns are complicating travel planning, while generally short booking windows make it harder for businesses to match capacity with demand.

This is compounded by the speed at which younger Asian travellers adopt new trends, making it increasingly challenging for the industry to anticipate and respond to changing preferences.

Technology will add another layer to this rapid change.

“The big challenge for everybody going forward is going to be to leverage the AI convergence,” Bowerman said, pointing to the growing integration of generative, agentic and embodied AI into travel planning, payments, mobility and other services.

Sarawak prioritises tourism value over arrivals

By S Puvaneswary
0

Sarawak is prioritising tourism growth that benefits communities, culture and the environment rather than pursuing visitor numbers alone.

Speaking at the PATA Travel Mart 2026 Knowledge Forum on August 18, Sarawak’s minister of tourism, creative industry & performing arts, Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, said the state was targeting five million visitors this year, after recording 4.97 million in 2025.

From left: Sarawak’s tourism minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and South China Morning Post’s Eugene Tang

However, he stressed that growth should not be pursued at any cost.

“We would love to see tourists who are appreciative of the kind of things that we are doing here,” he said, adding that Sarawak also wants a diverse mix of source markets.

Community participation is another priority of the government, particularly in rural areas, where tourism is being used to support cottage industries and indigenous crafts. He shared that the government is encouraging larger corporations to help develop these rural enterprises, allowing communities to generate livelihoods from products that can also become part of the visitor experience.

“Tourism must benefit both local communities and tourists,” he stated.

The minister emphasised that sustainability should underpin tourism development, arguing that environmental considerations must be built into tourism policy and activities, and not be treated as a standalone initiative.

He cited tree-planting initiatives linked to the Rainforest World Music Festival and the elimination of plastic bottles at the event as examples of how Sarawak is putting this approach into practice.

Abdul Karim further discussed the importance of responsible tourism development and its direct impact on travellers’ destination choice during a media briefing on the sidelines of the Knowledge Forum.

He told TTG Asia that travellers today prioritise destinations that are safe, stable and responsible to its people and environment.

When asked how the state accomplishes responsible tourism objectives through events held in the destination, such as the ongoing PATA Travel Mart, Sharzede Sallaeh Askor, CEO of Sarawak Tourism Board, told TTG Asia that the NTO is pursuing the ISO 20121:2024 standard for Event Sustainability Management Systems and has successfully cleared its Stage 1 audit.

This will then shape “how we run our shows and how we collaborate with our stakeholders”, stated Sharzede.

With the certification, Sarawak Tourism Board will “drill every stakeholder” on sustainable practices and commitment. – Additional reporting by Karen Yue

AWC looks to global events to drive 2H2026 hotel bookings

By Anne Somanas
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Asset World Corp (AWC) is banking on a run of global events, led by the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, to power hotel bookings in the second half of 2026, with on-the-books room revenue already 30 per cent ahead of a year earlier across its Thai portfolio.

Wallapa Traisorat, CEO and president of AWC, said forward bookings as of early August pointed to broad-based demand, led by Pattaya at 283 per cent and Bangkok at 45 per cent year-on-year, with Chiang Mai up 39 per cent, Krabi 12 per cent and Koh Samui 10 per cent.

Wallapa says AWC is also preparing to establish a real estate investment trust holding up to 50 billion baht of operating hotel and commercial assets; photo by AWC

The figures accompanied second-quarter results showing hospitality revenue of 2,761 million baht (US$83 million), up 5.7 per cent year-on-year.

“Key global events are driving strong bookings in Bangkok and Pattaya,” Wallapa said, adding that she expected the recovery to deepen in the second half of 2026 “supported by government tourism stimulus measures”.

AWC’s Bangkok hotels for meetings, among them The Okura Prestige Bangkok, The Athenee Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Bangkok and Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park, are running at 75 per cent occupancy for the event from October 12 to 18, 2026, with average daily rates (ADR) 98 per cent above the same period last year.

In Pattaya, AWC’s hotels, including Pattaya Marriott Resort & Spa and Meliá Pattaya Hotel, are at 62 per cent occupancy for Tomorrowland from December 11 to 13, with ADR up 105 per cent. The Gastech 2026 Bangkok conference from September 14 to 17 is adding further demand in Bangkok.

Second-quarter momentum was led by Pattaya, where RevPAR rose 169 per cent on the back of two hotels opened in 2025, followed by Chiang Mai at 31 per cent and Koh Samui at 10 per cent.

Hospitality EBITDA margin widened from 25.9 to 26.9 per cent on cost control, with EBITDA up 9.7 per cent to 742 million baht.

AWC will open Fairmont Bangkok Sukhumvit, the first Fairmont hotel in Thailand, this month, deepening its focus on luxury MICE. The group is also repositioning operating assets to lift rates, converting The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa, Phuket into a Ritz-Carlton, which it expects to triple ADR, and rebranding the Jubilee Prestige Hotel Ratchadapisek as a JW Marriott, where it expects ADR to roughly double.

The moves feed a five-year investment plan worth 100 billion baht through 2030 that will grow AWC’s hospitality portfolio to 35 hotels and 9,312 room keys, from 25 hotels today.

AWC is also preparing to establish a real estate investment trust holding up to 50 billion baht of operating hotel and commercial assets, a move the group says will revitalise Thailand’s REIT market and shift its balance sheet towards an asset-light model.

TTG Asia Luxury’s wellness cover feature wins PATA Gold Award

By TTG Asia
0

The cover feature of TTG Asia Luxury’s December 2025 issue, Shades of wellness, has won the PATA Gold Awards in the category of Marketing – Industry Article.

Shades of wellness, written by group editor Karen Yue, explores trends in wellness tourism among affluent travellers, and discusses how wellness holidays for the rich and famous are becoming more intentional.

From left: PATA’s Noor Ahmad Hamid, Macao Government Tourism Office’s Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, TTG Asia Media’s Karen Yue receiving her PATA Gold Award, and PATA’s Henry Oh

This is the third PATA Gold Award for TTG Asia Luxury. Its second award was won last year for Rise of Chinese female explorers, an analysis also written by Yue.

The magazine’s first PATA Gold Award was acquired in 2016.

TTG Asia Media publications – TTG Asia, TTG Asia Luxury, and TTGmice – have previously earned 12 PATA Gold Awards for outstanding journalism.

Southern Thailand’s first chocolate boutique debuts at JW Marriott Khao Lak

By TTG Asia
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JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa has introduced Southern Thailand’s first on-site bean-to-bar chocolate factory and boutique, developed in partnership with Duc de Praslin Chocolaterie Boutique & Atelier. The concept was presented at the resort’s Summer Garden Party on August 6, themed Rooted in Chocolate.

The boutique highlights cacao grown in Phang Nga, with at least 85 per cent of the cacao used sourced locally through monthly standing orders with farmer cooperatives at fixed prices, with 1.6 tonnes purchased to date. Plans are in place to expand sourcing volumes and extend supply to other Thai regions.

Southern Thailand’s first bean-to-bar chocolate boutique opens at JW Marriott Khao Lak, spotlighting Phang Nga’s locally grown cacao

Guests are invited to explore the chocolate-making process through workshops, tastings and themed menus. Pod to Bar sessions allow participants to trace the journey of Thai cacao before crafting their own chocolate bars. Family-friendly classes, seasonal tastings and cacao tree planting in the resort’s 11-hectare JW Garden will further connect visitors with the origins of the product.

The resort’s whole-ingredient approach extends into its kitchens, where cacao husks, nibs and pulp are incorporated rather than discarded, and garden trimmings are composted. The JW Garden also supports wider guest experiences, including guided walks, herb-picking and farm-to-table dining.

The boutique’s debut was marked by cacao-infused cocktails, tasting stations, a Pod to Bar workshop and a ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by a JW Garden tour and a shared-table dinner featuring chocolate-inspired dishes.

For more information, visit JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa.

Emirates takes Singapore trade behind the scenes

By TTG Asia
0

Emirates, in partnership with DMC Kuoni Tumlare, recently hosted a group of travel trade partners from Singapore on a four-day familiarisation trip to Dubai to strengthen destination knowledge and support travel sales.

Representatives from Singapore travel agencies and tour operators visited attractions including Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah. The programme also included a day trip to Abu Dhabi, with visits to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Qasr Al Watan and Yas Island.

Singapore travel trade partners explored Dubai during a four-day familiarisation trip hosted by Emirates and Kuoni Tumlare

Participants also toured the Emirates Crew Training Centre, gaining insight into the airline’s cabin crew training programmes and operations.

Rashed Alfajeer, Emirates’ country manager for Singapore and Brunei, said the trip aimed to deepen engagement with the Singapore market by giving travel partners first-hand experience of Dubai and the UAE.

Emirates operates four daily flights between Singapore and Dubai using Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft, as well as a daily non-stop service between Singapore and Phnom Penh.

Sarawak welcomes over 1,100 delegates for PATA Travel Mart 2026 debut

By TTG Asia
0

PATA Travel Mart (PTM) 2026 opened today in Sarawak, bringing together more than 1,100 delegates from 48 countries for the regional business-to-business travel trade gathering. Hosted at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching from August 18 to 20, the occasion marks the first time the PATA flagship event takes place in the Malaysian state.

The tradeshow features 221 buyers from 215 companies across 29 source markets, alongside over 365 sellers representing more than 200 organisations. Participants are engaging in over 4,000 scheduled appointments to build connections, access new markets, and generate commercial opportunities across longhaul and shorthhaul sectors.

From left: PATA’s Noor Ahmad Hamid and Henry Oh; minister Sri Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, and Sarawak Tourism Board’s Sharzede Salleh Askor

Supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak, the Sarawak Tourism Board, and Business Events Sarawak, the event also encompasses knowledge-sharing initiatives. The PATA Youth Symposium, held across August 17 and 18, involved university students and young professionals in experiential learning activities focused on local community development.

Concurrently, the PATA Knowledge Forum convened industry leaders under the theme The Next Era: Impactful Partnerships, Purposeful Growth to address business innovation, technology, and cultural preservation. Executive board meetings and industry awards were also scheduled alongside the main trade show floor.

Organisers noted that holding the event outside traditional regional hubs helps disperse economic benefits to emerging destinations across South-east Asia.

Sri Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, minister for tourism, creative industry and performing arts Sarawak, said: “Hosting PATA Travel Mart 2026 in Sarawak is an important opportunity for us to strengthen our engagement with the international tourism community and contribute to the future growth of tourism across the Asia-Pacific.

“As we grow the sector, our focus remains on creating meaningful economic opportunities, strengthening our tourism industry and ensuring that development continues to benefit our communities while safeguarding the cultural and natural assets that make Sarawak distinctive.”

“PATA Travel Mart is about building valuable, quality business connections that extend beyond the event and the opportunities they create that can grow into lasting partnerships,” added PATA CEO Noor Ahmad Hamid. “By taking PTM beyond the region’s traditional gateways, we are deliberately opening international markets to smaller and emerging destinations, helping disperse tourism, broaden economic opportunities and show that the next generation of tourism growth can come from beyond the established hubs.”

Vietnam tops DTH Travel bookings amid Middle East impact

By Rosa Ocampo
0

Vietnam is Asia’s best-selling destination for DTH Travel, remaining unscathed while the rest of Asia felt the brunt of booking cancellations caused by the Middle East disruption.

Previewing demand from DTH Travel’s predominantly European travellers, group director of sales Marjorie Aquino said Vietnam is the only one of the DMC’s 14 Asian destinations that has already reached this month’s production level recorded last year.

Aquino says travellers see Vietnam as “value for money”, with competitive pricing, good infrastructure and quality experiences

She pointed out that travellers see Vietnam as “value for money”, with competitive pricing, good airport and road infrastructure that makes travel from north to south easy, a strong network of international flights, quality hotels, food, attractions and experiences.

Thailand remains the DMC’s top destination, followed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Singapore.

Russians, known for longer stays, continue to flock to Thailand and Vietnam, and to a lesser extent the Philippines, where international and domestic connectivity could be improved.

Dependent on European travellers, both Sri Lanka and the Maldives were affected by flight disruptions in the Middle East, which forms part of the flight path for carriers operating between Europe and Asia.

Formula 1 and its status as an international aviation hub continue to keep Singapore in good stead. Bhutan is attracting growing interest, while Myanmar is still not fully open to tourists.

Aquino also told TTG Asia that DTH Travel is strengthening its North America source market, as the US and Canada are less affected by the Middle East disruptions because airlines operate different routings that avoid stopovers at Middle East airports.

The DMC is also developing central and eastern Europe, which are currently affected by political and economic issues but remain source markets with growth potential.

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Sister Publications
TTG Asia TTGmice TTG India TTGassociations TTG Asia Luxury
TTG Asia | Flores tourism moves toward recovery despite ongoing overland disruptions
TTG Asia | Azerbaijan targets Asian markets amid connectivity challenges
TTG Asia | Sarawak repositions as entry point to Borneo