SIA to pilot IATA Travel Pass this month
Passengers travellers from Singapore to London from March 15 to 28 will be part of Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) pilot trials for the IATA Travel Pass mobile application for digital health verification.
This is the second phase of SIA’s digital health verification process trials, which is based on the IATA Travel Pass framework.
Passengers with Apple iOS devices will be invited to download the app and create a digital ID with a photo and passport information. They have the option of also including their flight information.
They can then book a pre-departure Covid-19 test at any of seven participating clinics in Singapore via an online portal, and register at the clinic using the digital ID and flight information in the app.
Passengers participating in the trial will need to show their confirmed status in the app to the check-in staff in Changi Airport before flight departure. In line with current regulatory requirements, they will also need to bring a physical copy of their health certificate that is issued by the clinic where they took their Covid-19 test.
If successful, the pilot will pave the way for the integration of the entire digital health verification process into the SingaporeAir mobile app from around mid-2021, again using IATA’s Travel Pass framework, noted the airlines in a press statement.
The airline will work closely with its partners in Singapore and around the world in the facilitation of these trials, and towards the eventual restoration of a seamless travel experience for its customers.
JoAnn Tan, SIA acting senior vice president for marketing and planning, said: “The first phase of the trials helped to support SIA’s drive towards a secure and convenient industry standard for the verification of Covid-19 test results, and the health status of passengers including their vaccination status in the future.
“This gives us confidence that in the second phase, we can further streamline the verification process for eventual integration into SIA’s mobile application. This will help to provide a hassle-free digital solution for our customers in the new normal, and bring about a more seamless travel experience.”
Rebuilding travel demand
Many in the luxury travel space are predicting a travel recovery that is led by high-net-worth travellers – people with the financial ability and control over their own time to get through the many hurdles required of travellers amid a pandemic. Is this happening with Hilton’s best of the best properties?
I don’t think travel recovery is restricted to luxury travellers. Everyone is travelling again once it is possible.
We are seeing in Asia-Pacific that there are now more domestic travellers than we saw a year ago, which is a natural outcome of the closure of travel borders as a result of the pandemic.
In China where we have a big number of Waldorf Astoria and Conrad hotels, we have benefited a lot from the restrictions on Chinese people leaving the country for holidays. As a result, many are rediscovering China instead.
In Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, many locals who did not chose to stay at our hotels for a vacation pre-Covid-19 have changed their mind. In Singapore, locals are motivated by the SingaporeDiscovers vouchers put in place by the government (to stimulate domestic tourism spend) and their staycations are really helping the hotels.
In Japan and South Korea, staycations were already a big hit pre-Covid-19, and are more so during the pandemic.
Many people who are not able to travel overseas are thinking of using their time and money instead on experiences they never considered or have been thinking about for a long, long time. For some, staying at a Waldorf Astoria or a Conrad is that option.
With such a reduced market size due to international travel restrictions, are your luxury hotels reaching out to a segment of guests who previously could not afford a stay? Would this impact brand positioning?
Our hotels in Bora Bora and the Maldives see mostly returning guests, guests who have had previously experienced our properties. We have a very strong loyalty programme.
We also have a lot of returning guests at our other iconic city hotels, like the Conrad Centennial Singapore.
So, it is our regular customers who are returning first.
The rise of new customers is natural, as our brand presence has been growing over the last few years. In China, for example, we opened four hotels in 2019 – two in Hangzhou, one in Shenyang and one in Tianjin. These hotels are now attracting a new customer base for us. Residents who saw such iconic hotels in their cities became curious about the brand; they wanted to know where else on their future travels could they experience the same brand.
If a customer has just discovered us, we are very happy.
In any case, when a traveller decides on a luxury trip, he will consider what he wants to experience. When he chooses to stay in a luxury hotel, he wants to have the choice of having a wonderful time. It is never about the price. And for this reason, our team must and will continue to deliver on excellent experiences.
Has marketing to the luxury traveller changed – or will change – as a result of the pandemic and new travel priorities?
Marketing to the customer hasn’t changed but our messages have. In the beginning of the pandemic there was no need for us to tell our customers how beautiful our hotels are because everyone was stuck at home.
As the pandemic progressed, we developed our Hilton CleanStay and Hilton EventsReady messages to rebuild customer confidence.
And when the first wave of infections came under control, and people begun to dream again of travel, we started the Hilton Dream Away campaign. Travel resumption started in China, then Europe and then the US. As we saw more markets restarting some travel, we had more pockets of marketing activities but using the same channels.
We continue to be sensitive in our messaging because we cannot ignore the fact that we are still in the middle of a pandemic. Once it becomes clearer that people can get from one point to another, for example with flights resuming between Singapore and the Maldives, we will then roll out targeted marketing.
I consider the travel and tourism recovery to be a confidence game, where the player that can best portray an ability to offer the safest experience for the traveller, even at a premium price, will win. How is Hilton working towards rebuilding that confidence?
I remember how we used to keep our housekeepers hidden (before the pandemic). We told them to only clean the lobby between 02.00 and 04.00 early in the morning, and please do not show themselves to guests.
Nowadays, they will clean in the day and we are happy for them to stay as long in the lobby as they can and be visible to guests. But it is more than just a show, you know. We are a company of over a hundred years old, and cleanliness has always been a part of our DNA. Particularly because our luxury customers expect the very best from us, and that they are safe and taken care of. We didn’t have to reinvent our cleanliness processes.
That said, we have to be sensitive to Covid-19 requirements, which is why we now place a Hilton CleanStay seal on room doors as a way of assuring customers that nobody else has entered their room after it is cleaned and sanitised. Some things are also triple-cleaned now, and we have a partnership with RB, the maker of cleaning brands Lysol and Dettol, to allow guests to feel safe knowing that we are using products they trust and are familiar with.
Can you paint me a picture of your luxury guest journey in this Covid-19 era?
We start communicating with our guests days before their arrival to understand their desires and have that prepared in advance.
When they arrive at the door to their room, they will see a Hilton CleanStay seal, as I have described earlier.
Our hotel can provide an absolutely contactless experience should guests wish for that. If the guest does not want to check in at the counter, we can provide a digital check-in. If they choose isolation, they get isolation throughout their stay. Choice is the key here.
But, with luxury travellers, complete isolation is rarely chosen. They often expect some interaction, to be able to sense the smile behind the mask. They expect to discover why this hotel is luxurious, why the restaurant is famous, why the brand is positioned as such, what’s special around the neighbourhood, etc. Of course, they can know all that from Google, but they would rather find out by themselves, perhaps through a five-minute conversation with our concierge.
At our Maldives resorts, we will even arrange for a Covid-19 test on the island if the guest wishes. As you know, some guests are required to clear a Covid-19 test before they can re-enter their country, so this is an option available for them. And that, to me, is a clear example of the difference between a luxury hotel and a hotel of a smaller scale. It is in our DNA to do things differently to make our customers feel comfortable.
Speaking of the Maldives, Hilton has just launched Ithaafushi – The Private Island in January. And this autumn we can expect LXR’s debut in Asia-Pacific, in Kyoto. What about them excite you most?
Ithaafushi – The Private Island is part of Waldorf Astoria Maldives, and is essentially a private island for bigger families because there are four villas. Guests can only get there by boat, so it delivers on privacy.
Families staying on Ithaafushi – The Private Island have 24-hour access to a personal concierge and all team members who are stationed at the main resort. If they wish for a meal, chefs from the resort will go over and prepare a meal on the island. It has its own spa, gym, a large living space – everything a family could need.
We have been getting enquiries for family stays.
Sounds perfect in a pandemic era, as travellers are favouring private villas and estates when travelling with family for safe distancing.
Yes, absolutely. It is a great move, something we had planned for even before the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Roku Kyoto is under our latest brand, LXR. I’ve just seen photos of it, and it is under construction. It is on time and will open in autumn. It is a wonderful hotel, just 20 minutes from the city centre but in a wonderful nature setting. It is a resort with a couple of authentic food and beverage outlets on its grounds. I think it is a wonderful addition to the LXR brand and a great way for us to bring the brand into Asia-Pacific.
How will Hilton’s luxury portfolio continue to grow for the rest of this year in this region, and which brands will we see more of in the coming years?
Despite the pandemic, our expansion hasn’t stopped. We maintain our long-term vision for our brands. In fact, we had more signings for new hotels last year than we ever did before for all our brands.
Over the last couple of months, we are getting many partners who have expressed their trust in our brands and what we have been doing. And that is helping our hotel portfolio to grow. Ultimately, we have absolute trust that travel will return.
We are opening two Conrad hotels in China this year, one in Jiuzhaigou (Sichuan province) and another in Urumqi (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region). It is important that our luxury brands go to destinations that are beautiful and perhaps not where we would have gone five years ago but are now interesting (and unknown for the growing market of domestic travellers). The world is craving for new destinations.
Here in South-east Asia, we will have Conrad Kuala Lumpur and Waldorf Astoria Bali.
Later, we will welcome Waldorf Astoria Tokyo Nihonbashi (in 2026), which we announced end of last year.
I would say there is equal interest in all Hilton’s luxury brands.
One last question – an easy one. When travel is possible again, where would you go?
Easy. The Maldives!
TTG Conversations: Innovator Chat with Jane Goh, Xperience Singapore
The onslaught of Covid-19 has kept travel operators in Singapore hanging by a thread – once frequented by a wealth of international tourists, the island nation now hinges on its population of less than six million to keep its tourism economy afloat.
Fighting for its share of the pie, Xperience Singapore Travel & Events has secured exclusive partnerships that open previously closed-door experiences to the mass market. These include gin tasting in a distillery with a touch of wartime exploration, and an aviation tour featuring a hangar with privately-owned jets.
In the debut episode of TTG Conversations: Innovator Chat, Jane Goh, director of Xperience Singapore Travel & Events, shares her process of transforming tourism content for the discerning domestic crowd.
Inter-district travel alone insufficient to prop up Malaysia’s tourism industry
While the easing of travel restrictions has allowed for inter-district travel in all Malaysian states except Sabah since March 5, the ongoing nationwide ban on interstate travel continues to take a toll on the tourism industry.
The impact is especially dire on tourism businesses which are dependent on domestic travellers from the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, and densely populated states such as Selangor and Johor; as well as travel between east and west Malaysia.
Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners vice president, Robert Chong, said that hotels and resorts are unlikely to benefit from inter-district travel, since the concept holds less appeal to domestic travellers. “Obviously, local people living in Langkawi or Port Dickson will not go for a vacation and stay at resorts in the district or state they are residing in,” he added.
He shared that while Tourism Malaysia and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture had initiated a programme to promote domestic tourism last year by giving discount vouchers for hotel stays, it is unfortunate that they cannot be utilised for now due to the ban on interstate travel.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Association of Hotels has proposed for the government to establish domestic travel bubbles, using Langkawi as a pilot test destination; ahead of the resumption of interstate travel.
Eugene Das, chairman of Malaysian Association of Hotels Kedah and Perlis, opined that the travel bubbles could be formed between Langkawi and green zones.
“Langkawi has always been a popular destination for both domestic and international tourists, and it has proven itself to be a safe destination when domestic tourism was allowed back in June and December of last year,” he said. He added that a travel bubble will also benefit airlines, retail outlets, restaurants and local car rentals on the island.
Stressing the need to reboot interstate travel, he said: “We need to reopen. The industry cannot be perpetually waiting and sustaining losses continuously. (A travel bubble) is safe, controlled and easily monitored.”
Tripadvisor Plus aims to help hotels boost direct bookings
Tripadvisor has rolled out a subscription service that enables the direct participation of hotels in order to boost their visibility and help them reach more ready-to-book, high-spending travellers on the platform.
Tripadvisor Plus hotels receive special badging and increased visibility on the Tripadvisor platform, helping them to stand out from the competition and increase bookings at a lower cost than traditional channels. The programme is free for hotels to join, with no upfront costs and zero commission rates.
For travellers, Tripadvisor Plus offers the ability to up-level their travel by unlocking insider savings, personal service, benefits and perks (such as a free bottle of wine upon check-in, room upgrades when available, or spa credits), all available for an annual membership fee of US$99.
Tripadvisor Plus offers an innovative alternative to the traditional online model of room distribution for hotels. Rather than spend as much as 30 per cent per booking on commission fees, hotels can now significantly reduce their third-party costs and pass on some of those savings to their guests via discounts and perks, increasing room demand and enhancing the guest experience at the same time.
By offering these savings and perks to Tripadvisor Plus subscribers, hotels increase their visibility on the platform, among both subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Participating hotels receive special badging and enhanced placement within the Best Value sort order.
Discounted room rates available via Tripadvisor Plus can only be viewed by Tripadvisor members and can only be booked by Tripadvisor Plus subscribers, ensuring those rates are not widely available on the open internet, thereby preserving a hotel’s rate integrity.
Furthermore, by participating directly in the programme, Tripadvisor Plus hotels get full access to all of the customer information from each reservation. With no annual commitments and no last room availability requirements, participating hotels also enjoy flexibility, being able to opt in and out of discounting at any time as occupancy levels change.
Tripadvisor Plus launched in beta in December 2020 to a small slice of Tripadvisor’s traffic in the US, and will soon become available to all US travellers, with additional markets to follow later.
Sentosa commits to be carbon-neutral by 2030
As part of its long-term sustainability plan, Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) will transform the resort island into a carbon-neutral destination by 2030.
To do so, SDC will identify and work with technology partners to testbed sustainable technologies and concepts on Sentosa, while also bringing on board some 200 businesses within Sentosa to work towards the aspiration of island carbon neutrality.
Key priorities include working with businesses in Sentosa to establish an islandwide baseline carbon profile; decarbonising energy systems in Sentosa; closing the waste loop, such as reducing food waste; greening travel options in Sentosa; enhancing Sentosa’s digital architecture to optimise and control resources; as well as increasing awareness on sustainability and sustainable practices among Sentosa’s visitors.
As part of SDC’s collaboration with various partners, SDC and Temasek have signed an MoU to harness Temasek’s expertise and network of companies in studying and test-bedding sustainability solutions.
SDC and Temasek will identify opportunities for sustainability testbeds in Sentosa to lower the resort island’s carbon footprint. These solutions will leverage smart infrastructure to first detect and analyse energy usage, before using the data to engage users and influence consumption patterns, with the goal of reducing wastage.
The partnership will also explore new ways to deploy cooling solutions on Sentosa island and minimise waste going into Singapore’s incineration plants. To achieve these outcomes, SDC and Temasek will jointly engage various island stakeholders, including businesses in Sentosa and guests to seek participation and support to achieve these outcomes.
SDC CEO Thien Kwee Eng said: “Sustainability is a key priority and integral design principle in SDC’s journey to create great guest experiences and safeguard Sentosa’s value proposition for generations to come. Thus, even as we refresh our offerings amid changing guest preferences and needs, we will remain firmly committed to environmental sustainability and protecting our island charm, and ensure that our offerings are sensitive to our rich biodiversity and heritage.”
As part of the initial steps towards Sentosa’s carbon-neutrality goal, SDC is also engaging the island’s businesses, including hotels, dining establishments, attractions, and other offerings such as its marina club and golf club, on a whole-of-Sentosa carbon profiling initiative. The insights on carbon emissions will set the islandwide carbon profile baseline and guide future carbon mitigation and abatement efforts by various stakeholders on Sentosa.
Accor, Expedia Group expand UNESCO sustainability pledge
Accor and Expedia Group have joined forces to expand the UNESCO Sustainable Tourism Pledge into 96 countries.
The agreement, in collaboration with the UNESCO, sees 3,358 global Accor hotels sign on to the initiative to champion sustainable practices.
The UNESCO Sustainable Tourism Pledge promotes responsible practices, community resilience and heritage conservation, with the ultimate goal of changing the nature and impact of global tourism. Under The Pledge, parties commit to supporting the reduction and elimination of single-use plastics and promoting local economy and culture.
The Pledge was launched in October 2019 with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, UNESCO and Expedia Group. Accor’s hotels join over 500 hotels in Thailand that have signed The Pledge since the Thai microsite was established in 2020.
The expansion of The Pledge comes amid rising demand for tourism sustainability practices among travellers, led by millennials and Gen-Zers, Expedia said in a press statement.
Markus Keller, senior vice president, sales & distribution, Accor, said that joining the initiative is “a continuation of our group’s sustainable development programme Planet 21 – Acting Here which sets concrete and quantitative objectives relating to local sourcing, diversity and water, energy and waste management”.
“The UNESCO Sustainable Tourism Pledge aims to turn words into action and is a testimony of our growing commitment to collaborating closely with the hospitality sector in order to enhance environmental and sustainable tourism consciousness and practices across the world,” said Zuhairah Washington, senior vice president, strategic accounts, Expedia Group.
“Everyone needs to play their part in promoting sustainable tourism and helping preserve travel destinations. This partnership with Accor is about taking needed steps at a global scale to minimise waste in the tourism sector.”
South Korea plans travel bubbles, “flights to nowhere” for inbound travellers to boost aviation industry
South Korea will seek to establish quarantine-free travel bubble agreements with other countries as well as expand its sightseeing “flights to nowhere” services to inbound travellers, as part of measures to support the country’s pandemic-battered aviation industry.
The announcement was made by the finance minister Hong Nam-ki during an emergency economic meeting on Wednesday, reported The Korea Herald.
While talks are underway, the Transport Ministry declined to reveal which countries they are in discussions with, it added.
The move comes as the government is looking for ways to boost the tourism sector, amid the global vaccine rollout, and the country’s new Covid-19 cases dropping below 500 daily.
“The aviation industry desperately needs support to maintain its competitiveness as it is a core sector in charge of export logistics and is where as many as 200,000 people work for, including related industries such as tourism,” Kim Sang-do, deputy minister for civil aviation at the Transport Ministry, was quoted by the report as saying during a press briefing. He also revealed that the government plans to launch an app-based travel pass, a digital solution for Covid-19 test certificates.
In addition, the government also intends to allow international travellers to board its “flights to nowhere”, allowing them to tour the country without entering, according to the report. Currently, only domestic airlines are allowed to offer these sightseeing flights, limited to local residents.
Conrad Bangkok makes a new GM hire
Gearoid Lyons has been appointed general manager of Conrad Bangkok in Bangkok, Thailand.
Lyons brings with him more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Prior to this, Lyons most recent role was hotel manager at Waldorf Astoria Bangkok.
Joining Hilton in 2010, he has previously held various management roles in full service and luxury hotels across multiple markets including London, Sydney, Perth, Tokyo and Bangkok.
An in-person Arabian Travel Market (ATM) will return this year to the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 16 to 19, followed by a virtual event a week later to reach an even wider audience.
Now in its 27th year, ATM 2021 will bear theme, A new dawn for travel and tourism, and focus on the current state of the industry as well as what the future holds. Event content will also discuss emerging trends in travel and tourism, and how innovation can drive the industry forward.
Supporting ATM’s theme, a recent Colliers report, MENA Hotel Forecasts, estimates that 2021 will be a year of recovery, based on the assumption that hotel performance across the region is already improving. Major destinations such as Dubai and Cairo are leading the way with estimated full year 2021 occupancy levels of 68 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.
They were closely followed by Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Muscat and Amman, with average occupancy of 58 per cent, 56 per cent, 51 per cent, 48 per cent, and 45 per cent respectively.
Overall, average year-on-year growth of the 20 destinations researched was 47 per cent.
Expressing confidence in the industry’s recovery based on vaccine progress, Danielle Curtis, ATM’s exhibition director ME, said: “Last week, Pfizer released the first reading of its Phase-3 trial data for its Covid-19 vaccine, announcing that it was more than 90 per cent effective in preventing the coronavirus, based on interim data analysis.
“If approved by the US Food & Drug Administration, Pfizer estimates it can roll out 50 million doses this year and up to 1.3 billion in 2021, enough to vaccinate almost 675 million people. So, we are confident that by May next year, we will be on the threshold of a new dawn for our industry.”
Both ATM 2021 and ATM Virtual are part of the wider Arabian Travel Week. Debuted in June last year, ATM Virtual was said to be a success, drawing 12,000 online attendees from 140 countries and facilitating 11,301 prescheduled one-to-one meetings and 23 live video sessions. Overall, webinars had more than 24,000 views over the course of three days.
Curtis believes that maintaining a virtual event element this year would allow more industry professionals from around the world to join in the activities, especially at a time when not all travel restrictions are off the table.
The Arabian Travel Week includes International Luxury Travel Market 2021, and Travel Forward, the travel technology vertical. ATM will also be partnering with Arival on a series of webinars aimed at tour operators and destination managers.
Buyers Forums will be established for key source markets such as Saudi Arabia, India and China, while a virtual digital influencers’ speed networking session, a hotel summit and a responsible tourism programme will also be held.
The in-person event will adhere to all health and safety guidelines, and will provide a touchless and seamless delegate experience.