The people predicament: How will we retain talents whose faith is broken?
For as long as I have been covering travel, tourism and business events news – just 15 short years – laments of talent shortage have never ceased. There was always not enough folks who were both educated or experienced and passionate enough to outlast the pressures of long hours, frequent travels, and more attractive salaries offered by other industries.
These laments will deepen because of the dire straits the pandemic has put the industry in, which has resulted in an exodus of talents through business closures, retrenchments and dampened spirits.
According to ACI Report 2021, an annual salary and employment trends study published by ACI HR Solutions, 24 per cent of the industry was made redundant in 2020, and nine per cent have yet to secure re-employment.
For some, the state of joblessness provides a rare time for rest and family reconnection. For others, it is a period of endless anxiety because from where will the next meal come?
This period of endless anxiety is not reserved just for displaced workers. Those holding on to their jobs are now shouldering additional loads in place of their retrenched colleagues while drawing a reduced wage. Half of 829 respondents from across Asia-Pacific and surrounding regions took a pay cut in 2020, with 36 per cent of them getting 25-50 per cent less income.
A depressing year for our industry has led 20 per cent of respondents to lose confidence in our industry. Even worse, 68 per cent of respondents plan to quit or exit the industry in the next 12 months, with 27 per cent open to exploring opportunities outside of the industry.
Kaye Chon, dean and chair professor of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management, has often emphasised on the versatility of the hospitality expertise. Hospitality graduates and professionals are highly sought after by luxury retail companies, banks, medical services or any businesses that require a tender human touch.
For an industry that often says its success depends on its people, losing good people to despair and other industries is worrying. On the bright side, this crisis could be a turning point for the travel, tourism and business events profession.
There are some practices effected during lockdowns that can work great now and forever more, and not just for the multinational companies but also for small outfits. For example, working from home and supporting it with a proper structure; relegating less critical meetings to web format; flexi-hours with wage adjustments as an option; and a regular mental well-being programme.
Here’s one more – compulsory skills upgrading for all staff which counts towards their performance appraisal. If there is one thing this travel and tourism crisis has taught us, it is that constant innovation is critical. Skills and jobs can be made obsolete by new challenges which require creative, new solutions. Constant staff training could be a company’s insurance against redundancy.
Karen Yue is group editor of TTG Asia Media. She sets the editorial direction for the company’s stable of travel trade titles and platforms, and produces content for them as well.
Driving female empowerment, one motorbike tour at a time
Alison Grün’s Harley-Davidson purrs into action. She scoots around the buzzy streets of downtown Kuala Lumpur, zipping past colonial-style buildings, vibrant wall murals and the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. Riding pillion on her Sportster 883cc is a young female on a half-day tour to discover the capital city’s hidden gems.
But Grün is not just another biker out on a joyride. She is a woman on a mission to use motorcycles as a vehicle to drive female empowerment and champion inclusive tourism development by creating touring job opportunities for local women riders.
The 35-year-old’s love affair with two-wheelers started as a child riding pillion on her dad’s Harley while growing up in France, with both her parents being part of a close-knit motorcycle club. But it wasn’t until her regional sales manager job brought her to Malaysia in early 2015 that she saw how motorcycling could liberate women weighed down by family and societal expectations.
Grün shared: “When I joined the Ladies of Harley Malaysia and connected with many women riders in the region, I felt inspired to see how motorcycling could emancipate them, bring some balance in their life, and gave them an opportunity to not only be themselves but also to have fun as women, not as mothers, corporate leaders, sisters, wives or daughters.”
When Grün lost her corporate job last year, it was this desire to propagate women empowerment through motorcycling that led to her setting up women-led motorbike tour company FreeW in June 2020.
The W stands for Women, Will and Wheels, and embodies the organisation’s aim to provide an ecosystem for women to step out of their comfort zones and realise their potential, and to build a sisterhood of sorts with fellow bikers across the globe. It aspires to provide local women with more enriching economic opportunities in tourism and motorsports. To that end, Grün also teaches women in Malaysia to ride two-wheelers to empower them to find more employment opportunities.
FreeW’s roots, in actuality, go back to 2019.
Over the last few years, Grün has been undertaking off-road motorcycle tours in the Himalayas, both in India and Nepal, which ignited her interest and love for rural and community-based tourism.
“I was really touched by the women there. I was impressed by both their physical capabilities and mental resilience, and felt we had so much to learn from them. However, the language barrier and travelling with men, even though very fun, limited my ability to interact authentically with them,” she recalled.
“I suggested to the Nepali team to hire women tour guides as I’d love to come back with a group of female riders. I knew we’d appreciate an experience above the physical challenge, taking our time to enjoy impromptu interactions and reconnect with our womanhood. They looked at me in awe, saying there was no such thing in Nepal. ‘Why not?’ I said. That’s how it all started.”
Riding rough terrain
In December 2019, Grün worked with the Nepali team to design a tour that would not only take them to breathtaking landscapes, but also allow them to invest in local women’s economic empowerment through local craft classes and homestays.
That Nepal tour was slated to be held in April 2020 as FreeW’s first women-only tour, with a Nepalese woman rider to lead the tour with Grün and her team. Alas, the tour was put on ice when Malaysia went into its first lockdown in March 2020.
On the upside, the pandemic freed up Grün’s schedule so she could work on sharpening FreeW’s vision and crafting tours with women rider friends. Ongoing collaborations span the region, including one in India with Jai Bharathi from MoWo, a riding school empowering women through mobility; and another with Anne Cruickshanks from Myanmar Pure Travel. A tour in Iran, in partnership with Mahsa Homayounfar from Not Just a Tourist, is also on the cards.
Seeing also a huge market gap in motorcycle training classes in Malaysia – and how both safe riding skills and self-confidence on the road are prerequisites to hosting FreeW’s tours – Grün developed a training programme to coach women (and men) how to ride or boost their confidence on two wheels. The course has begun to gain “traction”, and Grün is in talks with driving schools to help them deliver corporate programmes.
“I also started doing my own motorcycle tours with my Harley-Davidson to give people an opportunity to experience that thrill, where I take passengers off the beaten path to discover Kuala Lumpur and its surroundings from a different perspective,” she said. “I’m hoping to give Malaysian women riders opportunities to do so too in the future.”
Over the last few months, Grün has conducted about 10 personalised tours – a figure she calls “encouraging”, given that Malaysia was placed under movement curbs for a good portion of the time. Prevailing travel restrictions, however, have posed a major speed bump for her overseas road trips. While about 25 women have signalled their interest in the various FreeW tours, uncertainties around the pandemic and ever-evolving travel rules restrain them from making any definite bookings.
Still, that has not stopped Grün from planning her 2021 tour line-up in Nepal, Myanmar and India, hoping to do at least some recce rides. Roping in locally-based women riders to run these tours, she will work with them remotely to adapt the tour to the local environment.
Currently, she is also in discussions with women riders in several Asian countries – Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh and Pakistan – to conceptualise and lead FreeW tours. “In Malaysia, I want to strengthen the motorcycling classes offering, organise more events, and train other women riders interested in sharing their motorcycle passion with others, as tour guides or riding coaches,” she said, adding that corporate partnerships will also be a key focus to accelerate growth in 2021.
Tourism ad blitz launched to get Aussies hitting the road again
A week-long tourism advertising blitz has kicked off across Australia this week, aimed at getting locals to book domestic holidays to give the sector a badly-needed boost.
Running from January 31 to February 6, 2021, the A$5 million (US$3.8 million) campaign is the latest burst of activity as part of Tourism Australia’s Holiday Here This Year campaign, which encourages domestic travel in order to support tourism operators and communities across the country.
It features Australian destinations, tourism products and experiences, including areas impacted by last summer’s bushfires. The week of activity combines event sponsorships, publisher-created content and in-programme editorial integration as well as national advertising running across key television programmes, online and print, and 2,500 outdoor ads.
Minister for trade, tourism and investment Dan Tehan said the campaign is part of the government’s ongoing support for the tourism industry.
“We want Australians to get excited about holidaying in Australia. Our country is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and this year is an opportunity for Australians to discover why,” he said.
“This nation-wide advertising blitz will inspire Australians to plan and book their next domestic getaway in the weeks and months ahead. Domestic tourism is worth A$100 billion to the Australian economy and our tourism industry supports more than 621,000 local jobs.”
Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison said that with many Australians returning to work, now was the perfect time to provide them with the inspiration and ideas to book their next holiday.
“Summer is typically the busiest time for our tourism industry, with many operators relying on the revenue generated during this period to support them throughout the year. But as a result of the challenges that we’ve continued to face across the country, for many tourism businesses, this holiday season unfortunately hasn’t gone to plan so far,” she said.
“Despite the recent disruptions, consumer confidence remains high with many Australians keen to take a break and get out and explore their own backyard. This campaign is all about capitalising on this pent-up demand by providing those people with all the content and inspiration they need to convert this desire and yearning for a holiday into actual bookings.
As part of the nationwide initiative, Tourism Australia is also encouraging the industry to coordinate an aligned advertising push across their own marketing and social media channels during the same period.
Thai attractions come to 3D life
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has launched a series of virtual reality tours to four destinations across Thailand – Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Surat Thani.
The tours, which are immersive 360-degree adventures that allow visitors to explore the attractions in 3D, are accessible via individual links on the Tourism Thailand Virtual Tours main page.
After clicking on the link, visitors are led directly to the attraction. Icons on the bottom left allow for viewing floorplans and for navigation, while other functions let visitors view in VR or share with friends on social media.
Once inside an attraction, visitors can move around using the cursor, while some of the attractions have information about its historical background or details of items on display in both English and Thai.
In Bangkok, the Mekhala Ruchi Pavilion lets visitors virtually explore the two-storey teak wood building, which was the residence of King Rama VI while Phayathai Palace was under construction. Meanwhile, the virtual tour of Thewarat Sapharom Hall showcases the elegant interior of the palace’s throne hall, and the Phiman Chakri Hall stands out for its iconic turret.
In Chiang Mai, visitors can dive deep into a virtual visit of Phra Chao Tan Chai Ma Tam Na Bun Chapel or the Big Reclining Buddha at Wat Chedi Luang. There is also a tour of Phra Maha That Chedi for the 12 astrological signs and Phra Chao Pun Ton. The final two attractions in Chiang Mai include the statue of Khruba Chao Teung Na Ta Si Lo and Ma Tam Na Bun Chapel.
In the southern region, there are virtual tours of Chedi Khao Hua Chuk in Surat Thani and Chinpracha House in Phuket.
The virtual reality tours give visitors a bird’s-eye view of these famous attractions, allowing them to move around simply by clicking on points of interest. They are designed to inspire wanderlust and encourage armchair travellers to visit the landmarks in future.
Fliggy partners with Amadeus to ramp up personalisation
Fliggy, Alibaba’s online travel platform, has inked a multi-year agreement with Amadeus to deliver more personalised traveller shopping experiences.
The agreement will enable Fliggy to leverage Amadeus’ search and assisted booking technology to offer more customised products and services to its customers, and create a more seamless user experience.
Since partnering with Amadeus in 2015, Fliggy has seen a steady growth of travel bookings on its platform, with the Hangzhou-based travel platform now servicing more than 100,000 global partners.
Amadeus’ advanced search technology has also been critical in supporting high volumes of traffic and transactions on Fliggy’s platform during China’s “Double Eleven” shopping festival each year.
Pandemic fears, movement restrictions pave a weak welcome for the Ox
- Lunar New Year domestic travel is weak in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines, with the exception of Singapore
- Movement restrictions and infection concerns have lowered travel priority
- Sellers resort to unique products and programmes to encourage spend
Lunar New Year celebrations in South-east Asia this year will be a mere shadow of past years, the sombre mood a result of movement restrictions that are still in place to curb local transmissions as well as consumers’ concerns about infections.
In Malaysia and Hong Kong where authorities and their people are battling new waves of infections, festive holiday bookings for the Year of the Ox have been elusive for travel suppliers.
Malaysia is presently enforcing a ban on interstate and inter-district travel, which requires residents to keep within a 10km radius of one’s home. People are encouraged to stay at home unless it is vital to travel, while all social activities are prohibited. This ban has been extended to February 4, and the Health Ministry will make a decision by then on whether to tighten or ease the enforcement.
Should restrictions be eased in time for the Lunar New Year, Malaysian tourism players believe that business could turn around.
There is also an unusually quiet lead-up to the Lunar New Year celebrations in Hong Kong, with major cultural and leisure attractions shut since December 2 and the 2021 Lunar New Year Fireworks Display and Lantern Carnivals cancelled. Gatherings of more than two people in public places remain prohibited.
Traditionally a peak travel season in the Philippines, this year’s business boom is non-existent.
Rajah Tours president Jojo Clemente blames it on the fear of travel. “(Travel) is not a priority for most right now,” he remarked.
Sharing similar observations, Simon Ang, managing director-operations with Celebrate TLC, said his largely trans-generational family groups that travel during the Lunar New Year are choosing to “wait for this (pandemic) to be over than expose (their elderly family members) to the possibility of contracting Covid-19”.
While some Filipino-Chinese are travelling, the numbers are not “what we are accustomed to”, noted Clemente. For those who dare venture out, they are choosing to stay at high-end properties.
Bernadette de Leon, general manager of Amiable Intertours, who has seen zero bookings for the Lunar New Year, estimates that only 30 per cent of Filipino-Chinese would take domestic vacations in the run up to the festival. Most would head to upmarket resorts like Balesin and those in Palawan.
She expects the majority to go abroad, especially to the US due to low season airfares and to countries without winter, like Australia, New Zealand and the Maldives.
This initial market performance forebodes what is in store for tourism this year.
“Based on what’s happening to (the pandemic and vaccination progress), I believe that 1Q2021 will be just like 2020. The slump will probably (turn around) mid-year and a very, very slow recovery will happen towards the end of 2021,” projected Ang, who added that travel agents could continue to suffer while hotels could “get by” with staycations and quarantine programmes.
Some Indonesian travel agents are also writing off Lunar New Year business, as massive celebrations in destinations with large Chinese communities, such as Medan, Pontianak, Singkawang and Bangka-Belitung, are taken off the calendar.
Pauline Suharno, managing director of Elok Tour, said: “This is usually a time for Indonesian Chinese communities to go to their home towns to celebrate, but it has been quiet so far this year.”
Although the long weekend – with the most important days of the festival running from February 12 to 15 – is encouraging some traffic to tourist areas in North Sumatera, travel agents have not been able to benefit from it. Christine Kowandi, tour manager of Horas Tour Medan, explained that most of these vacationers are from the surrounding areas, and they do not need the services of travel consultants.
Domestic travellers going direct to hotels have allowed select hotels to enjoy a busy festive period despite losing international visitors to travel restrictions.
Swiss-Belinn Singkawang is one of the lucky few, having drawn strong bookings for the long weekend, according to Harshanty Kaloko, regional director of public relation and promotions, Swiss-Belhotel International Indonesia.
A different story in Singapore
Singapore’s low community transmission records have allowed residents to enjoy social activities, albeit with necessary precautions. As a result, tourism suppliers that TTG Asia spoke to have reported brisk business this holiday season.
Shangri-La Hotel Singapore and Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel are both enjoying stronger staycation demand this year compared to previous years. For the former, the first few days of the festival are the busiest and most of the bookings are by families with young children, revealed a Shangri-La Hotel Singapore spokesperson.
Over on the attractions side, Wildlife Reserves Singapore is upbeat about visitation numbers, as its zodiac-themed activities are often a hit with families.
Performance this year is especially promising as the Lunar New Year holiday weekend will segue into Valentine’s Day, noted a spokesperson, who added that admission ticket purchases typically surge closer to the date of visit.
Creative sell is key
Tourism businesses in Hong Kong and Singapore that are allowed to remain open have devised creative ways to keep some business coming.
In Hong Kong, the soon-to-open Hotel Alexandra is planning a series of festive delicacies for dine-in and take-away as well as a Valentine’s Day set menu since the day of romance coincides with the third day of the Lunar New Year.
Ngong Ping 360 will continue to run its cable car service and have most of its shops and restaurants in Ngong Ping Village open although the indoor attraction remains shut. To attract visitors, Ngong Ping Village will be decked in Lunar New Year splendour as part of the attraction’s Fortune Walks in 360 themed activities. Furthermore, purchases made during the festive period will enter customers into a lucky draw to win prizes such as Nintendo Switch.
A Ngong Ping 360 spokesperson told TTG Asia that bookings for the Lunar New Year period is yet unknown, as tickets can only be sold 14 days ahead. However, he expects the celebratory activities as well as improved transportation access to Ngong Ping 360 to bring good footfalls.
In Singapore, the local domestic travel scene is teeming with Lunar New Year specials to encourage expenditure in place of impossible overseas vacations. These promotions range from hotel staycation deals and take-home dining specials to combat restaurant capacity limits, to Lunar New Year themed guest experiences at attractions.
Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel’s resident manager Alvin Lim attributes the good staycation take-up to the hotel’s array of room packages. The hotel has packages built for families and couples as well as for foodies and those seeking retail therapy. The hotel is also looking to reel in stronger F&B earnings through unique dining experiences themed around the Lunar New Year, from special course meals to festive takeaways.
While visitor programmes at Wildlife Reserves Singapore have to be adjusted to abide by safe management measures, which have resulted in the removal of lion and dragon dance performances as well as meet-and-greet sessions, the group has initiated creative alternatives. Some of the highlights this year include a five-course festive dining experience at the River Safari with giant pandas, curated for permissible group sizes; and a trail to concoct a nutritional festive treat for the Singapore Zoo’s Ankole cattle to align with the Year of the Ox. Various themed activities and limited-edition merchandise are also offered across the four wildlife parks.
Christina Cheng, general manager of Hotel Alexandra, stressed the need for creative revenue options while the travel bans remained in place. “We will continue to stay positive (about) recovery this year, and will keep abreast of transitions and provide attractive experiences (to spur) recovery,” she concluded. – Additional reporting by Mimi Hudoyo, S Puvaneswary, Rosa Ocampo and Prudence Lui
TTG Conversations: Five Questions with Mieke De Schepper, Amadeus
Changing travel patterns and reduced traffic throughout the pandemic have forced changes in travel distribution, driving a greater need for flexible bookings, altered products and consolidation of operations to cope with strained resources.
In this new episode of TTG Conversations: Five questions video series, which kicks off the 2021 February season, Mieke De Schepper, managing director Asia-Pacific and executive vice president online travel at Amadeus, said travel suppliers would have to be quick to tune their business to opportunities and focus on the way forward.
She highlights available technology that could help the travel and tourism community rebuild traveller confidence and evolve their operations for the better.
Ready for revival
Singapore
By Pamela Chow
While medical and wellness is not a current focus of her tourism strategy, Singapore may find ample opportunity in this sector, thanks to her effective clampdown on the spread of Covid-19, as well as her egalitarian distribution of vaccines since December 2020. The island nation’s speedy turnaround during the pandemic has earned her global recognition that could benefit her status as a hub for treatment and restoration.
This potential lifeline is not overlooked by hospitality brands in the country, which have stepped up their offerings to tap this niche segment.
Boldly entering the scene is Singapore’s first licensed confinement luxury hotel, Kai Suites, which offers pre- and post-partum care for mothers and their newborn. Its services include a three-month prenatal programme, a seven-day stay and a three-month postnatal programme that provides education, nourishment, nutrition and rejuvenation.
One Farrer Hotel & Spa is also joining the game. After serving as a testing facility for medical staff, followed by a stay-in facility for Malaysian long-term pass-holders, the hotel embarked on a refurbishment to redesign most of its property and processes in consultation with medical experts. Corridors and rooms are now lined with antimicrobial materials, while a new housekeeping protocol implements UV lamp disinfection for every room. Plus, an upcoming Pillow Lab will use an Ultraviolet-C Chamber to disinfect its new menu of pillows.
It has also rebranded its previous “hotel in a hotel” concept into Mint Hotel, a room category that features intelligent and hygiene-focused design. Under the advice of medical professionals from the connecting Farrer Park Hospital, Mint Hotel’s 176 rooms feature antiviral wall coverings, moveable furniture, antimicrobial blinds and custom gapless vinyl flooring replacing its carpets.
One Farrer Hotel & Spa’s general manager, Gilbert Madhavan, told TTG Asia: “One of our target markets (for 2021) will be medical tourism. While travel demand will come back slowly in some ways, medical tourism will always remain quite stable. Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh are some of the (country’s) key (sources) for medical tourism, and they always come accompanied by family.”
To capture this crowd, the hotel has launched Farrer Concierge, a one-stop service that takes care of guest needs, from scheduling medical appointments to making tour and transport arrangements.
Malaysia
By S Puvaneswary
2020 was poised to be a banner year for Malaysia’s medical tourism industry, which had been enjoying a major boom in recent years. With more than one million medical tourists flocking to Malaysia annually, the country harboured bold ambitions to become a medical tourism hub in South-east Asia.
On a roll, the sector closed 2019 at a record high, with some 1.3 million medical tourist arrivals, making the country the top favourite for medical tourists around the world.
Enter the pandemic. Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) anticipated 2020 would see a 70 per cent reduction in hospital receipts to between RM500 million (US$122.3 million) and RM600 million, as compared to 2019’s performance. Border controls and stricter processes that medical travellers must comply with have led to a slump in foreign patients at Malaysia’s private hospitals. Sherene Azli, who was the CEO of MHTC until her term ended on January 15, projects it will take at least three years for the medical travel sector to return to 2019 levels.
In a desperate bid to revive the sector, the government has allocated RM35 million to the MHTC this year to promote the country’s medical travel sector, and extended income tax exemption for export private healthcare services until 2022.
On its part, MHTC is driving a rebound in the sluggish sector through a three-pronged strategy, namely, aggressive publicity and branding campaigns showcasing Malaysia’s excellence in healthcare and building confidence in Malaysia as a healthcare travel destination; providing support and facilitating end-to-end infrastructure including digital adoption; and cementing Malaysia as a thought leader in medical travel.
Sherene stressed: “We need to engage medical travellers in the continuity of care as well as ensure they remember Malaysia as among the best in the world for healthcare. We do this by amplifying our expertise through social media. Players in the medical travel sector also give talks and participate in medical travel related webinars.”
While Malaysia’s border remains closed to leisure foreign tourists, it is open to foreign medical travellers entering Malaysia via chartered flights since July 1, 2020 and by commercial flights since October 5, 2020.
However, hospitals have to get clearance from the government, which MHTC helps to facilitate, before foreign patients are allowed to enter the country.
Incoming patients must adhere to strict procedures, including showing a negative Covid-19 test result obtained within 72 hours of departure, undergoing a second Covid-19 test in a local hospital upon arrival, and a two-week quarantine prior to their treatment.
Mohd Nazri Harun, head of international marketing at KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital, shared that last year, the hospital saw a significant decrease in medical travellers, especially from its three main source markets: Indonesia, the Middle East and South Korea.
To plug the shortfall, the hospital has shifted its marketing focus to the expatriate population and foreign embassies located in Ampang and its surrounding areas.
Mohd Nazri said: “We have been offering promotional medical packages as well as specially-priced Covid-19 screenings to embassy staff and their families (since last year).”
The pandemic has also hastened the healthcare industry’s shift from paper-based to digitalised processes.
Hospitals in Malaysia have embraced virtual consultations to ensure continuity of care for overseas patients who are unable to travel to Malaysia due to travel restrictions.
Stanley Lam, CEO, Mahkota Medical Centre in Melaka, said the hospital provides teleconsultation services so patients can seek follow-ups remotely. It also delivers prescribed medicines to the patient’s doorstep.
Other digitalisation efforts include an online platform to allow patients to schedule their appointments and a Care Line on the hospital’s website to assist patients with their enquiries.
Medical travellers to Mahkota Medical Centre mainly seek cardiology, oncology, orthopaedic and fertility treatments. Some 30 per cent of its medical travellers are from Indonesia, with other main markets being Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.
In the northern state of Penang, Ronald Koh, president and CEO, Penang Adventist Hospital, shared that the medical staff and doctors had made “persistent efforts” to switch to digital to cater to the rising needs of overseas patients who are unable to travel to Penang during this period.
Koh predicts teleconsultation is here to stay even as Covid-19 vaccines roll out, as it provides an “alternative (platform) for foreign patients who face difficulties travelling abroad to continue receiving follow-up care as well as save on travel costs and travel times”.
Sherene agreed with Koh that demand for teleconsultations will continue to grow even after borders reopen and international travel resumes. She said: “If we look at digital healthcare in 2019, its growth was already on an upward trajectory.
“Specialised fields of care were already investing in telemedicine apps and software programmes. New features like AI, predictive analysis, and automatic data collection were being used to lower the cost of care.
“The arrival of Covid-19 boosted the growth of this sector as healthcare systems globally had to adapt rapidly, and it played a critical role in offering patients access to care and more importantly, continuity of care.”
Telemedicine presents convenience and flexibility for both doctors and patients – doctors enjoy flexibility to manage their patient schedules, while patients save on commute, she added.
Sherene also sees healthcare facilitators playing a more important role “as resource banks and sources of credible information” in a post-pandemic world fraught with uncertainty. She said: “Now, more than ever, patients need assistance to plan their healthcare travel, ranging from documentation to accommodation.
“Healthcare facilitators can also play a significant role in assisting patients to adhere to the standard operating procedures for entering Malaysia for healthcare treatments.
“In addition, by keeping tabs on travel bans, country regulations and requirements, healthcare facilitators can bridge the gap between patients and healthcare providers.”
Thailand
By Anne Somanas
As one of the world’s top medical tourism destinations, Thailand’s healthcare sector had been on a winning streak before the pandemic hit.
In 2019, the country was listed as one of the top five destinations of inbound medical tourism spending globally by the World Travel & Tourism Council. In fact, medical tourists accounted for nine per cent, or around 3.15 million, of the country’s 35 million tourists in 2018, with the bulk hailing from China.
As Covid-19 casts a prolonged dry spell on international tourism, Thailand’s hospitals, clinics and agents servicing foreign medical tourists have seen footfall tumble, due to the government’s strict 14-day quarantine requirement on all visitors.
Bumrungrad International Hospital, a private enterprise whose international patients account for 65 per cent of its revenue pre-Covid, has seen foreign visitors drop by 80 per cent in 2020, especially from its top source market of Myanmar.
For major inbound medical tourism agents like Medical Departures, which works with hospitals and clinics across 34 countries, and for which Thailand is a core market, the measures curbing inbound tourism flows have led CEO Paul McTaggart to furlough 30 per cent of his staff, while diversifying to markets that currently have more tourism-friendly climates like Europe and South America.
Despite the country reopening to medical tourists since July 2020, the programme has enticed few visitors. “The limitation that they have to stay in the hospital for two weeks (as part of the quarantine protocol), even for a two-day surgery, led many to stay in their own countries. The programme is still open, but the market potential is limited,” explained Bruno Huber, general manager at the Mövenpick BDMS Wellness Resort.
“For any medical business in Thailand, it’s (almost) 100 per cent domestic (clients) at the moment. You can have world-class facilities, but it doesn’t matter if the patients can’t get here, so we’re not relying on foreign patients at this point,” said McTaggart.
To entice the domestic crowd, health and wellness operators are launching promotions and packages to capture rising demand for wellness and preventative care treatment.
RAKxa’s VitalLife clinic, initially geared toward foreign visitors, has quickly pivoted to the domestic market and launched a one million baht (US$33,200) per year membership programme. More than 40 memberships have been sold since the resort’s opening at the end of 2020, said its medical director, Narinthorn Surasinthorn.
In the alternative state quarantine (ASQ) market, Mövenpick BDMS – Thailand’s first hotel to offer ASQ last April – is seeing “above average” profits, with returning Thai young working professionals and expats, mainly Japanese, being their top client base, shared Huber.
While its core business is now ASQ, the resort also offers packages that pair quarantine with an extended stay and access to medical services.
Bumrungrad has also launched local-targeted offers, and fixed its rates for 2021 to make its services more accessible to domestic patients.
At the same time, the hospital continues to bring in critically-ill patients who require treatment into the country, but it is a process involving “high coordination” between multiple parties, according to Nipat Kulabkaw, its chief international business development officer.
Still, experts and industry professionals anticipate that Thailand’s excellent track record with managing Covid-19 will be a future boon for local medical tourism.
“Covid-19 showed our level of public health management and built further credibility for Thailand as a medical tourism and wellness destination,” said Runjuan Tongrut, executive director of the Americas region at Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). “The TAT is building on that to keep Thailand top-of-mind for foreign visitors.”
These efforts include the Amazing Thailand Health and Wellness Virtual Trade Meet held last December to match both well-established and new health providers in the Thai market with travel operators abroad, as well as a strong social media strategy, with the TAT head office in each country regularly pushing health and wellness related content, such as beach yoga in Thailand, on their Facebook and Instagram accounts.
With Covid-19 vaccine rollout now underway across the globe, Bumrungrad is in talks with the Ministry of Public Health for medical tourists from Middle Eastern countries with proof of vaccination to be exempted from quarantine or serve a reduced quarantine, as it “could help to boost our medical tourism numbers this year,” stated Nipat.
Asked how Thailand could elevate its medical tourism sector, Nipat shared that to compete with regional players such as Singapore and India, as well as emerging global competitors like South Korea and Turkey, Thailand needs to make it possible for foreign health professionals to practice in the country.
“If we want medical tourism to become one of the country’s key strategies, we need support in terms of manpower. The main barrier to medical personnel and specialists practising in Thailand is that they need to attain a Thai license. This requires an ability to speak Thai, so right now, high-end medical specialists from abroad cannot practice here,” he explained.
“Also, in terms of pricing, Thailand is currently benchmarked against Singapore, Germany and the US. We can easily compete with those countries, but if we look at the next pricing tier down which is 30 to 40 per cent cheaper, India is a very scary competitor when it comes to pricing. Reducing the high import taxes on medical equipment would allow Thailand to be able to offer more affordable medical procedures.”
McTaggart sees this lull for Thai medical tourism as temporary.
He elaborated: “Thailand offers great value-for-money, immediate accessibility and access to alternative treatments such as stem cell treatments that may not be authorised in patients’ home countries – these are the three things that draw medical tourists to Thailand. Thailand is the oldest player, and the most well-known. When travel resumes, I’m certain the country will rebound as a medical travel destination.”
Pre-pandemic, plans were in place for many internationally-geared hospitals and wellness centres to launch. Now, despite the heavy blows to medical tourism in 2020, many of those in the pipeline have either already opened or are building ahead.
Medpark Hospital, aiming to become a hub for super tertiary care in South-east Asia, soft-opened in Bangkok in October 2020.
Near Suvarnabhumi, The Forestias – Thailand’s largest mixed-use real estate development that is projected to complete in 2022 – is also integrating an elderly home, and a large medical centre geared toward international visitors.
JNTO, Further East ally in spotlighting luxury travel in Japan
Brought to you by Further East
The Japanese National Tourism Board (JNTO) is once again the official partner of Further East. This partnership will showcase different experiences of Japan’s world-renowned hospitality offerings, as well as a takeover of all Further East social channels, marking it the first such alliance between an NTO and Further East.
Further East is Asia-Pacific’s most innovative high-end travel trade show. Uniting the world’s most original, Asia-Pacific focused travel brands, buyers and globally renowned media, our mission is to create a unique community that attracts the most forward-thinking minds in luxury hospitality.
Further East 2021 will be our most important edition to date, as we recharge luxury travel in the region and forge a brighter future for our industry.
With this in mind, we are delighted to welcome JNTO once again as an official partner of Further East and look forward to spotlighting some of Japan’s inspirational hospitality offerings.
The partnership will feature a cross-platform digital campaign through 1Q2021, including dedicated newsletters showcasing the country’s myriad attractions, from tradition-steeped heritage sites to gastronomic delights, as well as targeted content in TTG Asia and TTG Asia Luxury, and a week-long takeover of all Further East social channels.
Further East will be back on the beach in Bali from November 15 to 18 2021. For more information see https://www.furthereast.co/ or contact the team on furthereast@thisisbeyond.com.
New Zealand, Vietnam and Taiwan have scored the top three positions on Lowy Institute’s Covid Performance Index, which ranks 98 countries around the world based on their Covid-19 pandemic management.
The study, published on January 28, reviews countries with publicly available and comparable data on the virus, focusing on six measures across 36 weeks following their 100th confirmed case of Covid-19. Fourteen-day rolling averages of new daily figures were calculated for the following indicators: Confirmed cases, Confirmed deaths, Confirmed cases per million people, Confirmed deaths per million people, Confirmed cases as a proportion of tests, and Tests per thousand people.
Findings determined that although the coronavirus outbreak started in China, countries in Asia–Pacific, on average, proved the most successful at containing the pandemic.
Among the top 10 performers, six are Asia-Pacific countries. Thailand, Australia and Sri Lanka rank fourth, eighth and 10th respectively.
Singapore takes 13th spot; Malaysia 16th; South Korea 20th; Myanmar 24th; Japan 45th; Nepal 70th; Philippines 79th; Bangladesh 84th; Indonesia 85th; and India 86th.
The Covid Performance Index also looked at how political systems, population size, and economic development have influenced the management of the pandemic.
Political systems
While the tools to contain the spread of Covid-19 have been common to most countries, the manner which governments convinced or compelled their citizens to adhere to these measures often reflected the nature of their political systems.
Despite initial differences, the performance of all regime types in managing the coronavirus converged over time. On average, countries with authoritarian models had no prolonged advantage in suppressing the virus. Indeed, despite a difficult start and some notable exceptions, including the US and the UK, democracies found marginally more success than other forms of government in their handling of the pandemic over the examined period. By contrast, many hybrid regimes, such as Ukraine and Bolivia, appeared least able to meet the challenge.
Population
Categorising countries based on their population size revealed the greatest differences in experiences with the pandemic. These results stand even after taking into account per capita indicators to evaluate performance, minimising the likelihood of a methodological bias against countries with more infections because they have larger populations. The fact that internal borders are often more open and porous than international borders may have facilitated the spread of the virus within countries with larger populations.
At the outset of the global pandemic, there was little discernible difference in country performance by population size. However, experiences between large, medium, and small populations diverged markedly less than a month after countries recorded their hundredth Covid-19 case. Smaller countries with populations of fewer than 10 million people consistently outperformed their larger counterparts throughout 2020, although this lead narrowed slightly towards the end of the examined period.
Economic development
The study noted that countries with higher per capita incomes had more resources available to fight the pandemic and performed better on average than developing countries for most of the crisis to date. More surprising is that many developing countries were able to cope with the initial outbreak of the pandemic and that advanced economies, as a grouping, lost their lead by the end of 2020 – with infections surging again in many places that had achieved apparent success in suppressing first waves of the pandemic.
Richer countries were quickly overwhelmed when the virus first emerged. International air travel accelerated virus transmission from abroad in these countries. By contrast, many governments in developing countries had more lead time – and often a greater sense of urgency – to put in place preventative measures after the scale and severity of the global crisis became known.
The relatively ‘low-tech’ nature of the health measures used to mitigate the spread of the virus to date, including large-scale lockdowns, may have created a more level playing field between developed and developing countries in the management of Covid-19. Despite this, the uneven deployment of the first vaccines against Covid-19 could give richer countries a decisive upper hand in crisis recovery efforts, and leave poorer countries fighting against the pandemic for longer.