Philippines replaces One Health Pass with e-Arrival Card

October 21, 2022

The Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) has introduced the electronic arrival card on October 21, which provides a more convenient and stress-free experience for Filipino and foreign travellers arriving in the Philippines.

The e-Arrival Card replaces the existing One Health Pass (OHP) entry requirement for travellers as a bid to ease the country’s remaining stringent entry protocols so as to attract more travellers and boost the country’s tourism recovery.

Travellers to the Philippines will now register with the e-Arrival Card instead of One Health Pass; Manila pictured

The decision to remove the OHP was a result of numerous complaints from inbound travellers, as well as a means of benchmarking more convenient arrival protocols in South-east Asia such as Singapore.

Prior to the adoption of the new e-Arrival Card, travellers were required to register for the OHP a few days before their travel, and accomplish the electronic Health Declaration Checklist on the day of departure.

Compared to the previous OHP system, the e-Arrival Card also removes unnecessary information fields, making it easier and faster to complete the traveller registration process. It will also eventually eliminate the need for physical arrival cards.

Upon providing their travel details, personal information, health declaration and vaccination details on the e-Arrival Card, travellers will be issued with a unique QR code which they must then capture a screenshot of the QR code on their mobile device and present it to the Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ) officers at their destination airport in the Philippines.

In the event that a traveller is unable to complete their e-Arrival Card, the BoQ has staff stationed at the airport to assist in the registration.

Lachlan Hoswell leads Radisson Hotel Group, Australasia

By TTG Asia

October 21, 2022

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Radisson Hotel Group has appointed Lachlan Hoswell as managing director, Australasia.

With over 20 years of hospitality experience, Hoswell will be supporting his team and driving the growth of the group’s portfolio across major towns, cities and upcoming destinations across Australia and New Zealand. He will also lead operations and be responsible for all strategic initiatives in the region, working closely with key business partners to strengthen Radisson Hotel Group’s branding in-market.

Prior to joining the group, Hoswell held the position of company director, general counsel and commercial officer of Minor Hotels Australia and New Zealand.

Visa struggles continue for Indonesians

By Mimi Hudoyo

October 21, 2022

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Indonesian outbound travel companies looking to reap a good year-end harvest since the easing of travel restrictions are hitting visa roadblocks.

While many travel agencies are reporting intense demand for European holidays, some even seeing record-breaking requests and bookings, trip fulfilment has been marred by slow and delayed visa applications.

Trip fulfilment has been marred by slow and delayed visa applications

Edhi Sutadarma, tour director of Golden Rama Tours & Travel, said: “Although countries are open to visitors, not all are open to groups, like Italy and Germany. And those that welcome groups have limited capacity for visa processing. In fact, applications to some countries have been halted until January 2023.”

Agents also complain of changes to visa processing duration, with some being alerted only at the last minute.

Hellen Xu, CEO of Panorama JTB Travel, shared that a group of 28 travellers to Switzerland last week risked missing their flight due to such a change. After applications were submitted, her agency was informed that 21 days were needed for the procedure instead of 14.

“We were unsure if the group could go even on departure day. Our travellers were due to fly out at 18.20 and their passports were only returned to us at 16.00. Luckily, the airline was cooperative and the group was able to fly in the end,” she recalled.

Edhi noted that appointments for biometric clearance were also tricky to secure due to limited slots, making it difficult for his team to schedule visa applications.

Pauline Suharno, president of the Association of the Travel Agencies in Indonesia, said the visa problem has resulted in business losses for travel companies.

“They have to give full refunds to travellers if (the trip cannot be fulfilled). They have to pay cancellation fees to airlines and ground operators,” she said.

In July, TTG Asia reported that losses from cancellation charges and forfeited fees ran as high as US$500,000 for a single travel company.

To minimise losses, some agencies are rerouting their programmes to easier points of entry in Europe, according to Pauline. Others are pooling passengers with agencies holding group visas but have yet to meet minimum traveller numbers for departures.

Indonesian agents are also offering tours to destinations with friendlier visa systems, like Turkey, where visas are not needed.

NYC extends warm welcome to Muslim travellers

By Mimi Hudoyo

October 21, 2022

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New York City has restarted its promotions in South-east Asia, and this time the iconic American city is looking to work its way into the hearts of Muslim travellers.

It has published the New York City Halal Travel Guide and is communicating the fact that the city is home to around one million Muslims.

New York is looking to work its way into the hearts of Muslim travellers

Makiko Matsuda Healy, managing director of tourism development, NYC & Company, said: “The pandemic had us rethink how we want to present the city (to the market). We don’t want to just go back to where we were; we want to show that there is more to offer in New York City.”

As a melting pot of cultures, New York City is home to Asians, Latinos, Mexicans and others, which might not have been highlighted enough in the past, opined Healy.

“(Muslims) are actually one of the oldest communities in New York City. We have (halal) facilities ready as we have been serving the Muslim community (for so long),” she added.

Besides the Muslim traveller focus, NYC & Company is also encouraging visitors to “travel like the New Yorkers” and discover hidden spots throughout the five boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island) where they can engage with the local community and take home unique experiences. Visitors can look forward to food cart-hopping tours, food and fashion tours, vintage clothing shopping, as well as dining at restaurants that practice sustainable sourcing.

Healy said that companies offering these experiences work closely with the local communities.

Healy said New York City is on track to welcome 56.7 million visitors this year – 85 per cent of 2019’s performance. In 2019, South-east Asia contributed 220,000 arrivals.

“South-east Asia is important because it is a long-haul market that stays long and has high spending power,” she said, adding that Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia are especially valuable.

Saudi fires up tourism pursuit

By S Puvaneswary

October 21, 2022

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The Asia-Pacific market has been identified as a shiny target for Saudi Arabia as it reopens its borders and sets out to fulfil its ambitious Vision 2030 to grow tourist arrivals to 100 million.

Malaysia and India are particularly important, said Alhasan A Aldabbagh, chief markets officer, Asia Pacific with Saudi Tourism Authority (STA).

Alhasan: we see Saudi Arabia complementing rather than competing with other GCC destinations

In an interview with TTG Asia, Alhasan revealed that the Kingdom is targeting 500,000 tourists from Malaysia. It is working closely with trade partners to nurture the nascent Malaysian leisure segment, with its latest move being an MoU with the Malaysia Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) to provide members with destination training and promotional tools. Saudi Arabia has also committed to being a destination partner for MATTA Fair in March 2023 in Kuala Lumpur.

On October 17, STA pulled off its first roadshow in Kuala Lumpur, introducing more than 100 Malaysian outbound agents to the kingdom’s six UNESCO World Heritage Sites, soft adventures, architecture and marine life.

There are plans for a second roadshow later this year, even more marketing campaigns, as well as engagements with influencers and celebrities as destination advocates.

Over in India, STA intends to charm travellers with Bollywood stars as well as football and cricket icons. It also wants a share of the lucrative Indian destination weddings market.

Elsewhere in the region, STA will open offices in Australia, Singapore and Indonesia next year. Alhasan said the organisation is keen to establish representative offices in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan too, but no time frame has been set. STA already has a physical presence in India, China, South Korea, Japan while its commercial office in Malaysia covers the South-east Asian region.

While Alhasan said Saudi Arabia is late to the tourism game, he does not feel that the kingdom is playing with a disadvantage against other tourism-focused Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) destinations.

“Each destination in the GCC has its own unique offering, and a lot of people would like to go to multiple destinations on a single trip. We see Saudi Arabia complementing rather than competing with other GCC destinations. We like to think of ourselves as having the unique positioning that we are the true home of Arabia. We offer a very authentic Arabian culture and have a lot of distinctions. We have over 10,000 archeological sites and we are bringing them out to the world,” he said.

Travel desire in India remains strong

By Rohit Kaul

October 20, 2022

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Having restrained their wanderlust for more than two years, Indian consumers are leveraging every opportunity to leave home and explore new destinations, with travel demand surging over long weekends, festive holidays, and summer and winter breaks.

According to Indian travel specialists, this pent-up travel demand will fuel business recovery and growth through 2023.

European destinations remain a hot favourite among Indian travellers; streets of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland pictured

While Indian travellers’ hunger for European holidays are met with visa application delays this year, travel consultants are certain that the region will remain a hot favourite.

Daniel D’Souza, president & country head – holidays with SOTC Travel, expects visa conditions to improve soon, allowing more Indians to travel to their favourite destinations in Europe and the UK.

Rajeev Kale, president & country head, Holidays, MICE, Visa with Thomas Cook (India), shared that his company’s 2023 pipeline indicates strong international travel demand, with Europe topping the charts. Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy are hot favourites, followed closely by Turkey, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

However, the world is truly every Indian traveller’s oyster, according to Kale, who said customers are also favouring “closer-to-home destinations” like Singapore and Thailand; Japan for its cherry blossom season; and more exotic options like Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia.

When asked to identify key travel motivations, travel consultants offered TTG Asia a wide-ranging response.

D’Souza observes a “comeback of slow travel and immersive experiences”, with his customers favouring community-based activities.

Kale reports a “strong focus on celebration travel”, where his customers are marking special occasions, milestones and reunions with a precious travel memory.

“Travel desire for the unusual will also witness a healthy uptick, such as stays in Egypt’s white desert or Finland’s glass igloos, fissure snorkelling among the fjords in Iceland, and ice-breaker cruises in Antarctica, among others,” Kale added.

Agents also pointed to strong cruise interest among their customers.

Destination marketers around the world have been quick to spot India’s strong outbound travel potential – an especially important source market in the continued absence of Chinese travellers.

Several tourism boards have held roadshows in India this year – Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, Kyrgyz Republic, Tourism New Zealand, and Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Visit Iceland, which led a roadshow to Mumbai and New Delhi last month, is in talks with major production houses in India to promote Iceland for film shoots, and will refund up to 35 per cent of production cost if certain criteria are met.

Philippines hits 2022 target arrivals this month

By TTG Asia

October 20, 2022

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The Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) has surpassed its 2022 arrival target as of October 17, with 1,767,791 foreign visitors on record.

The DoT’s target for the full year was 1.7 million.

The Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) has exceeded its 2022 arrival target for October

Sharing the news at the Philippine Tourism Industry Reception, tourism secretary Christina Garcia Frasco vowed “to work relentlessly towards ushering the Philippines into a primary tourism position in the ASEAN and the world”.

Philippine president Ferdinand R Marcos, Jr expressed confidence in the country’s tourism recovery and cited the industry’s crucial role as a high potential driver for the transformation of the country’s economy.

“Very early on, even before I took office, in consultation with our economic managers, with private businessmen, it became very clear that as we transform our economy, one of the high potential drivers for the transformation of the economy is tourism.

“We must immediately do all that we can to make sure that this asset that the Philippines has, be used to bring good jobs to people and to once again re-introduce the Philippines to the world,” he said in his address.

Travel firms tweak itineraries to make trips more affordable for Malaysians

By S Puvaneswary

October 20, 2022

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While there is a pent-up demand for Malaysians to travel abroad after a two-year lockdown, the weakened national currency may put a damper on their holiday plans.

The weaker ringgit – which has depreciated more than 12 per cent year-to-date against a strengthening US dollar on aggressive interest hikes to fight inflation – has resulted in some DMCs altering their itineraries to make their offerings more enticing for Malaysians.

The weakened ringgit has resulted in Malaysians being more budget-conscious

Hong Kong-based Pacific Link Travel and Tours’ director & general manager, Jacob Ng, said budget-conscious Malaysian customers are preferring half-board packages as opposed to full-board ones, along with lower category restaurants and roadside hawkers for their dining experience. Many Malaysian customers are also picking shorter – and cheaper – packages.

ERM Tours & Safaris in South Africa, which regards Malaysia as its biggest market in South-east Asia, has created more mono-destination tours to help customers save on regional airfares. It usually retails multi-destination tours across Southern Africa to Malaysians, shared managing director Hannes Boshoff.

Outbound Malaysian agents are also taking steps to mitigate risks.

Ally Bhoonee, executive director, World Avenues Travel & Tours, told TTG Asia that his company is renegotiating rates with overseas suppliers in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe as well as looking for cheaper accommodation options in order to maintain the current package rates.

He added: “We are creating more package options with different pricing tiers.”

He noted that forward bookings for the winter season in November and December to Europe is slow – this is partly due to the dollar exchange, high airfares, and the lack of seats on popular Middle Eastern airlines due to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Cynthia Tan, managing director, Roystar Travel & Tours in Malaysia, is worried that should the US dollar continue to strengthen in the coming months, her company would have to ask customers who had already paid a deposit to top up the difference. Such a request would have to be made if the new package price is more than 10 per cent higher than the original price.

As a precautionary measure, the company has increased the selling price for its 2023 outbound packages.

“If this action is not taken, the company will make a loss,” Tan explained.

She said that package tours for end-2022 are not affected by the currency exchange as prices have already been locked and suppliers paid.

Tourism Australia gets cute and serious in latest destination marketing

By Rachel AJ Lee

October 20, 2022

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A fresh-faced brand ambassador and a sharper focus on aboriginal culture have been deployed as marketing tools in Tourism Australia’s latest Come and Say G’day campaign, the country’s first global campaign since 2016.

Set to run across all of Tourism Australia’s key international markets from October 20, brand ambassador Ruby, the CGI-animated kangaroo (voiced by Australian actress Rose Byrne) and her toy unicorn Louie (voiced by Will Arnett) take centre stage, bringing travellers on an adventure around Australia and its iconic attractions.

Come and Say G’day follows Ruby the kangaroo as she travels around Australia

“Using a CGI character as a brand ambassador was a deliberate move on our part to cut through the clutter of destination marketing. Being an animated character, Ruby is versatile and able to live across all marketing platforms and channels, and across all languages,” explained Brent Anderson, regional general manager of South & South-east Asia, Tourism Australia.

Such fresh marketing campaigns help Tourism Australia “keep pace with changing tastes and consumer demands”.

He added: “Ensuring a regular pipeline of creative and compelling campaigns is crucial to sustain top-of-mind recall for Australia among travellers globally. Our efforts focus not just on destination marketing, but also conversion.”

Anderson also revealed that South and South-east Asia will play a key part in Australia’s tourism recovery, with four of its top 10 source countries for August 2022 coming from the region. Outbound travellers from India to Australia is at number two with 183,000, Singapore at number four with 173,000, while Indonesia and Malaysia are in the seventh and ninth spots respectively.

“For Singapore, the desire for travel was especially evident during the NATAS Travel Fair in August, one of the first major travel fairs in three years. Besides the better-than-expected turnout, consumers were also willing to pay more despite price increase in airfares and tour packages. According to our key trade partners participating at the fair, Australia was among the top five destinations, which included Europe, Japan, (South) Korea, and Turkey.”

When asked why a keener focus has been placed on indigenous tourism experiences in this particular campaign, Anderson shared that the segment has “been growing”, and is an “immersive experience” sought after by today’s conscious travellers.

“Prior to the pandemic in 2019, around 1.4 million international visitors participated in an indigenous tourism experience in Australia, a six per cent year-on-year increase since 2010. Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories are rich and diverse, and have the potential to be a point of difference and an area of competitive advantage for Australian tourism,” he said.

Anderson noted that markets like Singapore are more aware of and receptive to Australia’s sustainable tourism products.

Currently, there are more than 500 tourism experiences, ranging from accommodation to tours, committed to sustainability. Travellers to Australia will also be able to make a direct contribution in preserving the country’s natural assets, such as through citizen science programmes where they can take part in wildlife monitoring activities, coral replanting, and regenerating flora and fauna.

New hotels: Fuji Speedway Hotel, The Crystal Luxury Bay Resort Nusa Dua and more

By TTG Asia

October 20, 2022

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Fuji Speedway Hotel, Japan
Fuji Speedway Hotel is set against the stunning backdrop of Mount Fuji, about 80 minutes by car from Tokyo, and adjacent to the historic Fuji Speedway motor racing circuit. The hotel also houses the Fuji Motor Sports Museum, which showcases about 40 racing cars dating from the end of the 19th century.

With 120 rooms and suites, the hotel also offers five dog-friendly villas that feature individual private garages.

There are two restaurants serving authentic local fare, a bar and an all-day dining lounge, as well as facilities such as an indoor pool, a spa, indoor and outdoor hot spring onsens, and a fitness centre which boasts a driving simulator designed for professional race car drivers, but accessible for guests.

Nearby attractions include Mount Fuji, the Fuji Sengen-jinja shrines, Shiraito-no-taki waterfalls, the Fujigoko five lakes, and Mishima Skywalk, Japan’s longest suspension footbridge.

The Crystal Luxury Bay Resort Nusa Dua, Indonesia
The Crystal Luxury Bay Resort Nusa Dua is a 214-room property five minutes away from Tanjung Benoa Water Sports and 15 minutes away from the airport.

The resort has rooms ranging from the deluxe which is 38m² up to the 100m² two bed-room Family Loft Studio with jacuzzi and 114m² two-bedroom Loft Penthouse.

The resort, which provides views to the ocean and mangrove, has a restaurant and bar, spa, swimming pool.

Hyatt Centric Sector 17 Chandigarh, India
Hyatt Centric Sector 17 Chandigarh is situated in the city’s commercial and shopping district, and close to the city’s popular parks, cafés, shopping plazas and restaurants.

Boasting 138 guestrooms and six suites, the hotel also offers amenities like a pool, fitness centre, and over 2,415m² of event spaces.

For refreshments, there is an all-day multi-cuisine restaurant, a Pan Asian restaurant and bar, and the Hyatt Centric Lounge that serves authentic tea and coffee.

Centra by Centara Bangkok Phra Nakhon, Thailand
New-opened Centra by Centara Bangkok Phra Nakhon features 180 rooms and is a contemporary urban escape just steps away from Bangkok’s historic district.

The hotel is conveniently located near Khaosan Road and Chaophraya express boat piers, Phra Arthit and Maharaj piers, and is nearby famous landmarks including the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, the National Museum, Pak Khong Talat flower market, and the area’s street food and family-run eateries.

Facilities available are a swimming pool, fitness centre, and meeting spaces.

Philippines replaces One Health Pass with e-Arrival Card

Lachlan Hoswell leads Radisson Hotel Group, Australasia

Visa struggles continue for Indonesians

NYC extends warm welcome to Muslim travellers

Saudi fires up tourism pursuit

Travel desire in India remains strong

Philippines hits 2022 target arrivals this month

Travel firms tweak itineraries to make trips more affordable for Malaysians

Tourism Australia gets cute and serious in latest destination marketing

New hotels: Fuji Speedway Hotel, The Crystal Luxury Bay Resort Nusa Dua and more

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