two cute little sisters wearing bunny ears playing egg hunt on easter. adorable children celebrate easter at home. Teenage asian girl painting and decorating Easter eggs.
Anantara Chiang Mai Resort has launched fun festive treats for the whole family this Songkran and Easter holidays.
The Songkran Ice Cream Pool Party on April 15 will be hosted on the rooftop of Anantara Chiang Mai Serviced Suites, offering three hours of all-you-can-eat ice cream, including a variety of flavours and toppings to satisfy the sweetest tooth, as well as fun games and activities in and out of the pool.
Anantara Chiang Mai Resort launches celebrations for Songkran and Easter holidays
The fun continues with Easter Egg-stravaganza April 17, where parents can enjoy a relaxing riverside feast while the young ones get busy with activities such as a bouncy castle, face painting, egg painting, and an Easter egg hunt.
Songkran Ice Cream Pool Party is priced at 799 baht (US$24) for adults; 400 baht for kids aged eight to 13. Children under eight goes free.
Easter Egg-stravaganza is priced at 1,190 baht for adults; 450 baht for kids aged eight to 13. Children under eight goes free.
Bookings made over the festive season from April 13 to 16 will receive a free khao chae – rice soaked in cool water, which is Thailand’s favourite summertime dish.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has made Katy Perry godmother to its newest ship, Norwegian Prima, debuting this August.
The global pop icon will fulfil the maritime tradition of blessing and officially naming Norwegian Prima, the first of six vessels in the Prima Class.
Katy Perry and NCL president and CEO Harry Sommer (Photo credit: Dimitrije Curcic)
Perry will perform during the christening ceremony before Norwegian Prima sets sail on its inaugural voyages from Reykjavík, Iceland, where the vessel will be the first major cruise ship christened in the Icelandic capital.
The tradition of appointing a ship’s godmother is a nautical custom where the individual officiates a ceremonial breaking of a champagne bottle on the ship’s bow to bid the vessel and its travellers good fortune.
Perry said: “My most favourite way to vacation with my family is on the water. Every morning that you wake up, you get to experience an incredible new view.
“I love that I get to christen her with my good vibrations, and I’m so excited for this new, beautiful, high-end, high-tech ship to take the seas, and provide once-in-a-lifetime vacations for so many families.”
To commemorate the partnership, NCL has curated a celebratory Spotify playlist featuring Perry’s hits as well as songs by various artists.
The Philippine Department of Tourism (DOT) has reported more than 100,000 foreign tourist arrivals since the country reopened on February 10, with the US leading the tourism rebound.
Data generated from the One Health Pass (OHP) showed inbound visitor arrivals to the Philippines have reached 102,031 as of March 16 – a new high for the country since her closure of borders at the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Arrivals to the Philippines soar past 100,000 after the country reopened on February 10
Tourism secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said: “We are happy to see the gradual reopening of our borders finally bearing fruit as evidenced by the much higher foreign visitor arrivals. This will help safeguard the industry’s revival, providing more jobs and livelihoods to Filipinos in the tourism sector.”
The US remain the top contributor to arrivals to the Philippines with 22,243 tourists; followed by Canada with 4,852; the UK with 4,386; South Korea with 3,748; Australia with 3,387; Vietnam with 2,656; Germany with 1,976; and Japan with 1,752.
Various measures imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, such as the suspension of the country classification system and relaxed entry protocols for fully-vaccinated leisure travellers from visa-free countries have helped to facilitate the influx of tourists.
The DOT also recently announced further easing of entry for all foreign tourists from April 1.
“Our numbers are still far from pre-pandemic levels, but we are optimistic that this will continue to increase amid the sustained decline in Covid-19 cases in the country as well as the ongoing efforts of the Philippine government to improve its healthcare capacity. On the DOT’s part, we shall continue working with the IATF, and our partners in the government and the private sector in coming up with measures that will sustain this growth,” Puyat noted.
Shinta Mani Foundation supported staff throughout the pandemic with essentials and medical care; Lark (second from right) with the team at Shinta Mani Angkor and Bensley Collection Pool Villas and general manager Ewan Taylor (far right)
Shinta Mani Angkor and Bensley Collection Pool Villas
Cambodia’s reopening to international travellers, removal of domestic travel restrictions and the return of airlift were the signs Shinta Mani Angkor and Bensley Collection Pool Villas have been waiting for to rouse from its slumber – and now that the stars are aligned, the luxury property in the French Quarter of Siem Reap is ready to get back to business.
Anthony Lark, executive director at HMD Asia, the owning and management company of Shinta Mani Hotels, said: “Our maintenance staff have been working tirelessly the last couple of months to touch up the rooms and public areas, which are now looking fresh and new. We have also been re-activating relationships with our travel partners and past guests, who are already making bookings.”
By early March, the hotel has fully opened its 10 Bensley Collection Pool Villas, and is on track to reopening Shinta Mani Angkor, Kroya restaurant and the spa on April 1. A further 66 keys in the new Bayon Wing, named after the famous Temple, will open later in 2022.
Despite having to make the “hard choice” to close the property as the pandemic ravaged the world in 2020, not all came to a complete standstill, emphasised Lark. Attention was redirected to hotel staff and their families.
He detailed: “From the earliest days of the pandemic, we realised our staff and their families were going to find it incredibly hard. Our Shinta Mani Foundation went to work and we have been supporting them with regular care packages of food and other essentials, and of course, continued support for their medical needs.”
Now, as access returns to Cambodia, Lark and his team are happy to see that “great interest in Siem Reap” is back, and are eager to get busy with sales and marketing.
“Our travel partners, agents and DMCs are ready with new contacts and agreements so that they can sell our hotels. We are also focused on a digital marketing campaign to send positive messages that travel is quarantine-free, what the health formalities are at the airport, and how our staff are able to whisk guests through immigration. We have also been busy retraining the team members on service and food preparations as we launch new menus, etc,” he told TTG Asia.
Lark said this is now an opportune time to visit Siem Reap, as the destination has used the two years of travel disruption to make significant infrastructure improvements. The old French Quarter has also been restored in the past year.
“There has never been a better time to visit Siem Reap, especially with flights now operating directly from Singapore, Bangkok and other regional cities. The recent cancellation of the need to show a negative PCR test before arriving in Cambodia, elimination of a rapid test upon arrival, and availability of visa on arrival, Cambodia is leading the region in getting back to normal,” he remarked.
JEN Singapore Orchardgateway’s Khoo is excited to welcome leisure guests once more
JEN Singapore Orchardgateway by Shangri-La
Once a hotel popular with tourists looking to take in the best of the shopping and lifestyle offerings in the heart of Singapore, JEN Singapore Orchardgateway had to shed that side of its hospitality role and transform into a government Stay-Home Notice (SHN) facility to accommodate guests on quarantine.
While functioning as a SHN facility ensured some income for the hotel and its staff during Singapore’s border lockdown, general manager Allen Khoo recalled that manpower had to be reconfigured to serve a different purpose.
“To safeguard our guests and colleagues’ well-being, our colleagues had to be split into two different teams to ensure no cross-contamination. While some departments could effectively work remotely, the operations team, including the F&B department, was still supporting the hotel with SHN food preparation,” he told TTG Asia.
Adding to Khoo’s challenge was a manpower crunch during the pandemic. The solution was to activate non-operational staff for operational duties. This included having administration personnel taking on housekeeping and culinary day-to-day duties.
“This ensured our hospitality shone through even though the hotel was predominantly serving guests on quarantine,” he said.
Meanwhile, to maximise revenue for the hotel throughout the business disruption, JEN Singapore Orchardgateway ventured into retail and F&B takeaways to allow customers to bring home the hotel experience.
After supporting the Singapore government’s SHN programme for two years, JEN Singapore Orchardgateway was given the green light to reopen to the public as a tourist hotel.
In the lead up to the hotel’s official reopening on February 8, the hotel team undertook thorough deep cleaning and sanitisation.
“The management also provided support and guidance to the team to pivot our operations back to a fully functional hotel,” Khoo added.
Today, the hotel is fully functional, with 50 per cent of guestroom inventory back online and the rest to reopen in the following days. Facilities such as the pool, gym and club lounge have started to welcome guests once more since February 8, albeit with Covid-safe measures in place.
As JEN Singapore Orchardgateway gets back to business, several programmes have been lined up to attract guests. They include fresh culinary concepts and thematic staycations. Setting an example of what’s to come, Khoo said the hotel recently hosted an F&B pop-up at BayWatch@JEN, the property’s popular rooftop infinity pool deck, where Manila’s hit Raging Bull Burgers came together with Shangri-La Singapore’s Origin Bar to dish out a potent mix of burgers and curated cocktails.
The team at Holiday Inn Resort Bali Benoa stayed upbeat throughout the travel freeze and is ready to welcome guests from April 1; Waller in the centre, front row (mask removed for photo purpose)
Holiday Inn Resort Bali Benoa
When it was clear that Holiday Inn Resort Bali Benoa in Indonesia could no longer stay open as international arrivals were shut out and local infections alongside intensifying movement restrictions strangled domestic travel possibilities, a decision was made to temporarily close the hotel on July 7, 2020.
According to Carol Waller, hotel general manager and area general manager of Holiday Inn Resorts Indonesia, the hardest part of that decision was breaking the news to the team.
“Many of our colleagues had to source for alternative income,” she recalled.
For the few who stayed, they were tasked with keeping the resort neat and clean. Waller was determined to keep the team “busy, motivated, and healthy” during those challenging times. Thus, she prescribed a range of activities.
“We had sharing sessions over lunch every Tuesday in our beachfront restaurant, where all team members talked about their daily life and business ideas. We made time for fun and games. Yoga every Thursday was hosted by one of our talented team members, and handicraft workshops were held by management to teach team members new skills,” shared Waller.
“You will be amazed at how our team members used this time to develop their entrepreneurial instinct as well; many of them started their own home business.”
Effort was made to support the local community and displaced staff through donations.
“Together we learnt to make the most out of the present moment and always try to see the bright side of this situation. It wasn’t easy but we made it!” she said.
By December 2021, a decision was made to work towards a reopening on April 1, 2022.
Waller said: “This decision was taken after observing and monitoring the progress of the pandemic situation globally. After seeing green signs, the ratio of vaccination, our neighbouring countries reopening again, we brainstormed with our stakeholders and we felt it was the right time.
“The preparation was pretty simple. We treated it as a brand-new hotel opening – recruitment, implementation of IHG Way of Clean, Covid-19 education, health and safety training for the team members, and trial stays. We also re-connected with all our missed guests, media friends and the local community.”
At press time, Holiday Inn Resort Bali Benoa is almost back to normal operations. One of the restaurants is now receiving diners, and a second will be put back to business as soon as demand surfaces.
“This is the time all of us have been waiting for, to be able to travel again, to be able to create memories with our loved ones again, to explore, and to experience new things,” said Waller excitedly, adding that efforts have been made to ensure the hotel is bookable and visible in all channels, including social media.
In addition, the hotel is strumming up its family-friendly draws, such as the sought-after family suite and Kids Stay and Eat Free programme, as well as health and safety assurances to win over guests.
The hotel’s reopening on April 1 coincides with its seventh anniversary, and for that guests can enjoy a buy-seven-nights-get-seven-nights-free offer.
A flight ban on services to Hong Kong from nine countries, including the US and the UK, will be lifted from April 1, while mandatory quarantine will be halved for travellers who test negative on arrival, announced Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam this morning.
Hong Kong will ease inbound restrictions from April 1
Hong Kong’s plans to begin easing out of her Covid travel restrictions – recognised as some of the most stringent in the world – will come with progressive relaxation on social distancing regulations. The latter is expected to begin from April 21, provided there is no rebound in infections.
According to a Bloomberg report, Lam shared plans to allow as many as four people to dine out at restaurants for dinner, and to reopen gyms, massage parlours and public entertainment centres.
Indonesia’s overly cautious approach to reopening is hampering tourism recovery and causing the destination to lose out to competitive tourist destinations in the region that have taken bolder steps to facilitate travel, lament inbound operators.
Operators who spoke to TTG Asia expressed their frustrations with the retention of two compulsory PCR tests for travellers coming to Indonesia, despite recent government efforts to remove mandatory quarantine and revive visa-on-arrival.
Ricky: free visas should be offered to all South-east Asians
Ricky Setiawanto, secretary general of the Indonesia Inbound Tour Operators Association, said: “While the new policies are a significant improvement on the previous one, we still cannot compete against other destinations that have scraped on-arrival PCR tests. Our neighbours, like Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines, no longer require such tests while Indonesia stipulates not just one but two PCR tests.”
Adjie Wahjono, operations manager of Aneka Kartika Tours, called out the redundancy of two PCR tests for travellers from nearby Asian countries. He said: “Unlike longhaul travellers who need to spend many hours in flight, travellers from Asia, particularly South-east Asia, only take a few hours to reach Bali. Why do they need to take another test upon arrival when they have been tested negative before flight?”
He added that the two compulsory tests were also a financial burden for Asian travellers, especially when they have to pay for visa and Covid-19 travel insurance for short trips of just three to five days in Indonesia.
“Two PCR tests cost US$38 while the visa costs US$35. Each traveller therefore needs to add US$73 to make trip to Indonesia. This may be acceptable for longhaul travellers who spend two or three weeks here, but not for shorthaul vacationers.
“I have a group of 150 passengers from the Philippines planning to travel to Bali in May, but they are now considering Thailand instead because of higher costs,” Adjie said.
However, Hasiyanna Ashadi, managing director of Marintur Indonesia, argued that longhaul travellers will also feel the pinch from the cost of mandatory PCR tests and a higher Value Added Tax that will come into effect on April 1, as their buying power has been eroded by the economic pressures from the prolonged Covid crisis.
Tour operators also hope the government would waive travel visa for travellers from ASEAN member countries.
Adjie said Asian markets – especially South-east Asia – are the “low hanging fruits” for post-lockdown travel recovery, so Indonesia needs to “go all out” to facilitate travel from the region.
Agreeing, Ricky said free visas should be offered to all South-east Asians, and not just grant them visa-on-arrival.
He said: “I did not have to pay for a visa (during my recent trips) to Thailand and Cambodia, so South-east Asians should get the same facility when they come to Indonesia. Besides, ASEAN had an agreement to form a visa-free zone for intra-ASEAN travel (before the pandemic) – why don’t we enforce it now?”
Meanwhile, inbound players are also increasingly concerned about challenges in securing new bookings back to Indonesia.
Ricky observed that most of the holidaymakers who were coming to Indonesia over the next few months were people who had bought packages for 2020 travel but had to postpone them due to the pandemic.
“To entice new bookings, the government needs to lead a ‘recall’ programme by knocking on the doors of big tour operators who used to regularly send thousands of guests here in the past and regain their support,” opined Ricky, adding that new bookings were critical for the coming summer vacation season.
Buoyed by a growing population of health conscious people, the eco-luxury holistic medical wellness resort of The Farm at San Benito in Lipa, Batangas is branching out overseas while expanding its local offerings.
Binod K Chaudhary, chair of Nepal-based CG Hospitality which acquired the Philippine resort in 2018, said that properties in Thailand, Nepal and Jordan are being developed, while other destinations like India are being considered.
Binod K Chaudhary, chair of Nepal-based CG Hospitality, said that properties in Thailand, Nepal and Jordan are being developed, while other destinations like India are being considered
Each property will have its unique draw, from the beachfront 200-hectare property in Phuket to the smaller Nepal resort on a golf course which comes with an attached spiritual temple. The holistic medical wellness resort in Jordan is under construction now, and will target European and Middle Eastern travellers when open.
The Farm’s director of sales and marketing, Jennifer Sanvictores, said health and wellness “now takes centre stage when it used to be a niche market”. She has observed an expanded demographic of customers, with demand streaming in from younger holidaymakers who have health on their mind, joining the usual crowd of mature travellers and expatriates.
In response, The Farm recently launched its wellness lifestyle residence for longer staying guests, customising programmes for families travelling with children, parents and seniors. Pets are welcomed too, with an upcoming pet wellness treatment supervised by vets.
The government’s decision to raise the minimum wage from RM1,200 (US$286) to RM1,500 nationwide, starting with big companies and government linked companies effective May 1, has not been well received by the travel trade who are calling for a deferment.
To facilitate the travel industry’s recovery, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) is urging the government not to impose the minimum wage policy for at least two years in order for small and medium-sized tourism businesses to recall tourism workers in stages, thus creating more employment opportunities.
Malaysian Association of Hotels CEO, Yap Lip Seng, opined that increasing minimum wage blindly without addressing the needs of different sectors and industries is not a good policy
MATTA’s president, KL Tan said: “The tourism industry has been badly battered by the pandemic and we are slowly beginning the journey of recovery with low volume of business. Imposing the new minimum wage will be an extra burden for the tourism industry which has incurred millions of dollars in losses.”
Representing three-star hotels and below, Sri Ganesh Michiel, national deputy president, Malaysia Budget & Business Hotel Association (MyBHA), said the minimum wage decision was “not fair to the hotel industry players” – it would mean an increase in operating costs, resulting in an increase in hotel rates which consumers will have to bear.
As most MyBHA members are facing cash flow problems and do not have the ability to pay increased wages, Michiel called for a postponement of implementation for the hotel industry until a mechanism has been established.
Local broadsheet, New Straits Times, published a report on March 21 that a detailed mechanism for the implementation of the minimum wage will soon be announced. Human resources minister, M Saravanan, said the new minimum wage would stimulate the country’s economy through increased purchasing power of workers.
Rebutting this, Malaysian Association of Hotels CEO, Yap Lip Seng, said the bulk of foreign workers’ salary would only be sent back to their own country.
“This is why Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries such as Nepal is highly dependent on remittances, which contributes over 30 per cent of the country’s GDP,” Yap argued.
He also pointed out that most hotels are already paying salaries higher than the current minimum wage, and if it includes other non-statutory benefits employers are providing, it further exceeds even the proposed new minimum wage.
Yap shared: “The problem lies in the definition of wages. At the moment with the minimum wage order, this is restricted to “basic wage” only. It does not promote productivity or efficiency, and it does not encourage employers to provide better motivational benefits to employees.”
He also stated that the continuous increase in basic wages does not increase national productivity and may cause more damage to the economy by forcing inflation with the same, or even less, production.
“Productivity is key to growth and it differs from different industries. This is the main reason why the same mandatory minimum wage for all industries and sectors will not work.”
Yap opined that increasing minimum wage blindly without addressing the needs of different sectors and industries is not a good policy. “Contrary to popular belief, salary is not to be blamed for unemployment; the government needs to address various economic and social factors impacting unemployment as well as underemployment.”
Set to open on April 8 on Charoen Prathet Road in the heart of Chiang Mai, the 260-key Meliá Chiang Mai will offer a 360° Cuisine concept that embraces sustainability and promotes healthy eating.
Executive chef Suksant Chutinthratip will craft dishes that use produce from the hotel’s organic farm, allowing the hotel to shrink its carbon footprint from F&B consumption.
Meliá Chiang Mai will offer a 360° Cuisine concept that embraces sustainability and promotes healthy eating
Suksant’s emphasis on “thoughtful cooking”, which minimises food waste by using as much of each and every ingredient as possible, is encapsulated in signature 360° Cuisine dishes.
He explained: “For khao khaab hor goong, for example, we use prawn shells, prawn heads and garden herb stems for our stock base to poach the prawns, and lemon zest as part of the sauce to give a disarming citrus fragrance and flavour, before the leftover cooking oil is sent to be recycled into biodiesel.”
“Our farm-to-plate efforts, sourcing organic produce that travels only a short distance to our hotel and using every part of each ingredient we can – roots, leaves, stems, stalks and more – come full circle with plate-to-farm, whereby we return food waste back to the farm as fertiliser in a truly 360° concept,” Suksant detailed.
In a bid to make communities and the overall food system more resilient, the hotel’s kitchen has partnered with with ORI9IN The Gourmet Farm, a 350-acre gourmet organic farm located in nearby San Sai District, and is working closely with local farmers to help them improve sustainability and encourage ethical production. This includes import substitution, growing of produce and specialised ingredients, like padrón pepper, that would otherwise need to be imported from Spain for Meliá’s Mediterranean cuisine.
Guests are also encouraged to visit the ORI9IN farm to meet local farmers and learn more about sustainable farming.
