Airasia and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote travel from South-east Asia to Singapore with help from airasia’s Super App.
As part of this partnership, users of the Super App, which has travel and lifestyle offerings, can now book tourism experiences in Singapore, such as flight and hotel packages, meals and other experiences.
Both parties will work together to pilot digital solutions to enhance the visitor experience, as well as exchange knowledge and insights that will deepen their understanding of travellers from South-east Asia markets.
Airasia and STB will also jointly promote Singapore through marketing campaigns and content partnerships.
“While the goal is to bring more people to Singapore (and increase connectivity), for this instance, it’s also for us at airasia to promote that we’re not just selling airasia inventory, but many other airlines, as well as hotels and attractions in Singapore (through the Super App),” said Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A.
When asked how the ongoing Omicron wave might affect this partnership, Keith Tan, CEO of STB, said Omicron infections would eventually peak and go down, making it important to “start building for demand now”.
“We can’t wait for Omicron to die down before we start making plans for recovery; it would be too slow and too late,” Tan said. That is why Singapore has established VTLs with several South-east Asian countries, with the intention of establishing more, as “regional markets are very important for us in the first phase of recovery”.
However, for travel in the region to be seamless, Fernandes stressed the need for “one policy within the 10 countries”, as opposed to the current situation where every country has a different policy.
Tan agreed: “One of the key enablers for the rebound in regional travel would be some degree of harmonisation of health protocols, similar to Europe. But different countries in South-east Asia have different risk appetites, which results in different degrees of health protocols.”
A useful step that South-east Asia can work towards, Tan stated, is “making the different protocols easier to understand by travellers” both from outside and within the region.
As for how low-cost travel might look like in the future, Fernandes told TTG Asia: “I think low-cost, shorthaul travel will bounce back first. We’re seeing an incredibly strong rebound in domestic, which is a precursor to borders reopening. (Once they do), rebound will be very, very quick.”
When TTG Asia asked if low-cost airlines would continue to offer low fares in the face of post-lockdown high travel demand, which has resulted in air fares rising dramatically, Fernandes believes that budget airline prices will “always be significant lower than full-service carriers”.
He added that airasia would maintain low fares because “lower fares will stimulate demand”.
“The lower the fare, the more the demand. We believe in creating demand, and not driving fares up,” he said.
The PATA Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2022-2024 Full Report released on February 15 is predicting international visitor arrivals (IVAs) growth rates of 126 per cent to 84 per cent for mild, medium, and severe scenarios in 2022 versus 2021.
The increase in the absolute number of IVAs is predicted therefore to range from 72.5 million to 175.7 million under the severe and mild scenarios respectively, lifting the total volume of visitor arrivals to between 159 million and 315 million, under those same scenarios respectively.
While it is a positive and welcome development after two years of extremely difficult conditions, the international travel and tourism sector of the Asia-Pacific region still has much to repair and revitalise.
The forecasted increases in 2022 arrivals, for example, still only return them to 23-45 per cent of the level of foreign arrivals received in pre-pandemic 2019.
Moving forward to 2024, IVA growth over the next three years is projected to be positive, with the volume of IVAs in 2024 being equal to, or better than that of 2019, under two of the three scenarios.
PATA CEO Liz Ortiguera said: “Our latest forecast report numbers, based on data as of November 2021 reviewed in conjunction with our recent research advisory panel updates provided on January 24, 2021, provide the definitive outlook for Asia-Pacific visitor arrival forecasts. As noted by our panel, the effect of the Omicron variant is projected to have a small incremental impact for now, with the key earlier assumptions still driving the forecast.
“Equitable access and deployment of vaccines plus a practical risk-based approach to health and safety protocols in travel is foundational to not only the travel sector’s sustained recovery but to the overall global recovery from the pandemic.
“We share the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) view that the pharmaceutical sector must address barriers to access and affordability for all destinations. Furthermore, as acknowledged by the WHO, travel bans will not prevent international spread. Instead, travel channels should remain open with clear, practical guidelines as recently shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and WHO.”
Ortiguera also noted: “Various research studies and early travel patterns indicate a heightened consumer interest in a pivot to the right side of travel – longer journeys, more authentic experiences, and nature-based, wellness-oriented, and socially-conscious travel offerings are among the key trends for today’s travellers.
“Destinations can expedite their recovery by staying top-of-mind with consumers, communicating requirements with clarity and consistency, and offering a sustainable, healthy destination experience.”