TTG Asia
Asia/Singapore Thursday, 9th April 2026
Page 569

Peach Aviation broadens network in Asia

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Peach Aviation is expanding its international flight network with the launch and resumption of services between hubs in Japan and other parts of Asia.

The low-cost carrier will start its first international route from Nagoya’s Chubu Airport (to Taipei) on March 27, which will be operated seven times a week.

Peach Aviation has accelerated the resumption of international flights since August 2022 (Photo: Peach Aviation)

Announcing the Nagoya-Taipei route, Peach’s representative director and CEO Takeaki Mori said: “We are very happy to finally make this happen as we have received requests from many people to operate international flights since we started service at Nagoya (Chubu) Airport in 2020.”

Another route to Taiwan (Osaka to Kaohsiung), which has been suspended since the outset of Covid-19, will resume on August 1 in response to the recovery of Japan’s inbound tourism market.

Peach has accelerated the resumption of international flights since August 2022, beginning with services from Osaka and Tokyo to Seoul, followed by flights from Osaka, Tokyo and Okinawa to Taipei. Its Osaka-Hong Kong service was restarted in January.

Mori noted that Peach now serves the most routes from Japan to Taiwan of any Japanese carrier, adding: “Peach is committed to contributing to the revitalisation of the Japanese economy while promoting interaction between people to liven up the Asian region.”

Still to come is the expansion of the airline’s first medium-haul route between Osaka and Bangkok, which was launched in December 2022 and will be operated daily from summer 2023.

A spokesperson for Peach said the airline “will continue to place the highest priority on safe operations and through infection control measures” and hopes to support Japan via flight provision as it prepares to host Expo 2025 in Osaka.

Peach currently operates 31 domestic routes and 17 international routes with a fleet of 32 aircraft.

Vietjet restores Ho Chi Minh City-Hong Kong services

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Vietjet has relaunched its direct service connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong.

The service will fly twice weekly on every Monday and Friday, with a flight duration of three hours.

Vietjet will operate twice weekly flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong

Vietjet also operates flights to destinations such as Australia, India, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

THAI to fly to China in March

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From March 1, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) will operate 14 weekly flights to five destinations in China.

With all return flight operations departing from Bangkok, the airline will fly to Kunming every Friday and Sunday, and to Guangzhou on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

THAI will fly to five destinations in China from March 1

The services to Chengdu will be on Tuesday and Thursday, while flights to Shanghai will take off every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

The Bangkok-Beijing route will operate thrice weekly on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

Explore Japan on foot

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Walking tours are one of the best ways to explore a country in a new light. Walk Japan features fully-guided trails for travellers who enjoy strolling through streets, forest trails and foot paths to discover lesser-known parts of Japan.

The seven-day, six-night Tokaido Trail starts in Tokyo and finishes in Yuya Onsen. The tour follows the most interesting and enjoyable parts of the ancient highway at an easy walking pace at distances of between 10km and 14km each day. Trek through towns and along paths seemingly forgotten since the days when it was the major transport artery through Japan, chance upon relics and gain insights into travel and daily life in old Japan.

Gain insights into travel and daily life in old Japan with Walk Japan’s Tokaido Trail walking tour

With a maximum group size of eight, accommodation will be provided at Japanese inns and hotels, along with luggage transfers, entrance fees, and transport for some days of the tour. Daily breakfast and dinner are included, as well as three lunches.

The next available tour is from November 22 to 28, and is priced at 384,000 yen (US$2,910) per pax.

For more information, visit Walk Japan.

John Parker helms as GM of Avani Chaweng Samui Hotel & Beach Club

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John Parker has been appointed general manager of Avani Chaweng Samui Hotel & Beach Club.

He has 15 years of hospitality experience and was recently at Mari Beach Club in Bali where he served as pre-opening general manager.

Parker will focus on positioning Avani Chaweng Samui Hotel & Beach Club as Koh Samui’s leading lifestyle resort, as well as elevating SEEN Beach Club Samui’s visibility, both regionally and internationally.

The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place welcomes new GM

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Alexis Rodriguez has been appointed general manager of The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place.

Rodriguez brings with him 18 years of experience in luxury hotels, and in his new role, he will lead his team to ensure the embodiment of The Ritz-Carlton Gold Standards.

Previously the general manager of JW Marriott Zhengzhou, he is also able to communicate in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Galician, among others.

Hong Kong steps up trade engagements in Indian market

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Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has reinstated its physical travel trade engagements in India after a gap of three years from the onset of the pandemic.

The tourism board organised its two-city roadshow covering New Delhi and Mumbai last week, offering destination updates to Indian travel agents. HKTB also participated at South Asia’s Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE) between February 9 and 11 in Greater Noida in which 18 suppliers from Hong Kong were present.

Kumar: we don’t see demand softening from the Indian market

“We have shared insights into various tourism-centric developments that took place in Hong Kong in the last three years through our physical trade engagements in India. Travel agents and MICE planners were also educated about the new experiences and other tourism opportunities for them to sell in Hong Kong,” Puneet Kumar, director, South Asia & Middle East, HKTB told TTG Asia during the New Delhi leg of the roadshow.

While the two-city roadshow was focused on the MICE market, the NTO’s participation at SATTE was aimed at a larger trade outreach. HKTB has also planned a mega fam trip for Indian travel agents that will be organised in the first half of the year.

Hong Kong has an exciting line-up of new tourism products like 11 Skies pegged as its largest hub for retail, dining and entertainment and SkyTrack – positioned as the worlds’ largest indoor and outdoor go-karting track.

Kumar shared: “Our focus will be on promoting art and culture, culinary tourism, wellness and the great outdoors of Hong Kong in the Indian market besides new experiences. (For) outdoors, we will be promoting hiking, water sports activities, island hopping and nature-based sightseeing. Not many people know that 70 per cent of Hong Kong’s land mass is green. We are blessed with natural landscapes and scenery that would attract Indians to explore the green side of Hong Kong.”

The Hong Kong SAR Government had previously announced the lifting of all mandatory PCR test requirements for inbound travellers upon arrival in Hong Kong, as well as the lifting of Vaccine Pass, which had allowed access to specified premises, and other measures.

At present, Cathay Pacific is operating 30 per cent of its pre-pandemic capacity in the Indian market with its seven flights from New Delhi, six flights from Mumbai and three flights from Bengaluru. The carrier is expected to operate 75 per cent of its air capacity in the Indian market by the end of this year.

“We don’t see demand softening from the Indian market, hence, air connectivity is important. Indian carriers, Vistara and IndiGo, are expected to soon resume flights to Hong Kong. This will provide a major boost to our growth plans in the Indian market,” said Kumar.

Japanese stakeholders confident of tourism prospects in the Philippines

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Tourism stakeholders in Japan are bullish on doing business in the Philippines as Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr, during his official visit to Japan, assured them of the Philippine government’s continued support for the sector.

He reiterated that tourism is vital for economic resurgence, saying the Department of Tourism (DoT) “will exhaust all our efforts to revive this extremely important industry”, and also urged airline partners present to restore their pre-pandemic routes and explore new routes to link both countries.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr (centre) during his official visit to Japan where he met with tourism stakeholders

The meeting also aimed to promote the viability and openness of the Philippines for tourism investments.

Sharing plans and programmes on the country’s developments during the meeting, tourism secretary Christina Garcia Frasco noted that Japan has “an interest in certain tourism product offerings including diving, health and wellness, and learning English as a second language”.

Hiroyuki Takahashi, chairperson of Japan Association of Travel Agents, said that with the potential resumption of tourism international exchange, the Philippines’ many tourism offerings had the potential to attract a large number of Japanese visitors.

“The Philippines (has) a mild climate all year, making it a popular destination for younger people to relax at beach resorts like Cebu and Boracay Island, and for retirees, an extended period of (vacation) time,” said Takahashi, adding that with the many Japanese companies establishing operations in the region would mean further growth as a business travel destination.

Hasebe Kento from Japan Philippine Tourism Council noted that despite the hiatus brought about by the pandemic, the organisation is eager to jumpstart its activities starting this year.

“We hope that we can share the many attractions of the Philippines to a lot of people,” he enthused.

Agoda to further support WWF with wildlife conservation across Asia

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Agoda has expanded its partnership with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to support three additional WWF projects as a continuation of its Eco Deals campaign which launched in 2022.

Following last year’s donation drive in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, Agoda’s support this year will extend to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India.

Agoda and WWF have identified important habitats for endangered wildlife, such as the elephants at Kuiburi National Park in Thailand

Agoda has donated US$150,000 to raise awareness about responsible tourism, enabling the restoration of marine habitats such as coral reefs and mangroves in South-east Asia, and protecting wildlife affected by floods in Australia.

For 2023’s campaign, Agoda and WWF have identified important habitats for internationally endangered wildlife including Kuiburi National Park in Thailand, YokDon National Park, the second biggest national park in Vietnam and Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in the Philippines – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Starting from March 2, for every Eco Deals booking made at participating properties, Agoda will donate a dollar to WWF’s marine, forest and wildlife conservation programmes in popular tourist destinations, with a minimum commitment of US$160,000 and a donation target of US$250,000. The campaign will run till September 2.

The eight markets participating in the Eco Deals campaign include Singapore, to stop illegal wildlife trade trafficking; strengthening tiger conservation in Malaysia; supporting rangers in the Philippines’ Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park; restore degraded rainforest Thirty Hills in Indonesia; elephant conservation in Thailand; protecting wildlife and habitat in India; protecting elephants from poaching in Vietnam; and supporting rangers in the Eastern Plains Landscape in Cambodia.

Enric Casals, regional vice president of South-east Asia and Oceania, Agoda, said: “We believe that many of today’s travellers share the same desire to protect the world around us, and our expanded Eco Deals programme gives our customers the chance to travel to their favourite destinations with the knowledge that they are also supporting the preservation of local wildlife and environments.”

R. Raghunathan, CEO, WWF-Singapore added: “We are grateful for their support of the several conservation programmes that we will undertake to protect the rich biodiversity in Asia.

“This partnership will enable us to expand our efforts to restore and protect critical habitats, including employing more rangers and setting up camera traps to monitor wildlife populations.”

Hyatt House brand to debut in Tokyo

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An affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corporation has signed a management agreement with Tokyu Land Corporation for Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya, slated to open by mid-2024.

Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya will mark the entry of the Hyatt House brand in Tokyo, and will be the second Hyatt House-branded property in Japan.

Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya is scheduled to open by mid-2024

The 126-room hotel will be situated in the Sakuragaoka area, just southwest of the Shibuya station and steps away from the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing.

Each of the hotel’s guestrooms will offer home-like amenities including a kitchen, washer and dryer, and living room. Facilities include a rooftop garden, indoor swimming pool, lounge, bar, restaurant, fitness room, and communal spaces.

Sam Sakamura, vice president Japan and Micronesia, Hyatt, said: “”Shibuya is known around the world as one of the dynamic facets of Tokyo, and Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya will play a vital role in the major redevelopment around Shibuya Station.”

“Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya will allow international travellers and locals alike to enjoy unique and iconic Shibuya experiences,” added Tatsuaki Tanaka, director & managing officer, Tokyu Land Corporation.