With the Covid-19 situation stabilised, Singapore is ready to phase out its indoor mask-wearing policy, said prime minister Lee Hsien Loong during the National Day Rally on August 21.
Details on this will be made at a later date.
Singapore will soon phase out its indoor mask-wearing policy
Currently, while masks are optional in outdoor settings, they are mandatory indoors, in places such as shopping malls and offices.
With the reduced requirements, masks will be optional in most indoor settings. However, masks will still be required on public transport, where people are in prolonged close contact in a crowded space; and in healthcare settings where there are vulnerable people, Lee said.
Accor and Hann have deepened their partnership with a new signing that will see the former bring its Sofitel and Emblems brands into the Hann Lux luxury integrated resort in Clark City, the Philippines.
Sofitel Clark will comprise 300 guest rooms while the Emblems Clark will feature 200 guest rooms, and both will place guests within easy reach of high-end fashion stores, French inspired cafes and convention facilities.
From left: Accor’s Garth Simmons and Hann Philippines’ Daesik Han
The new hotels will feature all-day dining and speciality restaurants, as well as swimming pools, spas, fitness centres, meetings and conferencing spaces, and executive lounges.
“We are proud to expand our strategic relationship with Hann in this landmark multi-agreement signing. This reaffirms the trust and confidence owners place in Accor, our relationship driven-approach towards partners, and the popularity of our brands powered by strong distribution and lifestyle loyalty platforms,” said Garth Simmons, CEO, Accor, Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, in a statement.
“We are also thrilled and extremely proud to introduce two very special properties to vibrant Clark. Sofitel Clark and Emblems Clark will both bring an iconic sense of luxury to Hann Lux, and we are delighted to be working with our valued partners, Hann Philippines, to bring their unique vision to life,” he added.
The latest agreement adds to Accor and Hann’s 2019 partnership for Banyan Tree Clark, Angsana Clark, Mercure Clark and Swissôtel Clark. The first phase of Swissôtel Clark launched in February 2022, with the broader hotel complex set to debut later this year.
Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has commenced its first direct flight from Seoul to Riyadh in line with its strategy to expand its network of more than 100 global destinations.
Ahmed Alwassiah, chief operating officer, Saudia, said: “With this milestone route, Saudia is not only connecting the Kingdom to more of the world ‘touristic-ly’, but also helping to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and services, allowing both countries to enhance their local businesses, logistics framework, and manufacturing infrastructure.”
Saudia expands its network with the launch of the Seoul-Riyadh service
The flight schedule between the two countries will be under constant review to ensure that flights and seating capacity meet operational requirements.
Sabah and Penang will be embarking on a cross-promotion of their respective tourism attractions after signing a Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) on August 20.
Sabah Tourism Board’s (STB) chairman, Joniston Bangkuai, and Penang Global Tourism’s (PGT) Yeoh Soon Hin, described the MoC as a “momentous” event, noting that the two states share a similar commitment to the positive impact that tourism might have on the people and the economies of their respective states as well as the nation.
The partnership between Sabah and Penang will see better flight connectivity between both states and the development of tourism products to attract more visitors to Malaysia
Some of the partnership goals include improving flight connectivity between the two states and facilitating the engagement of key parties in relation to the development of products and tourism.
Joniston shared: “I do think that this MoC is the first step to help us realise our friendship initiatives through tourism and hopefully it will lead to a similar collaboration with other states.”
SBT and PTG should establish a key performance indicator to assess the efficacy of their partnership and adjust as needed to realise their goals, he suggested.
Yeoh was optimistic that the partnership would help to boost the economies of both states and make them more resilient in the face of future challenges. With both parties sharing tourism ideas and creating dual destination packages for domestic and international markets, it would attract more visitors to the country.
“To me, the key to tourism success is breaking down siloed approaches. To succeed, we must work together, and this important partnership is a step to achieve our common goals,” added Yeoh.
Japan is considering the removal of pre-arrival Covid-19 testing requirement for vaccinated inbound travellers, with a decision likely to be made within weeks, reported Japanese media on Monday.
Current regulations require Japan-bound travellers to show a negative PCR test result within 72 hours of departure.
Travellers bound for Japan may soon no longer need to perform a pre-arrival PCR test
The government will also consider raising the daily cap on people arriving in Japan from the current 20,000.
Japan’s stringent controls over arriving travellers has put a damper on the country’s efforts to rebuild tourism. Even with its reopening to leisure group tours since June 10, the country’s inbound recovery remains slow.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy and Magnus Digital Indonesia, an ad-tech marketing consultant and part of the Volare Advertising Network, have developed a metaverse channel to promote Indonesia’s offerings.
WonderVerse Indonesia aims to promote the beauty and uniqueness of Indonesia to the rest of the world as well as to encourage tourism and creative economy players to promote their products digitally.
The MoU signing for WonderVerse Indonesia
Minister of tourism and creative economy, Sandiaga Uno, said: “We are currently in a transitioning period where digitalisation becomes the driving force behind transformation and new platforms that will boost tourism promotion. We are finding ways to accelerate technology development as metaverse is a place where we can conduct activities interactively.”
WonderVerse Indonesia is divided into four parts called “lands”, with more lands to be added in the future.
The Lobby is where visitors can interact with endemic animals, and enjoy digital galleries containing works by Indonesian artists, and a wide screen showcasing a variety of upcoming excitements. WonderFun Land showcases traditional games, performances and entertainment; WonderGoods Land is an online marketplace; while WonderReal Land allows visitors to directly purchase flight tickets, hotels, and accommodation in the top five destinations they want to go to for their holiday.
“WonderVerse Indonesia can become a (source) of information and provide great benefits for Indonesia in terms of digital, travel, and the creative economy,” opined Hendra Liman, CEO, Magnus Digital Indonesia.
WonderVerse Indonesia is accessible from anywhere through its desktop site, with future plans for virtual reality (VR), creating opportunities for the tourism industry and the creative economy to reach the younger generation.
Tourism Malaysia ran its first post-lockdown sales mission last week to two major cities in Thailand, Songkhla and Bangkok to instil confidence among Thais to visit Malaysia again, and to provide a platform for the trade community to rebuild business.
Minister of tourism, arts & culture, Nancy Shukri led the group which comprised members of Malaysia-based airlines, travel agents, hoteliers, and product owners.
From left: Malaysia’s Nancy Shukri and Thailand’s Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn
Nancy said: “We are delighted to have Thai travellers experience our newly developed and latest attractions, including our outdoor theme park in the highlands – the newly-opened Genting SkyWorld – and the magnificent Merdeka 118 Tower in Kuala Lumpur, currently standing as the world’s second-tallest building.”
Thailand remains one of Malaysia’s essential short-haul markets, and is one of the top four origin markets for the destination since its reopening.
In 2019, Malaysia welcomed 1,884,306 arrivals from Thailand, with almost 70 per cent of Thai tourists being repeat travellers.
Europe’s early move to reopen its borders for leisure travel with minimal restrictions has left a deep imprint in the minds of many holiday-starved Singapore residents, paving the way for the region to emerge a hot favourite this year, observed outbound consultants in the city-state.
Outbound agency Super Travels told TTG Asia that bookings obtained so far this year for Europe have returned to 80 per cent of 2019 levels.
More Singaporeans are travelling to Europe now that it has reopened its borders for leisure travel with minimal restrictions; Munich’s Marienplatz Town Hall and Frauenkirche pictured
Huijuan Lim, co-founder of Wondergolander, a bespoke luxury travel agency specialising in longhaul destinations, said customers “like to feel free of Covid-related restrictions” – a freedom that Europe has offered ahead of other Asian destinations.
Most of Wondergolander’s clients have elected Europe for their next holiday, and have requested for customised itineraries.
For many Singapore residents, taking a longhaul trip may also be a momentous decision. Jess Yap, founder of Intriq Journey, a luxury tailor-made travel expert, shared that there are more requests for such trips compared to short-haul ones. “For them, it could be their first trip post-Covid, so they are excited and want to travel farther and (for a) longer (duration),” she added.
Jeremiah Wong, spokesperson for Chan Brothers Travel, rejects the idea that “longhaul destinations fare better than short-haul ones, or vice versa”, saying that popular destinations now were already a hit pre-Covid. Hot favourites then and now include Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
Reflecting on the recently concluded NATAS Holidays 2022 travel fair in Singapore, Wong said most customers already have their preferred destinations in mind, and had directly enquired about them at the consumer travel fair.
With greater disposable savings, travellers are willing to spend more on their trips. In the case of Chan Brothers, packages have been upgraded with higher quality elements such as higher-end hotels and travel insurance with Covid-19 protection to reassure travellers.
In comparison with Europe, some travel consultants told TTG Asia that demand for Asian destinations has returned at a slower pace, especially since destinations such as Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia had only gradually reopened their borders and eased regulations for international travellers in recent months. The lack of regional flight capacity, resulting in higher ticket prices, is another possible reason for the slower recovery.
William Huang, marketing manager with Super Travels, said bookings for Asian destinations are at 65 per cent of 2019.
He said: “The biggest challenge for regional travel is that some Asian destinations still have travel restrictions in place, like Taiwan and Hong Kong which require on-arrival quarantine, and South Korea which requires on-arrival PCR tests. The one Asian destination that has picked up the most for us is Vietnam, and I believe it is because the country has removed all its travel restrictions.”
Interest in Japan has also intensified, fuelled by the country’s reopening to guided tours since June 10.
Yap said travellers to Japan now could experience the destination without the usual hordes of tourists in popular cities like Kyoto. — Additional reporting by Karen Yue
Philippine tourism secretary Christina Garcia Frasco proposed at the 11th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Tourism Ministerial Meeting last week that some of the tourism recovery strategies taken by the Philippine government could be magnified and adapted on a larger scale in the Asia-Pacific region.
Suitable strategies are that that sought to increase connectivity, travel convenience, equal opportunities, and sustainable tourism.
Frasco shed light on the Philippines’ strategies to introduce improvements to infrastructure and transportation during the 11th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Tourism Ministerial Meeting
To increase connectivity with APEC Member Economies and the rest of the world, Frasco shed light on the Philippines’ strategies to introduce improvements to infrastructure and transportation in order to provide an enhanced and affordable experience for visitors.
She also disclosed the country’s plans to partner with airlines and airports in the reinstatement of flights and development of new routes in order to restore affordable and competitive rates for international and domestic travel.
With digitalisation of information and booking services enhancement forming part of the major strategies to enhance end-to-end connectivity in the country, the tourism authority is also studying the development of a tourist life cycle app that will connect tourists to various tourism elements and facilitate intelligence data monitoring.
Another area ripe of adaptation is vaccine interoperability for a more convenient travel experience across APEC Member Economies.
“The Philippines is one with the tourism industry in supporting steps being undertaken to continue to open up our borders and facilitate seamless travel across destinations and economies in order to spur economic activity and people-to-people connectivity,” she said.
“Convenience may be spurred to ensure the uniformity of protocols and the interoperability of vaccine certificates across economies, as well as the development and updating of travel applications to make travel and destination information readily available,” she added.
Frasco also urged the creation of equal opportunities and sustainable tourism for all.
She said: “With new market preferences emerging for more sustainable tourism products, there is now an opportunity for new tourism destinations and products to be developed, paving the way for more multi-dimensional tourism experiences that are immersive and reflective of the unique cultures of the various economies in APEC.
“The equalisation of opportunities across underdeveloped destinations among APEC Member Economies is critical to spread economic opportunities to ensure that no one is left behind as we reboot and restart the travel and tourism industry,” she noted.
Recognising tourism’s propensity to have an adverse impact on local communities and the environment if progress was without regulation, Frasco pushed for the prioritisation of sustainable tourism practices, and coordination between APEC economies, as well as national and local governments.
“Since we’ve all envisioned the long-term success of the tourism industry, sustainable tourism paired with effective local and national governance and coordination spells the way forward. It is for this reason that we advocate for a close collaboration between APEC economies as well as national and local governments to prolong the life cycle of a tourist destination. Sustainable tourism policies need to be integrated within a wider economic, social, and environmental policy consideration within an overall sustainable development framework,” she said.
“We must therefore look at the basic elements of sustainable development as a guide post in the revival and continued recovery of the tourism industry across our economies,” she added.
Having paused its plans for Terminal 5 for two years due to Covid-19, Changi Airport’s new terminal is now being designed with lessons from the pandemic and is scheduled to be completed by the mid-2030s.
Terminal 5’s design has been improved to be more resilient, with the ability to operate more safely and flexibly during a pandemic. Such considerations include the flexibility to operate as smaller sub-terminals when needed, like converting spaces in the airport into testing areas or for segregating high-risk passengers.
Terminal 5 is scheduled to be completed by the mid-2030s
There will be special provisions deployed within Singapore’s new terminal to reduce the transmission of diseases, such as contactless systems at passenger touch points, and enhanced ventilation systems that can be activated during a pandemic to increase the use of fresh air and minimise the mixing of air.
With the aim of being energy-efficient and reduce its carbon footprint, Terminal 5 will incorporate solar panels, smart building management systems, as well as district cooling combined with thermal energy storage. The new terminal will be certified as a Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy Building by the Building and Construction Authority once completed.
The building will also be ready for viable alternative fuels, including the use of sustainable aviation fuel, and for the provision of fixed ground power and cooling for aircraft parked at the gates.
In addition, a new business and lifestyle destination will be built next to the new terminal, and will be called Changi East Urban District. Set within landscaped public spaces, it will have offices, smart work centres, flexible conference rooms and halls, hotels and serviced apartments.
