Government’s quarantine U-turn leaves Hong Kong hotels reeling
Abrupt changes in quarantine rules for entry into Hong Kong has thwarted travel plans and created chaos for designated quarantine hotels (DQHs).
Citing concerns about the more transmissible Delta variant, the Hong Kong government announced on August 17 that it would be imposing a 14-day quarantine minimum for all arrivals from medium-risk countries from August 20, scrapping a plan to shorten the period for those who test positive for Covid-19 antibodies.’
Additionally, it abruptly moved 15 additional countries to its high-risk category, including the US, France and the UAE. The quarantine period for vaccinated travellers arriving from those countries were extended from 14 to 21 days, while unvaccinated travellers who had been in any of those countries in the previous 21 days were barred from entering Hong Kong.
That policy U-turn has left DQHs like Ovolo Southside fielding hundreds of calls and emails from customers requesting for either an extension of their stay or a cancellation of their entire booking, said Sonesh Mooi, Ovolo Hotels’ operations manager.
Up until last week, the majority of the hotel’s guests were requesting to change their booking to before August 20.
The Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners executive director Michael Li said that the authorities’ decision to move 15 countries to its high-risk category had left quarantine hotels inundated with requests from passengers to change their arrival dates to before August 20.
The sudden change had resulted in a temporary shortage of hotel room supply and upended the travel plans of hundreds, said Li. “Travellers’ desire to visit Hong Kong would be dampened if the government keeps changing the policy,” he added.
The government announced on July 30 the list of DQHs for the fifth cycle of the Designated Quarantine Hotel (DQH) Scheme. While the fourth cycle had 35 DQHs (10,800 rooms), there will be a total of 36 hotels (about 10,000 rooms) – with Ovolo Central added to the list – under the fifth cycle running from September 1 to November 30.
The extension of quarantine requirement means higher occupancy rates at DQHs like Nina Hotel Island South.
“Although the September-November period isn’t a peak season compared to summer, we are experiencing very high demand (during that period) due to the announcement,” said a spokesman from Nina Hotel Island South. The hotel is expecting full occupancy through October.
When asked if the list of DHQs will be further expanded to cope with rising demand, a government spokesman told TTG Asia: “The impact of the tightening arrangement on overall room demand of the 36 DQHs under the fifth cycle remains to be seen.
“The government will continue to closely monitor the demand for hotel rooms and consider the need for releasing some 1,500 reserve rooms in individual DQHs if and where necessary.”
BeMyGuest integrates with Google for tours and activities booking links
Singapore-based tours and activities aggregator BeMyGuest has launched a new integration with Google, allowing attractions and tour operators to show free ticket booking links directly on Google Search.
This new functionality, which allows suppliers to show their offers to potential customers without paying for advertising campaigns, will help drive bookings by making it easy for users to click through and book tickets directly on supplier websites.
Using BeMyGuest’s Xplore booking system, the company will push all sales leads generated from Google directly to the operator’s website. Xplore is a modular booking system launched in Singapore, providing full circle digitisation of all direct sales channels, including three key modules for e-commerce, point of sale, as well as B2B management.
The additional sales from Google will be processed via the Xplore system, and proceeds from the new direct sales channel delivered to the operator’s preferred payment gateway.
“It’s a real boost for operators who have been struggling over recent times to help them rebuild their revenue streams through what should be an additional and very powerful direct sales channel,” said Blanca Menchaca, CEO of BeMyGuest.
“We’re currently speaking to a number of our operators, welcoming them with the opportunity to be included in the integration. As a B2B company, our priority is to empower them with as many sales channels as possible, so we’re very happy to support Google and our operators in this way.”
Lotte Hotel World invests in contactless technology
Lotte Hotel World in Seoul has reopened its doors following its first renovation work in more than 30 years.
As part of its revamp, the hotel has upgraded its contactless technology services by grafting state-of-the-art technologies. The Delivery Robot being operated as a service helper in the lobby provides welcome amenities, adding convenience and fun.
Each room is also equipped with the AI speaker “GiGA Genie,” which allows guests to request amenities or concierge services as well as to control air conditioning, heating, lighting, and various online streaming services.
Smart concierge provides information on popular attractions and restaurants in Seoul, and unmanned currency exchange kiosk offers contact-free service.
New rooms and a club lounge have also been added to the hotel’s facilities following the revamp. Design of the rooms put family visitors in mind, offering ample space for four guests without additional beds. The 255 rooms span 19 types in three classes – deluxe, premier and suite – with some rooms also boasting sofa beds and bunker beds.
Suite rooms offer premium air purifier by Molekule, which kills 99.9 per cent of viruses, and air shower that quickly dries up the body after shower. These additions are in light of the added focus on hygiene and cleanliness post-Covid.
Massage chairs and thermal massagers are provided as well which is another endeavour of the hotel to care about the health of guests. Furthermore, exotic and healthy menus such as hummus, pita bread and poke are offered in line with the wellness trend.
The Club Lounge has been designed as a place for guests to find a balance between work and rest, following lifestyle changes caused by Covid-19. Noteworthy is the L-Library offering a convenient reading environment with tablet devices. Visitors have unlimited, complimentary access to about 60,000 e-books. Also available via application streaming are newspapers, magazines and multimedia content such as YouTube.
Meeting rooms have been fitted with smart TV on which one can make high-definition presentation, as well as electronic blackboard and signage TV.
AirAsia enters Malaysia’s ride-hailing scene
AirAsia has expanded into the ride-hailing market in Malaysia with the launch of AirAsia Ride, the group’s newest offering under its super app.
Services are currently available in the Klang Valley, with expansion to more cities in Malaysia planned throughout the year. The AirAsia Ride e-hailing service can be booked by clicking on the ‘Ride’ icon on the AirAsia Super App, or via the website airasia.com/ride.
Amanda Woo, CEO of AirAsia Super App, said: “AirAsia Ride inherits the DNA of running a low-cost model which enables savings to be passed on to guests and strives to offer the lowest fares on the road, introducing great value to the highly competitive e-hailing ecosystem.”
Lim Chiew Shan, CEO of AirAsia Ride Malaysia, commented: “What sets AirAsia Ride apart from others in the market would be the unique insights and data that we have due to our position as a super app that owns an airline, and have strong vertical products on e-commerce, fintech, logistics, and now e-hailing.
“This enables us to leverage on AirAsia Group’s rich and vast data and algorithm to provide a seamless and connected journey experience for our passengers where they will be able to perform in-path booking for both their flights and pre-book their ride to the airport and even for their return journey at the same time, all within the convenience of one single itinerary and without having to leave the AirAsia Super App.”
Lim added that passengers will soon be able to use their BIG Points to pay for their rides, and can also choose their preferred vehicle type and even drivers. AirAsia Ride boasts a 100 per cent fully-vaccinated driver fleet.
Currently, AirAsia Ride has about 1,500 registered drivers, and with its nationwide expansion, another 5,000 are expected to come onboard in the next six months, said Lim. Drivers take 85 per cent of the net fares, higher than other ride-hailing providers in the market, according to a release.
Fares on AirAsia Ride are set at an average of RM1 (US$0.24) per kilometre, and passengers are able to book on-demand rides, or even pre-book their rides in advance. A special feature allows passengers to book an ‘Allstar Ride’ and be chauffeur driven by AirAsia pilots and cabin crew.
IHG brings Holiday Inn Resort to Halong Bay
IHG Hotels & Resorts has partnered with Ha Long Bay Hotel Joint Stock Company to develop its flagship Holiday Inn Resort in Vietnam, set to open in Halong Bay come 2023.
Holiday Inn Resort Halong Bay will be the second Holiday Inn Resort to open in Vietnam, after Holiday Inn Resort Ho Tram Beach.
The 208-key property will be situated at the heart of a mixed-use development project also featuring resort apartments and a retail podium.
Facilities at Holiday Inn Resort Halong Bay will include three restaurants and bars, over 1,300m² of meeting space including a banquet hall, an adult-only infinity pool, an indoor kids’ adventure pool, a fitness centre and spa.
A 50-minute drive from Haiphong Cat Bi International Airport, Holiday Inn Resort Halong Bay will be located along Bai Chay Road and within walking distance of Sun World theme park and a public beach.
Tourism job losses in North Queensland expected to escalate
Tourism stakeholders in North Queensland expect thousands more jobs losses by the end of this year amid ongoing lockdowns across Australia.
According to new research from the Tourism and Transport Forum, another 3,150 Tropical North Queensland tourism jobs will be lost by Christmas, shrinking the tourism workforce to half its pre-pandemic size.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) CEO Mark Olsen said tourism had employed 15,750 full and part-time staff and, with indirect tourism spend, supported a total of 25,500 jobs before the pandemic in the Cairns region.
“By July 2021, we had lost 3,600 permanent staff, even with the support of JobKeeper and a returning domestic market,” Olsen said.
“The region grew its workforce across the entire supply chain ready for a busy winter, but now these new recruits, including more than 200 from the tourism industry who have been in training for months, are being told to find other work.
“Government needs to understand how significant this impact will be on our community where one in five jobs have depended on tourism.”
Advance Cairns CEO Paul Sparshott said the ability for the regional economy to recover would be greatly reduced if skilled staff were lost to the tourism and hospitality sector.
“There will be far-reaching ramifications. When tourism markets are severely impacted, it flows through to other industries, affecting the whole regional economy,” he said.
Olsen said Tropical North Queensland is, and will remain, one of the most impacted regions in Australia and that the outlook for the tourism industry was grim. “Our region has had just 27 days straight without the impacts of a lockdown in key domestic markets in the past 18 months,” he said.
“That period in May was the busiest the Cairns and Great Barrier Reef region had been since before the pandemic as we are the most Googled regional destination for Australian holidaymakers.
“However, the stop/start impact of southern lockdowns shutting the destination out of key markets is difficult for businesses to manage, particularly with staffing levels.”
Olsen noted that the region is in its sixth week of free-falling visitors with more than 15 million Australians in lockdown. “Most businesses are running at less than five per cent of their normal revenues, and the forward bookings are slowing with hotels down to 15-25 per cent occupancy and more than A$20 million (US$14.4 million) in postponed events for July and August,” he said.
Olsen also cited new data from the Queensland Tourism Industry Council which revealed that consumers have lost confidence in booking travel interstate and far from home, with nearly 60 per cent of Australian travellers unlikely to cross their State border.
He said: “With half of our domestic travel coming from interstate before lockdown, the closing of borders will continue to have a dramatic impact on our region.”
PATA unveils 8-point tourism recovery plan
To support Asia-Pacific’s tourism industry in rebounding from the Covid-19 crisis, PATA has announced its 8-Point Industry Recovery Plan to address both the immediate and strategic needs of its members and the broader industry.
1. PATA Crisis Resource Center
Launched in May 2020, this resource centre is available to all travel sector members and provides various playbooks for various industries ranging from aviation to hospitality, covering several topics including communications resources and sector resource kits.
2. Government members-only roundtable
Earlier this month, PATA launched a roundtable series to share insights and exchange ideas across destinations on restarting travel. The first session of this series featured presentations by select destinations, including Hawaii, the Maldives, and Thailand. The second session just held on August 17 featured COVAX/UNICEF with a briefing on vaccine equity, deployment measures and community acceptance strategies.
In the coming weeks and months, PATA will continue to support its destination members by sourcing subject matter experts and supporting a pan-regional and global dialogue to support the industry recovery.
3. Innovation Workshop Series and Innovation Hub for members
PATA has just launched an Innovation Series of workshop-style webinars designed to deliver practical information to members. Upcoming topics will range from digital marketing, Covid-19 safety best practices, leadership and resiliency skills, destination development, and more.
PATA’s website now also features the Travel Innovations Hub, comprising crowd-sourced travel innovation ideas from around the globe, designed to engage and inspire its members.
4. Ongoing industry trends and forecasts for members
With the ever-changing status of multiple elements influencing tourism recovery, PATA recognises the need for frequent and diverse expert-advised trends and forecast reporting. Through live webinars and research reports supported by its vast network of industry experts, PATA will continue to regularly deliver expert-sourced intelligence reporting to keep members informed.
5. Vaccine equity initiative supporting COVAX/UNICEF
A foundational element to tourism recovery is vaccine equity, deployment, and acceptance across the region and beyond. As such, PATA is supporting the COVAX/UNICEF initiative in the form of advocacy, industry education, fundraising and, if required, logistics sourcing.
6. PATA global community connection
Like the rest of the world, PATA has pivoted from offline/real-life interactions at physical events to online webinars. The association has started hosting hybrid events and will continue to deliver in-destination physical events wherever possible; and complement it by leveraging technology platforms and content to bring its members together globally and in smaller forums to support their business development.
7. Knowledge share and collaboration with global organisations
PATA is in regular collaboration with World Bank, ADB, GIZ and other development organisations and consulting firms on industry leading topics to support the recovery. The association regularly engages with the global tourism and travel task force meetings along with leaders from WTTC, IATA, ACI, WEF, ICAO and others.
8. PATA’s destination resilience initiative
In conjunction with GIZ, the programme initiated development in June with PATA project managing an expert team of 20 subject matter experts. This framework addresses the pillars for resilience including: environment, economy, community, visitors and health & safety. The pilot will be launched in four PATA member destinations.
Asian Trails steps up collaboration with Vox City Walks
Asian Trails’ Thailand office has signed a deal with Vox City Walks to develop new environmentally-friendly tours.
The walking tours, including self-guided walks, are designed to reveal another side to the capital Bangkok by taking visitors off established tourist trails. They target those keen on experiencing a destination and its people at their own pace.
Vox City Walks will also be expanding its partnership with Asian Trails in Malaysia, starting with Kuala Lumpur, and Vietnam.
JLL sets up office in Seoul
JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group has launched its dedicated South Korea advisory and investment services office in Seoul, becoming the first international advisor to offer a dedicated hospitality real estate practice in the country.
Min Joon Kim, vice president, will lead the South Korea Hotels & Hospitality practice, delivering advisory, asset management, and investment sales services for the hospitality sector. He will also assist in directing Korean outbound capital as Korean institutional capital becomes increasingly important globally.
He will report to Xander Nijnens, managing director, head of advisory & asset management, Asia Pacific, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group; and Corey Hamabata, senior vice president, investment sales, Asia Pacific, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group.
According to JLL, the decision to establish a dedicated presence was driven by heightened activity in the South Korea market and interest from domestic and international investors.
South Korea is ranked fourth in terms of hotel transaction volume in Asia-Pacific, with US$1.4 billion transacted in 2019 and US$770 million in 2020. JLL analysis also shows that investment volumes in South Korea reached US$849 million in 1H2021, a year-on-year increase of over 55 per cent.
In establishing a local presence, JLL will look to advise clients deploying capital into hotel development projects and help facilitate increasing investment into the hotel sector through advising on all stages of the capital cycle, from acquisition to optimisation and disposition.
Hotel Okura Co. will open a two-storied hotel in Sheshan, a scenic forested mountainous area bordering the city of Shanghai, come 2024.
Hotel Okura Shanghai Sheshan will be built on a site of approximately 40,000m². It will offer about 280 guestrooms, each with a standard area of about 50m². The hotel will also feature a variety of restaurants offering Japanese cuisine, all-day dining and Chinese cuisine.
Other facilities include a lobby lounge, a banquet hall and multi-purpose meeting rooms, a fitness facility, and spa with an indoor pool.
Hotel Okura Shanghai Sheshan will be the third Hotel Okura Group property to be inaugurated in Shanghai. The property will be situated about 18km from the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport.