An Artotel property is set to open in the city centre of Bandung city, West Java next year, following the rebranding of Vue Palace Hotel.
Artotel Group has signed a MoU with a public company on behalf of PT Planet Properindo Jaya Tbk to transform the four-star Vue Palace Hotel into an Artotel branded mid-scale boutique hotel.
Vue Palace Hotel will reopen as Artotel Vue Palace – Bandung next year following a renovation
In operation since 2008, Vue Palace Hotel features 102 guestrooms, alongside a restaurant and bar, swimming pool, fitness centre, spa, and a 350-pax capacity meeting room.
In 2022, Vue Palace Hotel will undergo a name change to Artotel Vue Palace – Bandung, and its guestrooms and public spaces will showcase various artworks curated by the group’s art and creative division.
Artotel Group will also transform the restaurant and bar into a destination for meetings, gatherings, and hangouts. During the transition period to renovate the hotel with a new concept, Vue Palace will be running as usual but under the name Vue Palace, Artotel Curated.
Erastus Radjimin, founder & CEO of Artotel Group, said that the rebranding of Vue Palace Hotel into a lifestyle boutique hotel is to appeal to the younger segment, which he calls “a huge potential market in Indonesia”.
Vue Palace, Artotel Curated is the second hotel operated by Artotel Group in Bandung, after De Braga by Artotel.
Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) has unveiled its Destination Net Zero decarbonisation strategy to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
“Decades ago, we set out on a course to advance sustainability; our vision now is to realise carbon-free cruising over the next two decades,” said Richard Fain, RCL chairman and CEO.
RCL’s decarbonisation plan includes pledge to pursue science-based targets, delivery of a net zero cruise ship
He added that Destination Net Zero is “an ambitious strategy to cut emissions, protect our oceans, and ensure the viability of the hundreds of destinations that our guests and crew members care deeply about”.
As part of the strategy, the cruise company will over 18 to 24 months develop goals to be validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the first such pledge for the cruise industry. The work will begin following the publication of SBTi’s marine transport methodology. Science-based targets show companies how much, and how quickly, they need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to help limit global warming.
The plan also includes the delivery of a net zero emissions cruise ship by 2035, through partnerships forged with governments, suppliers and shipyards to develop alternative and accessible fuels and technology.
Destination Net Zero’s four-pronged approach comprises of the modernisation of RCL’s global brands fleet through the introduction of 13 new energy-efficient and alternatively fuelled vessels, including its recently announced Project Evolution – the industry’s first ship to remove all local emissions while at port.
It will also entail continued investment in energy efficiency programmes for the cruise line’s fleet, including energy saving technologies, enhanced data systems and digitalisation; development of alternative fuel and alternative power solutions; and optimised deployment and integration of strategic shore-based supply chains.
The Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) and ForwardKeys have signed a MoU to develop a marketing partnership that will see both organisations collaborate to better support the SPTO members in data analytics.
A key objective of the partnership is to share how more relevant, timely and actionable data can be leveraged by SPTO’s membership of 20 Pacific Island countries to better monitor, plan and achieve real business outcomes within the shifting travel ecosystem.
SPTO’s partnership with ForwardKeys will allow its members to leverage big data to drive tourism recovery
“The MoU underlines the role of data analytics and intelligence tools towards tourism recovery, in a time when data-led decisions and strategies are more crucial than ever,” said Jameson Wong, vice president strategic clients & partnerships APAC at ForwardKeys, while delivering an industry update on “Pacific Islands’ Recovery Paths, Trends and Outlook” at SPTO’s tourism webinar.
“The decisions that government and private sector business leaders make today may impact the organisations’ trajectories for years to come. In these unchartered waters, where the tides continue to shift and targets (are) constantly moving, data-driven insights are no longer nice-to-have’s but must-have navigational tools,” he added.
SPTO CEO, Christopher Cocker, emphasised the importance of building partnerships to effectively address common challenges. “Collaborating with like-minded partners will be pivotal for regional tourism organisations, particularly against the backdrop of the pandemic. Innovative collaboration will fast-track tourism rebuilding and strengthen our collective resilience for the long run,” he said.
He added that SPTO’s partnership with ForwardKeys will guide its members on how to “better navigate risks and leverage opportunities through data solutions”.
In order to prevent a repeat of a dismal year for Asia-Pacific and Middle East airports, Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific has urged more governments to reopen borders and relax quarantine requirements, especially in countries which have reached satisfactory vaccination rates.
This follows the release of latest figures forecasting sustained losses this year for airports in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
Airports in Asia-Pacific continue to be impacted by travel and quarantine restrictions across the region
Asia-Pacific, already adversely affected by constant lockdowns, stringent travel and quarantine restrictions, is forecasted to close out the year with around 56 per cent passenger losses, despite resumption of some domestic travel in a few markets.
Consistent with forecasts previously reported in 2020, the Middle East will be one of the hardest-hit regions globally with almost 70 per cent passenger losses.
Compared with ACI’s pre-pandemic projections for the same period, the two regions are forecasted to lose over 2.3 billion passengers by the end of this year. Similarly, airport revenues, a direct reflection of passenger traffic, are forecasted to decline by approximately US$34 billion in Asia-Pacific and US$11 billion in the Middle East by the end of this year.
“The latest ACI forecast shows that after a bad 2020 in terms of traffic and revenues, 2021 was even more dismal for Asia-Pacific and Middle East airports,” said Stefano Baronci, director general, ACI Asia-Pacific.
The particularly negative outcome in Asia-Pacific is a direct consequence of travel restrictions and quarantine policies observed in many countries in the region.
“A repeat of the dismal 2021 can be avoided for 2022 if more governments can adopt the risk-based, pragmatic approaches recommended by ICAO and the WHO. In pursuit of boosting international travel and stimulating economic growth, some countries are applying these approaches, such as Singapore, Thailand, Fiji and the Maldives along with several Middle East and European countries and the US,” Baronci added.
“By the end of 2021, more major economies in Asia would have fully vaccinated over 70 per cent of their populations, bringing an additional layer of protection against the coronavirus.
“With continued careful monitoring of public health situations through indicators such as hospitalisation and mortality rates, more governments are urged to expedite the calculated risk of relaxing quarantine policies, and follow the global trend of adopting digital health certificates with a view of supporting the resumption of international air travel.”
Emirates and the Maldives’ Ministry of Tourism have extended the MoU for cooperation on destination promotion and to support the country’s tourism recovery.
The extension of the MoU was signed at the Emirates Pavilion in Expo 2020 by Ahmed Khoory, senior vice president commercial West Asia & Indian Ocean at Emirates; Abdulla Mausoom, minister of Tourism Maldives; and Thoyyib Mohamed, CEO and managing director, Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation.
Emirates’ Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum presents an Emirates A380 aircraft model to Maldives’ Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
It was signed in the presence of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and CEO, Emirates Airline and Group; and Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, president of the Republic of the Maldives.
Emirates has served the Maldives for more than 34 years, and the airline currently operates 28 weekly flights to the island nation.
The agreement outlines key initiatives to be undertaken by the airline to continue supporting the country’s tourism recovery.
Since January 2021, Emirates has operated more than 1,000 passenger flights to the Maldives, connecting 170,000 visitors to the country, from over 100 destinations including the UAE, Russia, Germany, the US, and Czech Republic.
The Standard has appointed Amber Asher as CEO of Standard International, parent company of Standard Hotels, Bunkhouse and Peri Hotels.
Asher succeeds Amar Lalvani who has been promoted to executive chairman, after serving as CEO for the past eight years.
Amber Asher
In her new role, Asher will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the business. Her priorities include identifying and cultivating talent, building and mentoring successful teams and innovating in the hospitality sector.
Asher started her work with The Standard approximately 10 years ago as executive vice president and general counsel. In 2013, she led the sale of a majority stake in the brand to Standard International which was formed by Lalvani to make the acquisition and grow The Standard brand.
Following the successful closing of that transaction, she became the executive vice president and general counsel of Standard International and went on to be promoted to president in 2017.
Prior to joining The Standard in 2011, Asher served as the associate general counsel and senior vice president of Morgans Hotel Group where she oversaw all legal matters related to development, operations, intellectual property, employment, food and beverage, and financing.
Travellers in Singapore can now store and access their HealthCerts securely and conveniently in their Google Pay app, the first digital payments platform that is partnering with the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) on this new feature.
The integration allows Android users to easily access the digitally authenticated and endorsed vaccination certificates wherever applicable – for authorities, airlines, airports, and other places that require it.
Android users in Singapore can now securely store and access their HealthCerts within the Google Pay app
Once a user stores the digital version of the vaccination certificates on their Android device, they will be able to add a shortcut on their device’s home screen and easily access it from there as well.
This feature has been designed with privacy and security at its core. Users can choose whom to show their vaccination details to. The information in the user’s HealthCerts is not shared by Google with its various services or third parties and it is not used for targeting ads.
For added security, a lock screen is required to store HealthCerts on an Android device. Once the certificates are saved onto a user’s phone, they can access their vaccine information even when they are offline.
Patrick Teo, director of engineering for Google Pay, said: “With international travel opening up, we believe we can continue to be helpful to Singaporeans travelling abroad with HealthCerts kept securely in Google Pay and accessible in any of the 40 countries where Google Pay is accepted.”
Users can retrieve their Covid-19 vaccination certificates from HealthCerts on Google Pay by logging into the Singapore government’s Notαrise website with their Singpass.
The Middle Eastern travel and tourism sector should grow by 27.1 per cent this year, slightly behind the global average of 30.7 per cent, new research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has shown.
WTTC said slow vaccination rates in some countries, coupled with international restrictions in key source markets, have prevented people from travelling to the region, hindering the sector’s recovery in the Middle East.
Middle East travel and tourism sector set to recover by over a quarter this year, according to WTTC research
Pre-pandemic, the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector’s contribution to GDP represented US$270 billion (8.9 per cent of the total economy).
According to the research, at the current rate of recovery, the Middle East region will recover just over a quarter this year, following a drop of 51.1 per cent in 2020.
This growth, while slower than expected, is ahead of other major travel and tourism regions such as Europe and Latin America, and represents a year-on-year increase of US$36 billion to the region’s economy.
The data also revealed that the Middle East region could see a similar year-on-year rise of 28.1 per cent in 2022, representing a further boost of US$47 billion.
While the local economy has benefited from a rise in domestic spend of 38.6 per cent this year, and a projected 19.2 per cent in 2022, recent changes to international travel restrictions are expected to provide a significant boost in international spending, which is critical to the region’s economy.
The global tourism body’s research showed that international spending is expected to grow by 37.9 per cent this year, driven by a rise in visitors from neighbouring countries which provided a boost to the sector over the recent months.
As this trend continues into 2022 and with more international visitors expected from outside of the region, WTTC predicts a further year-on-year increase in international travel spend of 51.8 per cent.
After a loss of almost 1.2 million travel and tourism jobs last year when travel restrictions brought international mobility to a halt, employment is set to rise by a mere one per cent this year.
However, employment could rise by 8.2 per cent year-on-year in 2022, providing an additional 470,000 travel and tourism jobs, to a total of 6.2 million people employed in the sector.
Julia Simpson, WTTC president & CEO, said: “Our research clearly shows that while the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector is slowly beginning to recover, it is still far from pre-pandemic levels in terms of the sector’s contribution to the region’s economy and employment.
“As we look into the future, the Middle East has strong growth potential following the reopening of its borders to international travellers. We have seen countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE implement policies to restart international travel safely and we hope to see a harmonised approach across the region.”
A number of initiatives announced during Malaysia’s Budget 2022 to rejuvenate the tourism sector has drawn mixed response among tourism and hospitality players.
When tabling Budget 2022 in Parliament on Friday (October 29), finance minister, Zafrul Abdul Aziz, announced seven key initiatives amounting to a total of RM1.6 billion (US$385.8 million) which will be rolled out next year to support the tourism sector in its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Matching grants, wage subsidies among inititatives to support Malaysia’s tourism recovery; domestic tourists on a cruise boat at Gunung Lang Recreational Park at Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia pictured
The initiatives, which are expected to benefit more than 26,000 employers and 330,000 employees, include an extension of the wage subsidy programme for tour operators whose revenue has declined by at least 30 per cent.
The government is also allocating RM600 million for specific financing for the tourism sector, available through the Penjana Tourism Financing and the Malaysia Development Bank’s Rehabilitation Scheme.
As well, RM85 million in special assistance will be given to more than 20,000 tourism operators registered under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) for a period of three months, and another RM50 million for the maintenance of tourism infrastructure in the country.
A sum of RM30 million has also been earmarked for the provision of matching grants for the repair of 738 budget hotels registered under MOTAC, as well as for registered homestay owners.
Furthermore, RM50 million will be given in matching grants to companies that organise arts and culture related programmes, and RM60 million in incentive funds for promotional activities to spur domestic travel.
In addition to these initiatives, Zafrul also announced the extension of the individual income tax relief for domestic tourism expenditure of up to RM1,000 until end-2022, as well as an allocation of RM20 million to the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council to strengthen the country’s position as a preferred health tourism destination.
Malaysian Association of Hotels president, N Subramaniam, described the Budget 2020 as “encouraging” for the tourism industry.
He said the government had acknowledged the needs of the industry to restart and rebuild with the extension of the targeted wage subsidy programme which is crucial for the industry to rehire manpower needed.
Subramaniam added: “Various funds announced for the upkeep and upgrade of tourism infrastructure as well as specifically for budget hotels are timely, and would contribute to the rebuilding of the tourism industry’s competitiveness.”
He further said that the industry is looking forward to more details on the Penjana Tourism Financing and the rehabilitation scheme funding that could be beneficial to stakeholders if made accessible at low or zero interest rates. “Industry stakeholders are hopeful for it to provide immediate funding and cash flow,” he added.
While general tourism marketing and operational budget was not mentioned in the announcement, Subramaniam expressed hope that the government has allocated sufficient budget to promote and market Malaysia post-Covid given that the competition for tourists will be fierce.
Others are less happy with the newly-announced measures. Both the Malaysia Budget & Business Hotel Association (MyBHA) and the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) said the initiatives fell short of expectations.
MyBHA deputy president, Sri Ganesh Michiel, opined that the Budget 2022 “does not have a positive long-term impact towards the recovery of the hotel industry” and urged the government to review and increase the financial allocation for the tourism industry.
“It is imperative for the hotel and tourism industry to recover quickly before international borders reopen throughout the country,” he said.
MATTA president, KL Tan, said that while he welcomed the extension of the wage subsidy programme to support tourism workers, “the rest of the budget initiatives fall short of expectations to rehabilitate and stimulate domestic travel”.
He pointed out, for example, that the extension of the personal tax relief of up to RM1,000 for domestic travel will not have a significant impact as the tax savings will only amount to RM210 if a taxpayer is under the 21 per cent tax bracket group. He said MATTA had earlier requested for individual tax relief of RM8,000.
Also missing from the budget was tax incentives for local companies carrying out incentive trips or holidays for their staff within the country to boost domestic travel, said Tan.
He called on the government to “always review and reassess the support to speed up the recovery of the tourism industry” as the country moves into the endemic phase so as to harness the full potential of tourism for economic recovery.
Australia will allow quarantine-free entry to fully vaccinated travellers from Singapore starting November 21.
The announcement was made by prime minister Scott Morrison on Sunday (October 31) following a meeting with Singaporean prime minister Lee Hsien Loong on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome.
Vaccinated Singaporeans will soon be able to travel to Australia without quarantine, starting with New South Wales and Victoria; people walking along George Street in front of Town Hall in Sydney, New South Wales pictured
The arrangement will allow for two-way quarantine-free travel between Singapore and Australia for tourists, business travellers and students. The scheme will start with New South Wales and Victoria, and it is up to the other states to decide if they will waive quarantine, reported Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald.
Morrison said that Australia is “slinging its doors open” to people from Singapore after doing the same for New Zealanders.
“This means within weeks, Australia will be welcoming tourists from two of our top 10 travel destinations. This is the billion-dollar boost that Australia’s tourism industry has been waiting for,” he added.
Lee said in a statement that the move is “a significant step towards restoring the close connectivity between Singapore and Australia”.
Last week, Singapore announced that Australia would be added to its vaccinated travel lane scheme, allowing fully vaccinated Australians to enter the country without quarantine from November 8.
Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) has unveiled its Destination Net Zero decarbonisation strategy to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
“Decades ago, we set out on a course to advance sustainability; our vision now is to realise carbon-free cruising over the next two decades,” said Richard Fain, RCL chairman and CEO.
He added that Destination Net Zero is “an ambitious strategy to cut emissions, protect our oceans, and ensure the viability of the hundreds of destinations that our guests and crew members care deeply about”.
As part of the strategy, the cruise company will over 18 to 24 months develop goals to be validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the first such pledge for the cruise industry. The work will begin following the publication of SBTi’s marine transport methodology. Science-based targets show companies how much, and how quickly, they need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to help limit global warming.
The plan also includes the delivery of a net zero emissions cruise ship by 2035, through partnerships forged with governments, suppliers and shipyards to develop alternative and accessible fuels and technology.
Destination Net Zero’s four-pronged approach comprises of the modernisation of RCL’s global brands fleet through the introduction of 13 new energy-efficient and alternatively fuelled vessels, including its recently announced Project Evolution – the industry’s first ship to remove all local emissions while at port.
It will also entail continued investment in energy efficiency programmes for the cruise line’s fleet, including energy saving technologies, enhanced data systems and digitalisation; development of alternative fuel and alternative power solutions; and optimised deployment and integration of strategic shore-based supply chains.