Hong Kong Airlines has launched two winter season routes to Hakodate and Yonago in Japan. These two seasonal services will run four times weekly from December 18, 2023 to February 24, 2024.
The Hakodate service will operate every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, while the flights to Yonago will be on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
Amari Raaya Maldives has launched three new wedding packages designed to cater to every budget and style, from simple and intimate laid-back luxury to the once-in-a-lifetime opulence of an underwater ceremony.
Equipped with a team of wedding planners and on-island caterers, the resort will plan everything – from room management to transport, concept, food, music and flowers – so that the bride and groom can relax and enjoy their moment in paradise.
Wedding guests can expect dining, activities and unobstructed ocean views from 187 luxurious beach and ocean villas – each offering direct access to the beach or ocean. For the couple, they can enjoy a private candlelit dinner on the beach, a couples’ spa treatment at the resort’s spa, a romantic sunset cruise, and more.
Starting from US$900, the three wedding packages include Vows on the Beach, Vows under the Trees, and Vows in the Ocean, where each offers distinct island locations for the wedding ceremony.
Vows on the Beach features an intimate bare-foot beach ceremony followed by a romantic beach dinner; Vows under the Trees is held near the lush forest reserved including a natural mangrove with forest trails for walking, with a BBQ in the jungle setting; and the Vows in the Ocean package lets the couple exchange vows while surrounded by the vibrant marine life of the Maldives, before relaxing and sipping champagne aboard a private yacht.
All ceremonies are purely ceremonial and not legally binding. Additional add-ons such as enhanced special dining experiences and photography services are available.
For more information, visit Amari Raaya Maldives.
Saudi Arabia aspires for greener global aviation, using its new airline and international airport as examples, as the country seeks to establish itself as a tourism leader since opening up to international tourism in 2019.
Tourism is a central component to the country’s Vision 2030, an ambitious plan to create a modern, diversified economy. By 2030, the country plans to welcome 100 million visitors and derive 10 per cent of it GDP from tourism.
Founded in March 2023, Riyadh Air is the country’s second flag carrier and is based in the capital that gives it its name. It will operate its first flights in 2025 and aims to eventually fly to more than 100 destinations.
Peter Bellew, the airline’s chief operations officer, told attendees at World Tourism Day in Riyadh in September that the airline can offer lessons for its competitors as it is building environmental considerations from the ground up, rather than adapting existing operations.
“We have no legacy systems or processes (to restrict us),” he explained, noting that the airline is employing the most carbon-efficient aircraft, IT systems to check carbon use across operations, hydrogen power, schemes to reduce, reuse and recycle, as well as AI to analyse data on how to be greener.
Riyadh Air’s base will be King Salman International Airport, which also promises to deliver environmentally-friendly operations when its first phase opens in 2027. Spanning 57km2, it will accommodate six runways, including the existing ones that make up King Khalid International Airport, which welcomes 29 million visitors annually.
The new airport is expected to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the highest level in Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, thanks to its incorporation of cutting-edge green initiatives and reliance on renewable energy.
By 2030, an estimated 120 million travellers per year will use the airport, according to the country’s Public Investment Fund.
Popular Japanese destinations are employing or considering taxes on tourists to counter over-tourism and secure funds for the management of travellers and preservation of nature, culture and history.
Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, introduced a tourist tax on October 1 for each tourist to Miyajima, the island home to Itsukushima Shrine and its renowned giant torii gate that appears to float in the sea at high tide. The 30.39km2 island attracted a record 4.65 million tourists in 2019, leading to concerns about the protection of the shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the isle, which is regarded as one of the three most scenic spots in the country.
The Miyajima Visit Tax will be 100 yen (US$0.67) per visit but residents, commuters and students are exempt. Local officials expect the new tax to generate 140 million yen within its first fiscal year of implementation (by end-March 2024), which will be used to maintain the island, including parks and toilets, and provide free Wi-Fi.
Meanwhile, the town of Taketomi, which encompasses nine inhabited islands in the Okinawa archipelago including World Natural Heritage Site Iriomote island, will submit a draft plan for a similar visitor tax in March 2024.
The income would be used to ease the strain on local infrastructure and reduce environmental damage caused by tourists, who numbered more than one million annually pre-pandemic, according to a town staffer.
Officials in nearby island chain Amami, another World Natural Heritage Site, are also considering imposing taxes or asking for donations from visitors to help protect the endemic species and natural environment that make it one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.
A growing number of municipalities are also considering joining Tokyo, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Kutchan (a ski resort town in Hokkaido) and other popular destinations in adopting a lodging tax to support local tourism services.
The Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) Australia/NZ, recently hosted the inaugural Dental, Wellness & Aesthetics Tourism Roadshow across Australia to showcase the opportunities the Philippines has to offer.
The event kicked off in Perth on September 18, followed by Melbourne on September 20, Brisbane on September 21, and ended in Sydney on September 22-23.
Travel consultants and buyers in the health and wellness tourism space were invited to product presentations of the Dental, Wellness & Aesthetics Tourism Portfolio followed by a two-course lunch accompanied by updates from the Philippine DoT. Attendees at each event also had the opportunity to win prizes including holidays to the Philippines, courtesy of national carrier Philippine Airlines as well as accommodation and service suppliers who participated in the event.
During the week-long event, Philippine suppliers and Australian buyers met face-to-face to create mutually beneficial business relationships
In addition, Philippines’ singer-songwriter David Mercado played host and kept guests entertained with his music.
Tourism attaché, Purification Molintas, from the Philippine DoT said: “The Philippines have always been a popular travel destination among Australians, and we are glad it’s gaining traction for Health & Wellness Tourism as well. The roadshow was the perfect opportunity to truly show what the Philippines and its suppliers have to offer Australian buyers.”
“The inaugural roadshow in Australia was a huge success and really highlights the importance of creating awareness and opportunities for suppliers to meet with Australian buyers. We look forward to expanding on this success for next year, and we are already working hard to make it bigger and better,” commented Paulo Benito Tugbang, director for health and wellness tourism from the Philippine DoT.
The roadshow ended on a high note at the private banquet dinner on Saturday, with Philippine suppliers engaging with the Filipino community at the famous Misc. Restaurant in Parramatta.
Philippine tourism, which has been heavily reliant on the domestic market and still a long way from 2019 performance, must be globally competitive, according to Benito Bengzon Jr, executive director of Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) and former tourism undersecretary.
At the first Hotel Sales and Marketing Association (HSMA) Summit last week, he urged the audience to be “mindful that the competition is not just among ourselves, among local destinations, (or) among local hotels or resorts”.
“The competition is on a global scale and we must make our mark,” he emphasised.
Confident that the country will meet its targeted 4.8 million foreign arrivals this year, seeing how it has already reached over four million in the first nine months of the year, Bengzon emphasised that “we must also realise that we are still a long way off from the record 8.2 million foreign visitors we attracted in 2019”.
To give the industry a competitive edge, PHOA, the country’s biggest private sector in tourism, has in the pipeline 40 quality hotels with 15,000 keys for completion in the next three years. The association also has 65 member companies owning 200 existing hotels and resorts with 40,000 keys.
PHOA is working with the Department of Tourism (DoT) on two projects to help make hotels more relevant and globally competitive.
The first is the review of DoT’s National Accommodation Standards (NAS) – the voluntary star rating system for accommodation establishments.
“We want to make sure that standards are on par with those found in other destinations. In other words, the quality of facilities, amenities and services of a five-star hotel in Manila should be the same as in a five-star hotel in Bangkok, Singapore or Tokyo,” noted Bengzon.
The second is a review of the Philippine Hotel Industry Strategic Action Plan (PHISAP) to determine whether the findings and conclusions of the previous hotel roadmap completed in 2016 are still valid, ensuring that the hotel roadmap will be aligned with the overall Philippine tourism roadmap.
The roll-out dates for NAS and PHISAP will be announced by the DoT soon.
Star Alliance has unveiled its second lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Operational since October 13, it welcomes First and Business Class passengers and Star Alliance Gold status customers on member airline flights departing from gates 10 to 38 in Terminal 1.
Eligible United Club and Air Canada Maple Leaf Club members may also access the lounge.
The new 1,300m² lounge can accommodate over 300 guests, and is reminiscent of timeless Parisian aesthetics with wall mouldings and archways, and furnished with selected pieces by French artists. Features include a Welcome Bar, an immersive Wine Bar featuring master wine maker Gerard Bertrand and wines from the South of France, and a Tea Salon offering an assortment from around the world. There is also a spacious outdoor courtyard, shower suites, as well as private work cabins and secluded nooks throughout the lounge for those seeking a quiet space to rest or work.
There are presently two Star Alliance lounges operating in Terminal 1 – the first lounge, refurbished in 2019 and located prior to security on level 10, will now serve passengers departing on intra-Schengen flights from gates 50 to 78, as well as guests from various lounge access programs departing from all gates.
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has named George Koumendakos as its new general manager.
The Dutch national, who is fluent in three languages, brings 37 years of experience including 15 years as general manager in multiple five-star hotels around the world.
Having worked in 14 countries, Koumendakos was recently general manager at Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara in Malaysia prior to joining Metropole Hanoi.
Edgar Terutung has been named the new business development director – Indonesia of TUI Blue Hotels & Resorts Asia. He will spearhead TUI Blue’s expansion in Indonesia in his new role.
He began his work experience in business development for local real estate developers in Indonesia, and subsequently joined the hotel and serviced apartment development at Ascott.
Before joining the team at TUI Blue, Terutung was regional director of development at Louvre Hotels Group in South-east Asia.
Centara Hotels & Resorts has appointed Francesco Pompilio as the new general manager of Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives.
He brings a wealth of international hotelier experience to his new role, having worked across prominent destinations including Italy, the UK, the UAE, and Vietnam for over two decades.
He was most recently general manager at Vinpearl Discovery Sealink Nha Trang in Vietnam.
