PATA is set to organise two events this year – PATA Annual Summit and Mart 2023 in Pokhara, Nepal, as well as PATA Travel Mart 2023 in New Delhi, India.
Hosted by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the PATA Annual Summit will run from May 29 to June 1, and will include a travel mart component this year.
The PATA Travel Mart will be held later in the year from October 4 to 6, and will be hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
Both events were announced during ITB Berlin 2023.
Citadines Connect Rochester Singapore, Singapore
Citadines Connect Rochester Singapore is located in an integrated development at the Rochester Commons, occupying levels four to seven of the building, with convenient access to nearby train stations, parks, dining and entertainment.
With 135 rooms catering to both short and long stays, the property features a mix of studio units, including premier units with a kitchenette and washer-dryer as well as deluxe units with garden access.
Facilities include a lounge, F&B, swimming pool, gym, and a self-serve coffee kiosk in the lobby on level two. Guests can also opt for curated programmes to explore within the neighbourhood.
Danang Marriott Resort & Spa, Vietnam
Danang Marriott Resort & Spa is nestled on Non Nuoc Beach, close to downtown Danang. It features 200 rooms and suites, and 39 villas.
The hotel offers F&B outlets, five infinity pools, including a kid’s pool, spa, fitness centre, kid’s club and event venues. Bicycle rental is also available.
Nearby the property are beaches, golf courses and UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Hoi An and My Son Sanctuary, Ba Na Hills and Son Tra Nature Reserve.
Regala Skycity Hotel, Hong Kong
The Regala Skycity Hotel boasts 1,208 rooms, as well as facilities like the rooftop sky deck, fitness centre, jogging track, outdoor pool, and 2,800m² of meeting and events space.
For dining, there is an all-day dining restaurant, bar and grill, and Chinese restaurant.
Located within the Skycity development next to Hong Kong International airport, the hotel is directly connected to the Asiaworld Expo convention and exhibition facility.
INNSiDE by Meliá Kuala Lumpur Cheras, Malaysia
Situated in the vibrant commercial hub of Cheras, surrounded by shopping and nightlife, is INNSiDE by Meliá Kuala Lumpur Cheras.
With facilities like an infinity pool and meeting venues, the 238-room hotel has also implemented a range of eco-measures including solar-powered LED lighting, and a plastic-free environment.
Sheraton Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort in Vietnam has launched two family-friendly stay packages: The All-Inclusive and The World of Wonders.
Starting from four million dong (US$168) onwards per night, the All-Inclusive package is valid for stays between March 1 and November 20. Based on a double occupancy, it includes accommodation, three daily meals, complimentary roundtrip airport transfers, complimentary shuttle service to Vinpearl Safari and VinWonders Phu Quoc, the country’s largest wildlife conservation and theme parks.
The World of Wonders package is also based on a double occupancy, inclusive of accommodation, three daily meals, complimentary roundtrip airport transfers, complimentary shuttle service and tickets to Vinpearl Safari and VinWonders Phu Quoc. Valid for stays until June 22, the package starts from three million dong per night.
For more information, visit Sheraton Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort.
Having quenched their thirst for travel in 2022 and exhuasted previously unused travel budgets, travellers are now scrutinising their travel plans and spend for 2023.
A recent Skyscanner travel and tourism outlook report found that while global travellers plan to spend on average 31 per cent more on travel in 2023 compared to 2022, they are also looking to make their money go further this year as the rising cost of living impacts trip decisions.
When thinking about where they would go and how they would spend during their trip, 36 per cent of respondents would pick a destination where their currency goes further, 32 per cent would seek savings from hotel accommodation, and 32 per cent would cut general expenditure.
Travel and tourism sellers told TTG Asia that since airfares – which have continued to trend high despite improving capacity – are an unavoidable travel expense, adjustments can only be made to land components to help travellers afford holidays this year.
Chunky fares
While industry watchers have said pricey airfares would ease with the return of usual flight routes and capacity, airline representatives now say airfares are not slated to decrease any time soon due to surging fuel surcharges and taxes.
Ngai Hoang, deputy director of Vietnam-based Vietravel, which operates Vietravel Airlines, said despite a “boom” in demand since the end of the pandemic, with the airline operating at 80 to 85 per cent capacity, airfares will remain high.
“I think fares will continue to increase,” he said. “This is due to high fuel surcharges, which are out of our control.”
Echoing Ngai, Marion Karsten, key account executive at Thai Airways, said: “Fuel surcharges remain very high, and this is an issue all airlines currently face.”
Karsten noted that fuel surcharges combined with taxes currently sit at between US$400 and US$500.
Despite Thai Airways’ capacity returning to pre-Covid levels at almost 100 per cent, Karsten said until fuel prices drop, airfares will continue to rise. Yet, dips in fuel prices will unlikely move airfares much, as “these fuel surcharges are always increasing and even if fuel gets cheaper”, she remarked.
Karsten believes that a slight reprieve may come as overall flight capacity into Asia increases, driven by Middle Eastern carriers such as Qatar Airways and Emirates adding more services to the region.
Le Thi Thu Thuong, deputy general manager of Hanoi-headquartered IndochinaTravelland, told TTG Asia that airfares are a “big problem” for travellers, particularly for those travelling from far away to Asia and to destinations without many direct flight access.
“Airfares can make up about 30 per cent of a traveller’s total budget,” said Le.
Spreading budget out
To maximise available holiday budget, travellers are spending smarter.
Dai Nguyen, marketing manager with boutique travel agency Saffron Travel, which has operations in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, said travellers who used to favour private tours before are now happy to join others to share the cost of a good escorted programme. As a result, Saffron Travel is doing brisk business with small group tours of no more than 10 travellers.
Similarly, Laurent Granier, co-founder & general manager of Laos Mood Travel, has observed a growing awareness among consumers that travelling in larger groups can attract “substantial savings”.
“People (realise that rates) decrease when the travel party is bigger. So, they talk about their plans to their relatives, friends and colleagues, and sometimes the confirmed party is bigger than the original request,” said Granier.
Granier also sees customers taking only English-speaking guides, which are cheaper than guides leading in other languages.
Similar to Skyscanner’s findings, Le said travellers are turning to more affordable hotel options for savings instead of cutting back on tours and activities.
Indeed, Lufti Pristiawan, director of sales with Courtyard by Marriott Bali Seminyak Resort in Indonesia, said his mid-range hotel has done very well among value-conscious travellers.
To earn amid cost pressures and price scrutiny, sellers say volume and duration are critical.
“We cannot raise the price of tours, neither can we switch experiences for cheaper ones. So, to make sure that the itinerary remains affordable while allowing us and our partners to make money, we have to drive greater volume,” said Le.
IndochinaTravelland has committed to retaining pre-pandemic prices for trade partners who had signed up with them before the Covid-19 disruption and are looking to materialise their trips this year. Doing so has helped to bring in much needed volume. However, Le said maintaining these prices for 2024 programmes would be a tough stretch.
To entice travellers to stay on longer, Courtyard by Marriott Bali Seminyak Resort runs a popular long-stay promotion where a minimum six-night stay gives the guest access to special room rates plus add-ons like complimentary laundry and one-time dinner.
Meaningful adjustments
However, the heightened price watch does not come at the expense of destination experiences, find industry players.
“Value is all about the perception of what your money can get you,” said Granier.
“When travellers are ‘forced’ to spend more on what is perceived as ‘not valuable’, like air tickets, which is an unavoidable travel expense, then they certainly want to make sure that what they do in the destination will be worth it,” he reflected.
DMCs themselves are doing their part to build programmes reflective of the times and current concerns.
Laos Mood Travel has “lightened up on some inclusions” – meals are recommended, not included, for example, unless the dining experience is an essential element of the activity. Such cases would be a Laos cooking class, meals at homestays, and picnics during hikes or treks.
“We also carefully plan itineraries that balance escorted content with a guide and free time”, he shared, adding that bicycles and trains are also used to get around, which adds flavour to the experience.
Granier believes that tours that “go slow” are meaningful and of great value to travellers today. By avoiding tours that “check-in and check-out every day just so people can see as much as possible of the country”, travellers get a more immersive experience of the destination.
At Saffron Travel, the team prioritises business with close partners who are happy to extend special rates as well as small-and-medium-sized local suppliers that “tend to charge slightly lower fees than the big boys”, revealed Nguyen.
Supporting small local business owners also allows Saffron Travel to feature homegrown ideas and operators while channelling earnings into the pockets of local people – something travellers today value.
Dominic Ong, general manager, Tour East Singapore emphasised that value-focused travellers are not simply looking for cheap deals. To present Singapore as a destination worth travellers’ time and money, Ong’s company is pushing for longer stays in the same hotel, which will grant travellers better hotel offers, and provide at least two unique activities per itinerary that offer a deeper look into the country.
Singapore Tourism Board’s new SingapoRewards programme, launched globally on March 7 at ITB Berlin 2023, is a timely initiative that answers to the value scrutiny. The programme provides international visitors with a chance to try one of nearly 40 new or undiscovered experiences for free.
The experiences are curated across various precincts and categories – Novelty and excitement; Food and dining; Sustainability; and Wellness.
Examples of what international visitors can expect include discovering the origins of Singapore Dry Gin at the Brass Lion Distillery Tour, and taking a behind-the-scenes tour of Changi Airport and Jewel.
The range of featured experiences will expand, as STB evaluates and approves more programmes for SingapoRewards, STB CEO Keith Tan told TTG Asia.
STB will fund the programme and reimburse experience operators for their participation.
Tan expects these experiences to offer new perspectives of Singapore, even to returning visitors who are familiar with the city-state.
To qualify for SingapoRewards, the visitor must be a short-term visitor arriving by flight and redeeming for the first time. Redemption is a fuss-free process via the programme’s microsite or VisitSingapore app. – Additional reporting by Marissa Carruthers
Japan’s inbound players are seeing a sales boost with the return of foreign-operated cruise ships to the country’s ports this month, marking the end of a three-year hiatus on docking by international ships.
Expectations are high as the number of port calls by foreign-operated cruise ships in 2023 is expected to reach 60 per cent of the number that docked in 2019, according to Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
In March, 89 ships are scheduled to dock at 23 ports covering 22 prefectures including Shizuoka, which welcomed Japan’s first overseas-based cruise ship, The Amadea, since 2020 on March 1. In comparison, March 2019 saw 125 dockings at 42 ports.
Regional ports are enjoying as much demand as metropolitan ports such as Yokohama and Tokyo, which opened an international cruise terminal in 2020. Kyushu’s Kagoshima will welcome 11 dockings while Kobe will receive nine and Shikoku’s Kochi will receive eight.
Andres Zuleta, founder of Boutique Japan, a tour operator that plans post-cruise trips for international visitors, told TTG Asia that pent-up demand for Japan has been fuelling early bookings.
“Demand has been through the roof since the fall, and this spring is going to be extraordinarily busy,” he said, adding that requests include private hikes and food tours.
“We’ve received so many inquiries that we’ve already stopped taking new inquiries for autumn.”
Tohoku-based travel agency The Hidden Japan, which received many bookings, such as cycling tours, from international cruise passengers pre-pandemic, is also expecting strong recovery of the market, according to Derek Yamashita, co-founder.
“Yamagata Prefecture and the Port of Sakata viewed cruise tourism as one of its main pillars of foreign tourism prior to Covid and had massive success. Now they are making a big push again and have a lot of ships lined up (for port calls),” he said.
Heather Hopkins Clement, CEO of travel agency Cruise Port Navigation, welcomed the return but warned that tourism players can expect “growing pains” due to the Covid-induced shortage of experienced staff in Japan’s international cruise industry.
Travellers journeying on Silversea’s South Side Story World Cruise 2023 aboard Silver Shadow enjoyed an immersive cultural display on Kalanggaman Island, an island in the Philippines which Silversea Cruises had rented for the bespoke event on February 10.
The event took two years to plan, and showcased the talents of more than 500 residents of the Eastern Visayas region – from performers, hospitality professionals, and event planners to massage therapists, mixologists, and chefs.
Silversea’s guests got to connect with the local culture, enjoying traditional music and dance, cocktails, and Filipino delicacies on the island which is nestled between Cebu and Leyte in the Visayan Sea. They spent the day on the beach, swimming and getting complimentary massages, and indulged in a multi-course dinner while watching a live dance performance.
Silversea’s senior vice president of expeditions, destination and itinerary management Conrad Combrink said: “Not only did our guests gain a deep insight into the local culture here on Kalanggaman Island, but we were able to benefit the local economy, helping to rebuild the island’s pontoon jetty and make other structural renovations that will improve the destination’s tourism infrastructure.”
“We have more in store for our guests on this amazing 139-day voyage, from a bespoke Freddie Mercury tribute show staged at a historic fort in Zanzibar to an exclusive evening performance at the Manaus Opera House in the Amazon, complete with champagne and canapés, among other experiences,” shared Barbara Muckermann, president and CEO, Silversea.
Upcoming cruises include Silversea’s 132-day Far East-West World Cruise 2024 which will sail from San Francisco aboard Silver Shadow on January 15, 2024 before calling in 65 destinations across 14 countries; and Silver Dawn’s 136-day Controtempo World Cruise 2025, which will depart Tokyo for New York on January 13, 2025 and journey to 59 destinations in 30 countries, across four continents.
Trip.com has launched TripGen, a chatbot designed to provide potential travellers with live search assistance powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
The chatbot allows users to enter any travel-related question and receive instant suggestions for pre-trip recommendations, as well as in-trip arrangements. TripGen is integrated with the OpenAI API, which developed ChatGPT based on GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture.
Amy Wei, senior product director at Trip.com Group, told TTG Asia: “Users can make more complex requests, such as suggestions for a romantic holiday. Business travellers (with packed schedules) can easily enquire about one- or two-day tours. This is an efficient way of finding out and narrowing down information for time-starved travellers.”
Most of TripGen’s users will likely be Gen Z-types of travellers, who are well “immersed in the digital world”.
So far, response to TripGen has been good, according to Wei. User numbers have been doubling every day since it launched, with users asking four to five questions during their searches.
TripGen supports English, Japanese, Korean and traditional Chinese, with more languages to be added in the future. Work is also being done to allow users to book directly with Trip.com after TripGen searches, and to integrate with the new WhisperAPI for speech-to-text transcription and translation.
However, concerns around information validity still exists, as ChatGPT’s knowledge is limited to 2021 data.
“This is why we are working on embedding booking links. This way, we will be able to verify if the product, such as a hotel or tour, still exists,” Wei said.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Emirates have teamed up to improve flight connectivity for passengers of both air carriers using a single ticket and a common baggage policy for new points on each other’s networks via Manila and Dubai.
The partnership will provide Emirates’ passengers access to 19 Philippine domestic destinations operated by PAL, including Cotabato, Davao, Iloilo, Kalibo and more, as well as two Asian regional points via Manila.
PAL’s passengers will benefit from access to Emirates’ global network and seamlessly connect to 21 cities operated by Emirates including Cairo, Frankfurt, Casablanca and London via Dubai.
PAL currently has daily flights between Manila and Dubai, while Emirates has 25 weekly operations in Manila, Cebu and Clark.
Bud Britanico, vice president, sales, PAL commented: “We are happy to embark on this new interline partnership with Emirates that expands the choices available to Philippine Airlines passengers, who now gain easier access to more destinations across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa via our flights to Dubai.”
“The partnership with Philippine Airlines will help open new links for trade and tourism that will drive more inbound traffic into the Philippines, and expand Emirates’ footprint in East Asia,” said Adnan Kazim, chief commercial officer, Emirates.
This spring, The Parisian Macao is transforming into a romantic Tulip Garden, allowing guests to enjoy giant Instagrammable tulip installations and floral projection shows from now till May 31.
The Parisian Macao’s Rotunda will transport guests to a breath-taking Tulip Garden, featuring about 50 five-metre-tall tulip artworks around the Fontaine des Mers, each hand-painted by renowned Chinese artist Xuan Qing, bringing romance and the charm of springtime to The Parisian Macao’s French architecture.
A matrix of golden tulips is showcased at Level 3 of Shoppes at Parisian, where a Floating Magic Tulip Garden along the 20-metre Avenue des Champs-Élysées will create a fantastic visual impact. The installation will be illuminated with spotlights at dusk, filling the place with shining images of tulips akin to a floral dreamland.
In addition, there is also a Floral Projection Show at Place Vendôme at Level 3 of Shoppes at Parisian.
For more information, visit The Parisian Macao.
The Clan Hotel Singapore turns two this month and is celebrating with The Clan Turns Two – Double The Celebration package.
The package includes a two-night stay in a Master Series Premier Room or Grand Premier Room, Chinese calligraphy workshop, daily breakfast, one four-course dinner, exclusive anniversary gifts, welcome tea ceremony, late check-out, and more.
During the Chinese calligraphy workshop, guests will be introduced to the fundamental skills of Chinese calligraphy where they will create their own art piece and bring it home in a wooden glass frame.
The Clan Hotel Singapore has also teamed up with two local artisans to create two exclusive gifts for guests to take home as a keepsake of their stay: a set of four hand-drawn postcards that showcase features and design elements iconic to the hotel, and a jar of artisanal pandan gula melaka biscotti.
In addition, there will be a special pop-up event on March 11 and 18 where Singapore-based calligrapher Corinna Tai will conduct live-writing on traditional paper fans as a complimentary personalised gift for guests.
The Clan Turns Two Package is priced at S$1,158 (US$854) and available for booking from now to May 24 for stays between March 10 and May 31.
A minimum eight-day advance booking is required.
For more information, visit The Clan Hotel Singapore.
