Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has named Franck Droin as general manager of Mandarin Oriental, Macau.
In his new position, Droin will oversee day-to-day hotel operations, leading the team in delivering operational excellence and innovative guest experiences.
Prior to joining Mandarin Oriental, Macau, the native French and German national was general manager of Mandarin Oriental in Vietnam.
Sneaker Con will make its foray into South-east Asia with the first regional edition to be held in Singapore this April.
Well regarded among sneakerheads as the world’s premier sneaker and street culture show, Sneaker Con is a global event that has been held in more than 40 cities since its inception in 2009.
Sneaker Con SEA is expected to attract participants from around the region, and bridge the gap between regional and global brands and designers.
Alan Vinogradov, Sneaker Con cofounder, said in a press statement: “The first Sneaker Con SEA in Singapore is going to be the beginning of a South-east Asian journey for us and the community out there. We are going to bring influencers, creators and most importantly the sneaker community together for this special occasion, and it’s going to be wild.”
Held by Sneaker Con and O4X, the two-day event also benefits from Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) support.
Ashlynn Loo, STB’s director for attractions, entertainment & tourism concept development, said: “Events like these add to Singapore’s tourism offerings, and boost our position as a vibrant and attractive lifestyle destination. The convention also complements our existing suite of experiences for street culture lovers, which we hope visitors will also get to explore when they come to Singapore for this event.”
Highlights of Sneaker Con SEA include trademark events such as Marketplace, where over 200 international and local renowned brands and collaborations are showcased; Trading Pit, said to be the backbone of every Sneaker Con and where event attendees will buy, sell or trade their favourite kicks and network with fellow sneakerheads; and Ballin’ and Sk8ing, where basketball, football and skateboarding activities will be conducted.
The ticketed event will be held at Singapore Expo, Hall 5 from April 1 to 2.
In support of Hong Kong Tourism Board’s (HKTB) Hello Hong Kong campaign to welcome tourists back to the city, flag carrier Cathay Pacific is giving away 80,000 round-trip air tickets to Hong Kong.
This Cathay Pacific promotion is open to South-east Asian residents who are also airline members, with activities to be rolled out in phases, beginning with Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines on March 1, 2 and 3, 2023 respectively, and then Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia in stages two weeks later.
Cathay Pacific’s ticket giveaway joins Airport Authority Hong Kong’s (AAHK) World of Winners campaign, which puts 500,000 free tickets to Hong Kong up for grabs. This is open to markets around the world.
To participate, Cathay Pacific members will need to visit the campaign website, sign in with their membership details, and answer three questions correctly.
Dominic Perret, Cathay Pacific’s regional general manager for Southeast Asia, said the campaign would boost Hong Kong’s destination promotions in the region.
Vivian Cheung, Chief Operation Officer of AAHK, said: “As part of the relief package for Hong Kong’s aviation industry during the pandemic, AAHK provided liquidity support to the home-based carriers in 2020 by sponsoring air tickets in advance. The air tickets will be used to promote traffic recovery when the pandemic subsides.
“Hong Kong has opened up and we are eager to welcome visitors from different parts of the world. Various new services and facilities are ready at HKIA (Hong Kong International Airport) and we are looking forward to providing passengers a brand new airport experience.”
Trip.com Group has designated tours and experiences B2B platform Globick as its global connectivity partner for direct connections with operators worldwide.
Globick will provide new API integrations between various Trip.com Group platforms, including Trip.com and Ctrip, and tours, events, experiences, theme park and activities operators. This will expand the range of premium products available for Chinese travellers and other important global source markets.
While current integrated partners of Trip.com Group will continue their cooperation in the same manner, the Group will now integrate new chosen operators and aggregators with a direct contract via Globick’s B2B connectivity platform.
Chang Liu, general manager of attractions international business with Trip.com Group, said: “As the China outbound market opens up – and other source markets globally begin to travel internationally in earnest – we want to have the best connectivity solution in place for our tours and experiences partners. Globick’s cutting edge direct connectivity platform enables us to reduce costs and provide our partners with an improved, more efficient experience that will lead to increased sales.”
Xavier Boixeda, co-founder & CEO of Globick, said: “Connectivity is often the missing link in the tours and experiences space, and we feel that this partnership validates our vision to use innovative technology to bring travel sellers and both operators and aggregators together via efficient direct contracts.”
Scoot will begin resuming services to and from China, and will be ramping up flight frequencies across its network to destinations such as Australia, Greece, Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia.
Scoot will progressively increase its total flights to China from 14-times weekly to 26-times weekly by stepping up flight frequencies to seven of its existing points – Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao, Tianjin and Zhengzhou.
In April, flights to Haikou, Ningbo and Xi’an will resume, bringing the total number of weekly flights to China to 42-times weekly. Services to Nanning and Shenyang will restart in May, totalling 57-times weekly flights to China by the end of June.
For other destinations, flight frequencies to Athens will increase from two-times to four-times weekly and from 10-times to 12-times weekly for Perth.
Services to Sapporo via Taipei will also increase from three-times to four-times weekly and flight frequencies to Tokyo via Taipei will now be 12-times weekly. The airline will fly to Langkawi seven-times weekly and to Manado four-times weekly.
Scoot services to the Gold Coast will be suspended after July 17 – customers with existing bookings will be notified of their options.
Returning for its seventh year, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Meet the Winemaker series promises an impressive guest lineup that includes new and familiar specialists.
A new addition to the series is Emma Walker, a Master Blender at Johnnie Walker who holds the highest rank in whisky craftsmanship. She will join the September 17 sailing on Norwegian Prima as it sails through Northern Europe. Cruise guests can learn the brand history and savour the wide range of aged whiskeys.
Also new is chef Ashley Breneman, who began her career studying at Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute and has worked for numerous celebrity chefs, including Gordon Ramsay on the hit show MasterChef. She is now the executive chef at Certified Angus Beef. She will be on the July 9 sailing aboard Norwegian Encore to Alaska.
Fourth-generation winemaker Miguel Torres, who pioneered planting Cabernet Sauvignon in Spain, creating Mas la Plana in 1970, will meet with guests aboard Norwegian Encore’s April 9 Eastern Caribbean voyage.
Returning fan-favourite hosts include celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez, world-class winemaker and member of the historic fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo; Napa Valley icon Michael Mondavi of the Michael Mondavi Family Estate; and The Drinks Business Master Winemaker of the Year 2023 recipient Gérard Bertrand, among others.
The regular series provides wine enthusiasts and gourmands an exclusive opportunity to engage with winemakers and connoisseurs through enriching and interactive seminars and activities on board. Cruise guests can also purchase wines on board that are otherwise only available by visiting the wineries directly.
Harry Sommer, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line, said: “These unique sailings offer a rare opportunity to get one-on-one exposure to esteemed winemakers and their collection of wines, all while visiting multiple destinations and enjoying an unforgettable vacation.”
More information can be found on the Meet the Winemaker series site.
Major Chinese OTAs have reported a spike in the number of searches for the Maldives as soon as the Agreement on Mutual Visa Exemption with the resort destination came into effect last week.
The agreement, signed between the two countries on January 2022, allows citizens of both to enter each other’s land for tourism purposes without a visa for stays of up to 30 days.
According to China’s Qunar, the number of searches for the Maldives increased by 126 per cent on February 17 – the very day the visa waiver came into effect – compared to the day before.
A Qunar spokesperson also told Global Times that searches for hotels in North Male Atoll had tripled on the site, while reservations for February had doubled compared with the previous month.
Search and reservation numbers are expected to continue to rise.
Trip.com has also reported strong Chinese interest in the Maldives, with the visa waiver spurring a 50 per cent month-on-month increase in bookings for Maldives-related products as of February 6.
China was the Maldives’ top source market pre-pandemic, contributing 300,000 visitors in 2019 – 17 per cent of the destination’s total visitorship.
According to the Maldives Ministry of Tourism, the destination has welcomed 8,015 Chinese visitors since the start of this year and up till February 15. While not in pole position at this point, China remains within the country’s top 10 markets, occupying eighth spot.
The Indian government’s recent proposal to increase the rate of Tax Collection at Source (TCS) from the present five per cent to 20 per cent on outbound tour packages has not gone down well with the travel consultants as they believe the decision will be detrimental to their business.
Indian travel agents told TTG Asia that the higher rate will burden their customers and make them non-competitive.
While the government had previously waived the TCS on inbound tour packages in August 2022, the new TCS rate on outbound tour packages is expected to be implemented beginning April 1 this year.
“The move will not only increase the cash outflow of end customers but will also give an unfair advantage to international online booking engines, and websites (that) promote direct hotel bookings,” said Rajat Sawhney, director, Rave Tours & Travels.
“The business will shift to international entities as booking directly with them will help a client to save 20 per cent TCS and five per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) levied on outbound tour packages. It will also deprive the government of precious revenue which they could have otherwise earned.”
Indian travel agents had previously gone through various associations to urge the government to abolish the existing five per cent TCS, citing challenges the tax imposes on business prospects besides increasing compliance costs of local companies.
Subhash Goyal, chairman, STIC Travel Group, said: “Combined with the already expensive airfares, an increase in TCS rate will make the budget of a traveller go haywire. The hike in TCS rate may perhaps force people to request their friends and relatives abroad to book overseas hotels and packages for them, thus depriving Indian travel agents of their earnings.”
The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality – the umbrella body representing 10 travel trade associations – has made a representation to the Indian government to revoke its decision.
Langkawi will soon have a fresh attraction to draw travellers – the Dream Forest Langkawi, an integrated tourist destination comprising Dream Forest Immersive Park and Dream Forest Book Village.
Built at a cost of around 20 million ringgit (US$4.5 million), the project is conceptualised and developed by Enfiniti Group and led by creative powerhouse Tiara Jacquelina.
The first phase of the project, Dream Forest Immersive Park, is set to open in May at the foot of Gunung Raya mountain. It will feature a multi-sensory, immersive evening walk through a 1.2km trail in Langkawi’s lush rainforest, where local stories and legends of the island come alive through soundscape, illuminations and projection mapping on the trees and the ground. Some spaces are also interactive.
During the day, visitors can take nature walks and at night, the forest transforms into a 6.39 hectare-wide natural theatrical space.
At a recent press conference, Tiara said the project was four years in the making.
“It started in 2019 as a very different project, designed to be experienced as separate stories told through various mediums of technology in individual pavilions,” she said.
“This was part of a plan to revitalise and reinvigorate the beautiful, former Kampung Buku of Langkawi. We even had plans for a spectacular nightly performance in an outdoor theatre.
“By 2020, it was very clear that the tourism industry and attractions like the one we were creating needed to adapt to a new normal in tandem with Industrial Revolution 4.0. The world was changing, the way people travelled and consumed entertainment was changing.”
Realising this, Enfiniti Group had to rethink the concept and how the visitor’s journey could be enhanced through the use of technology and automation, while being responsible and respectful to the natural forest landscape.
The second phase, Dream Forest Book Village, will house an events space, F&B and retail outlets as well as picnic spots. There will also be regularly curated cultural-based pocket performances of music, dance and poetry readings around the gardens or at the 120-seat amphitheatre.
Liz Ortiguera has resigned from her role as CEO of PATA.
In a press statement, PATA vice chair Benjamin Liao recognised Ortiguera’s effort in leading the association “during a difficult period for the industry”.
Commenting on her exit, Ortiguera said: “I had the opportunity to work with some deeply committed, hard-working and talented individuals within the PATA team as well as our valued members and partners.”
“I am confident that PATA, with its diverse member base of industry leaders, can continue to support and lead our industry’s recovery and growth,” she added.