Centara Hotels & Resorts has signed a new agreement to continue managing Centara Koh Chang Tropicana Resort.
Situated on Klong Prao Beach along Koh Chang’s west coast, the resort offers activities like boating, island hopping, diving and snorkelling and exploratory options such as the island’s mountainous terrain, forest paths, waterfalls, and more.
The resort also features an ocean-facing pool and a children’s pool with waterslides, as well as a spa, kids’ club, and beachfront dining options.
Thailand’s Phuket has a brand-new attraction, Carnival Magic – the Magical Kingdom of Lights, which is a night-time Thai carnival theme park, featuring attractions not found anywhere else in the world.
Visitors can experience shopping, carnival performances and fun activities in a festive atmosphere created by a huge array of bright and colourful shops at Carnival Fun Fair.
They can also whet their appetite at the Bird of Paradise Buffet Restaurant, a 3,000-seat dining facility offering more than 100 delicacies from the East and the West, including Indian, vegetarian and Halal dishes.
Enjoy the indoor parade show theatre, River Palace, that showcases the world’s biggest indoor parade show, River Carnival, and marvel at the Kingdom of Lights, an illumination park that creates a dazzling dreamscape employed by more than 40 million lights.
In addition, the carnival is home to nine Guinness World Records attractions like the biggest popcorn machine, largest LED sculpture, and largest papier-mâché sculpture.
For more information, visit Carnival Magic.
The Legian Seminyak, Bali and The Club by The Legian Seminyak, Bali have launched the Third Night On Us campaign, offering guests a complimentary night with a minimum stay of three consecutive nights.
The offer includes a signature welcome mocktail, afternoon tea, complimentary private bar and refreshments in the suites and a choice of daily in-room breakfast or at the all-day dining restaurant.
Available for select suite categories such as Studio Suite, One-Bedroom Superior Suite, One-Bedroom Deluxe Suite, and Two-Bedroom Suite, guests staying at The Club by The Legian Seminyak, Bali in One Bedroom Pool Villa, Two Bedroom Maisonette Pool Villa, Two Bedroom Joglo Pool Villa, and Three Bedroom Pool Villa will also enjoy Club Benefits such as a return airport transfer, private butler service, daily afternoon tea and cocktails at The Club Lounge.
Valid for stay periods until March 31, 2023, the complimentary night(s) are cumulative, so a stay of six consecutive nights will include two free-nights while a stay of nine consecutive nights gets three free-nights.
For more information, email romir@hmcorp.in.
China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has approved the resumption of outbound group tours to 20 countries from February 6.
The last outbound group tours from China were conducted in January 2020, before the government issued an urgent order to suspend operations so as to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The 20 countries approved for outbound group tours are Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, the UAE, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Fiji, Cuba and Argentina.
Chinese travel agencies and online travel companies are now permitted to prepare product releases and proceed with destination promotions.
The commencement of group tours comes with strict requirements. Chinese travel agencies and online travel companies must ensure the safety and interests of tourists on group tours, implement epidemic prevention and control measures, standardise business activities, and enforce strict supervision. Tour participants must also keep to the reported programme and schedule.
IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG) is seeing an upward momentum in growth for its emerging brand, voco hotels, with 10 new openings in 2022 and another 34 in the pipeline.
The brand now has a global total of 41 hotels, the most recent addition being the signing of a management agreement with Atharva Hotel Superfluities India for voco Gurugram Golf Course Extension Road – the second voco hotel in India.
voco Gurugram Golf Course Extension Road hotel offers 204 keys along with an all-day-dining restaurant, lobby lounge, bar, pool, gym and event venues. It is a few minutes’ drive from corporate and recreational hub Cyber City, and stands in close proximity to the city’s established IT Special Economic Zones.
Commenting on this signing, Sudeep Jain, managing director, South West Asia, IHG, said it is “testimony to IHG’s commitment to grow footprint in India and introduce global brands with strong synergies for guests in the right locations”.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Thai AirAsia have initiated a new campaign, Menu of New Experiences… Unforgettable Secondary Cities, that seeks to draw travellers deeper into the country through the lure of experiences and cuisine.
Running from January 23 to March 31, 2023, the campaign will spotlight secondary tourist cities, particularly those that the airline serves – Chiang Rai, Nan, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang, Ranong, Chumphon, Narathiwat, Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani, Roi Et, Nakhon Panom, Sakon Nakhon, Buriram and Loei.
The campaign is expected to stimulate tourism and disperse revenue to secondary cities.
Santisuk Klongchaiya, CEO of AirAsia Thailand, said the airline offers the most expansive domestic network in the country, including direct flights to secondary cities.
After visiting secondary cities, travellers can continue onwards to surrounding provinces for an even more diverse experience. Attractive combinations include Nakhon Panom-Sakon Nakhon and Chumphon-Ranong, where travellers can arrive in one and depart from the other. Day excursions could be had in Chiang Rai-Phayao, Udon Thani-Bueng Kan, Roi Et-Yasothon and Trang-Phatthalung.
“We want everyone to have new experiences in secondary cities, which may not be as well-known but are definitely unique and worth discovering. Each is waiting to welcome visitors looking for a different journey, added Santisuk.
Hotel associations in Malaysia are disappointed that the hotel industry has been excluded as a critical sector for employment of foreign workers in the Human Resources Ministry’s plans to ease foreign worker recruitment processes.
The ministry is planning to make it easier and faster for companies in five critical sectors and sub-sectors – manufacturing, construction, plantation, agriculture and services (restaurants only) – to hire foreign workers. Employers in these approved industries will be able to submit applications for hiring foreign workers through the Foreign Worker Centralised Management System (FWCMS) platform under the FWe Approval Module.
A joint press statement by the three hotel associations in Malaysia, namely Malaysian Association of Hotels, Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners and Malaysia Budget & Business Hotel Association, pointed out that prior to the pandemic, the hotel sector had always been consistently ranked as the top three tourism receipt contributors every year and is among the top five for total employment in the larger tourism industry.
Representatives said: “Our sector was one of the worst hit during the pandemic, as businesses were unable to operate due to the declined patronage and strict pandemic standard operating procedures of the time; displacing many employees from the hospitality industry which then were snapped up by other industries.
“The hotel sector has found it difficult to replenish our workforce as hotel jobs are perceived as 3D – dirty, dangerous and difficult work – which has long been considered unappealing by locals.
“We also have a problem recruiting new talents as the younger generation… prefers gig economy jobs and tend not to prefer working long hours despite overtime pay.
“Previously-employed hotel staff that were displaced due to the pandemic also are not keen on rejoining, as they have built their careers in other sectors during the lapsed period.
“Locals do not tend to stay long on hotel jobs and their high turnover rate adversely affect hotel operations, as it means we cannot maintain a consistent standard of service for our patrons.”
Representatives stressed that without adequate manpower, the hospitality industry will not be able to provide adequate services to patrons and that will lead to declining standards and ultimately, undermine the government’s efforts to make Malaysia the destination of choice for tourism.
When contacted, Shaharuddin M Saaid, executive director, Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners, said the associations would write officially to the Human Resources Ministry for a meeting so they can plead their case that the hospitality industry should be included as a critical sector and be allowed to hire foreign workers.
Kicking off on March 1 at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore is the award-winning 360-degree digital immersive art experience, Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.
It is the show’s debut in South-east Asia.
The show is housed within various individualistic galleries, and invites visitors to step into more than 300 of Vincent Van Gogh’s sketches, drawings, and paintings conveyed through the use of floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall large scale digital projections.
One of the core highlights of this exhibition is an expansive central projection area where visitors can sit and absorb the wonders of Van Gogh’s masterpieces.
The Singapore edition features two unique segments: a showcase of the traditional Japanese art style of woodblock stamps and prints; and an authentic matcha tea ceremony that visitors can partake in.
Visit the event site for more information.
With almost all of its limited 12-night sailings sold out, and demand still strong, Royal Caribbean will add two more sailings between Singapore and Tokyo, Japan on Spectrum of the Seas in 2023.
The new 12-night sailings, departing from Singapore and Tokyo on September 19 and October 1 respectively, can be enjoyed back-to-back, allowing guests to visit up to 10 destinations across three countries over the 24-night adventure. Destinations unique to the new itineraries include Hue/Danang in Vietnam, as well as Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Okinawa and Ishigaki in Japan.
More than 60% of Chinese travellers surveyed by Dragon Trail on the eve of China’s reopening expressed interest in traveling outside China in 2023.
While survey results indicate that recovery will pick up gradually throughout the first sixth months of the year, Dragon Trail expects a strong comeback to start from July, along with a bumper eight-day Golden Week holiday for Mid-Autumn Festival and China’s National Day (September 29 to October 6).
Sharing the results of the January 2023 Chinese Traveler Sentiment Report at a joint webinar with travel analysts ForwardKeys just before the start of the Chinese New Year holidays, researchers noted that findings are aligned with booking trends.
China’s decision to ditch its zero-Covid policy has triggered a surge in flight bookings, according to the latest data from ForwardKeys. Intra-regional neighbours in Asia will reap the benefits the most.
“Let’s go”, “waited for too long”, “feels happy”, and “enjoy the freedom” were just some of the overwhelmingly positive sentiments shared by the 60.4% of survey respondents who said they wanted to travel outside of China in 2023.
“This group expressed high expectations about the freedom of cross-border travel this year. Survey respondents said they were excited to relax, as well as to experience the scenery, food, culture, and shopping overseas,” shared Dragon Trail market research analyst Yelinuer Kadeerbieke.
Top China outbound destinations are in South-east Asia
“Forward bookings for Chinese New Year are currently 47% behind pre-pandemic levels but already 30% ahead last year,” said ForwardKeys’ analyst Nan Dai.
South-east Asian destinations are most likely to first benefit from the return of Chinese tourists. “All these destinations have relaxed rules for Chinese travellers. Arrivals from China will not be required to provide test results for Covid-19. Visa waiver to Indonesia, visa-on-arrival to Thailand, Cambodia and the UAE – all make it even easier to travel,” added Dai.
Dragon Trail’s data also points to strong recovery for Asian destinations. Hong Kong, Macau and Thailand topped the list of outbound destinations to which Chinese tourists plan to travel in 2023. Notably, Hong Kong was chosen by 20.7% of survey respondents, with 11.4% choosing Macau and 11.1% planning a trip to Thailand.
Recovery of the Chinese outbound market will pick up this summer
Despite high demand for cross-border trips, the lack of flight capacity and high fares could be the bottleneck for China’s outbound travel recovery in 1Q2023.
“Current scheduled international flight capacity in 1Q2023 is only at 21% of 2019’s level; and owing to approval requirements for traffic rights and airport slots, it will be difficult for airlines to gear back up very quickly. We can expect a more significant increase when airlines schedule for the next summer season starting from March 26,” opined Dai.
Kadeerbieke added: “Our survey results show that while recovery will start gradually in the first six months of 2023, it’s clear that outbound travel will start to pick up in the second half of the year. 42% said they would travel outbound in July and August, with 32% planning an autumn Golden Week getaway outside China.”
The outbound China market is vital in the travel food chain, so the return of the sleeping dragon in time for the Lunar New Year with promises for greater growth over the summer period will be a game changer for the travel sector in 2023.