Japan National Tourism Organization has initiated The Dream Japan Journey contest exclusively for Singapore travel agents to craft creative and original Japan itineraries, in a bid to keep Japan top-of-mind among local agencies during this travel slump.
Submitted itinerary entries may either be for a group tour package, specialised/customised tour, or FIT plan; and have to revolve around one of the following three travel themes: Family Educational Trip, Luxury Trip, or Insta-worthy Japan, said JNTO in a statement.
JNTO calls for Singapore travel agents to dream up original Japan itineraries
Places such as Hokkaido, Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto are acceptable, but entries are required to also include other prefectures in their plan, it added.
Itinerary should also include realistic details of travel attractions and accommodations, though an estimated or final price is not necessary.
The best entry will win a pair of return air tickets to Japan, whereas the best entry for each of the three themes will each receive a sponsorship of joint advertisement of up to S$2500 (US$1,760), on the condition that the participant’s company develops the itinerary into an actual travel product.
As well, the best five entries for each theme will walk away with a goodie bag consisting of JNTO branded products.
Agents can submit their itinerary entries in PDF format, alongside their company name, name, designation, contact number, email address and selected theme, to singapore@jnto.go.jp.
Submitted itineraries will be deemed void if the organiser determines that an entry is not original, or already an existing travel product.
Participants are allowed to submit multiple itineraries, on the condition that each entry is an original.
Entries will be judged on the following criteria: technicality (how well the itinerary captures the appeal of Japan), creativity, and originality. Deadline for submission(s) is June 12, 2020, 11.59.
Interested agents can direct queries about this contest to singapore@jnto.go.jp.
Singapore’s Changi Airport will suspend operations at Terminal 4 from May 16, as part of efforts to further consolidate terminal operations due to the sharp decline in air traffic caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The move follows the suspension of Terminal 2’s operations earlier this month.
Changi Airport suspends T4 operations as air traffic demand plummets to new lows
The airport handled some 25,200 passengers in April 2020, a drastic 99.5 per cent drop compared to last April’s 5.58 million.
Cathay Pacific and Korean Air, which currently operate out of T4, will operate at Terminal 1 instead. Other airlines will be assigned to either Terminal 1 or 3 when they next operate flights at Changi Airport.
With the suspension of T4’s operations, stores and restaurants in the terminal will close and the shuttle bus service connecting to T3 will be suspended until operations in T4 resume. The timing of this will depend on when air travel demand picks up, and on the requirements of airlines seeking to relaunch flights, said Changi Airport Group.
During the current circuit breaker period in Singapore, F&B outlets in the rest of Changi Airport are open for takeaways, and essential services such as pharmacies continue to serve airport staff and the public.
Greater connectivity and safety, and a wider range of family-friendly options could be some of the pull factors drawing the segment to Asia
From exclusive private islands and spacious villas to luxurious itineraries designed to cater for children through to grandparents, the region’s upmarket travel companies are eyeing the rise in longhaul multigenerational bookings.
Greater connectivity and safety, and a wider range of family-friendly options could be some of the pull factors drawing the segment to Asia
Generations of family members travelling together has continued to be a significant trend in luxury travel, making the top observation in Virtuoso’s Luxe Report for five straight years.
Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, travel consultancy Strategic Vision’s annual Pulse of the Industry Survey 2020 found 81 per cent of the top luxury travel executives surveyed expected to see a surge in interest in multigenerational travel in 2020 and beyond.
Tailored experiences
Nicky Thongpunparn, director-sales, ICS Travel Group, shared that multigenerational travel has always been popular with the Asian market. However, she has seen an increase in longhaul bookings – particularly from the US.
Nicky’s company offers customised itineraries for well-heeled travellers through its premium brand, STYLE by ICS.
Recently, STYLE by ICS designed an itinerary for a family of 15 from the US who chose Thailand as for their vacation.
The itinerary involved luxurious private accommodation as well as curated experiences – cooking classes, picnics on the beach, and excursions to the countryside.
Nicky observed that travellers in the segment are looking for spacious villas, educational sight-seeing experiences, and the opportunity to forge lasting family memories.
Hospitable response
The segment’s interest in Asia has also not escaped the notice of Martin Koerner, group director-sales, marketing and distribution, The Anam.
Since the upmarket, 213-key resort opened in April 2017 at Cam Ranh on the central Vietnamese coast, Koerner has been seeing a “steady increase” in large family and multigenerational bookings from longhaul markets.
This prompted The Anam to launch its Family is Everything package in February. It combined a stay in one of the resorts’ two-storey Family Hall Villas and a wide range of culinary and recreational experiences for all ages.
The Anam is one among many accommodations that have been tracking and responding to the preferences of the segment.
Simona Chimenti, general manager, The Pavilions Bali – a boutique retreat with 24 traditional-style villas – noted that the segment would opt for beachside resorts with a kids’ club in the past. Parents would drop children off at the club and head to other sights and activities by themselves.
“Now, it’s about wanting to spend quality time with kids and (the rest of the) family. They want to be together in a boutique resort, experiencing things together and creating common memories,” observed Chimenti.
Drivers of growth
Koerner attributes the rise in bookings from the segment to three factors: more connectivity; wealthier, healthier, and more active retirees; as well as the wider availability of family-friendly options.
Commenting on the work Vietnam has put in for the last factor, he said: “Once the realm of intrepid backpackers, the destination is now on the luxury travel map and lends itself to extraordinary family experiences.”
For Andreas Grosskinsky, general manager, Destination Asia Indonesia, increased safety in the region has encouraged multigenerational groups planning longhaul trips to consider Asia.
Paradise dreams
It remains to be seen how important privacy will be for the segment. Some families have, after all, chosen to reserve an entire island.
Over at the Philippines’ North-eastern Palawan, multigenerational groups have been travelling to Banwa Private Island since its opening in 2019, shared Robert John Horrigan, CEO, Aquos Management, the company behind Banwa’s operations.
He shared that some of these groups booked out Banwa, which is able to cater for 48 pax at a time.
According to Horrigan, the Middle East is the top longhaul market for the island located in one of the Sulu Sea’s protected marine areas.
At Banwa, families are offered activities such as scuba diving at the famed Tubbataha Reef – accessible via a day cruise – and stargazing.
The segment’s influence cannot be underestimated.
“We are seeing a lot of bookings (where all three generations are) travelling together, wanting to share the ultimate experience. This is becoming a big thing,” Horrigan remarked.
Rome-headquartered tour content specialist Vox Group has sped up its innovation during the ongoing travel and tourism hibernation, and is ready to launch two new self-guiding products in mid-2020 that will answer to new travel considerations post-Covid-19.
Speaking to TTG Asia in an exclusive interview, John Boulding, CMO of Vox Group, revealed that Vox Connect and Vox City Walks, ready for release in June and July respectively, will allow travellers to maintain safe distancing while taking in enriched tour content as well as put critical market data into the hands of tourism industry players.
Boulding: Self-guiding technology is perfect for travellers wanting safe distancing as travel rebounds
The Vox Connect app sits on the traveller’s phone and the tour guide’s phone, allowing a connection via Wi-Fi and Internet that facilitates the streaming of video and audio.
Explaining how Vox Connect can enrich a traditional guiding experience, Boulding said: “A tour guide can point out a building that was featured in a James Bond movie, for instance, and play a James Bond soundtrack while explaining the (architecture).”
Vox City Walks, which will debut this July – or August at the latest – in Rome, Milan, Venice and Florence, is a flexible walking tour that provides a vast variety of city sights with pre-recorded audio introduction in multiple languages, plus the option of interaction with real-live guides covering the circuits featured in the programme.
“Our Rome circuit, for example, will have eight guides who can be tracked by GPS. The app user will be able to locate the guides and hop on that circuit at any joining point on the route. They can hop off any time they want to do their own things,” he explained.
A timetable will be provided for every joining point on the route map, allowing users to know when the guide will arrive next. A navigation feature helps the user to find his way to a selected joining point where he will meet a guide dressed in Vox uniform.
Travellers can join Vox tour guides on the circuit at any time they like
Vox City Walks is ready for replication through suitable business partners elsewhere in the world.
Describing the pandemic as “a game-changer” for the travel and tourism industry, Boulding said weakened businesses are now forced to change the way they operate in this new environment.
He recalled a resistance among industry peers whenever he spoke of Vox digital touring products in the past 30 months that he has been with the company.
“They’d say to me that their customers are older and do not use technology. I wasn’t sure if that was true then, but it certainly isn’t now. The city lockdowns have sped up technology adoption. Even the older people are now using their smartphones for information, entertainment and communication,” he said, adding that the industry is now more receptive of touring technology.
Boulding, who expects travel to change as a result of the pandemic, with one of the causes being legislation that prohibits “crazy, crushing crowds at popular attractions” and another being people’s desire for safe distancing, believes that travellers in the future will welcome self-guiding options.
“Many people departing their home as individuals, especially during the early days of travel recovery, are not going to want to be in a group. Self-guiding tech is perfect for them. You have your own smartphone and earphones – not a shared device that has been in someone else’s hands and ears – and you can distance yourself from other explorers while taking in the sights,” he said.
He added that self-guiding technology could also allow airlines, hotels, car rental companies to up-sell a standalone commodity.
“The market is going to be hyper-competitive once travel returns. If a hotel is not full, it will be obliged to sell every single bed off to anybody. It will be a commodity game where the lowest price wins. But if the hotel were to enhance its product with a self-touring option, which is very inexpensive because it is digital, it can sell to the customer a stay that comes with unlimited sight-seeing and audio guiding in their own language,” he opined.
Another critical advantage of Vox digital products is the data they generate, such as in-app usage that tells of where people went, what they saw, what time they got there and how long they stayed; and app store data, such as which countries the app was downloaded from.
“Every company needs new data and such intelligence will help businesses plan for recovery,” he said.
At its half-year results announcement on May 13’s morning, TUI Group revealed plans to initiate a 30 per cent cost-cutting programme to ride out the Covid-19 business crisis, a move that will see the global company cutting investments, size and presence around the world.
In a breaking report by TTG UK, TUI Group’s chief executive Friedrich Joussen, said: “TUI should emerge from the crisis stronger. But it will be a different TUI and it will find a different market environment than before the pandemic. This will require cuts: in investments, in costs, in our size and our presence around the world.
TUI Group will move into its “asset right” strategy even more quickly
“We must be leaner than before, more efficient, faster and more digital.
“We will implement our “asset right” strategy, which we launched in 2019, even more purposefully and quickly. We will become more digital at all levels – in particular, we will accelerate the expansion of digital platforms in new markets and for our activities in the destinations.”
The company’s move to “permanently reduce” overhead cost base will have an impact on potentially 8,000 roles globally.
“In order to return to the successful development of the past years after the crisis, we must now implement the realignment quickly,” said Joussen.
Joussen: TUI must be leaner than before, more efficient, faster and more digital
The group received a bridging loan of €1.8 billion (US$1.9 billion) in March to cushion the unprecedented effects of the pandemic until normal business operations can be resumed. In April, the banks providing TUI’s existing credit line of €1.75 billion also gave their approval for the contractual integration of the new credit.
TUI added that the loans received are to be repaid within a short period of time “and the high level of debt is to be rapidly reduced again”.
The first wave of Chinese travellers to hit the Philippines’ shores once travel restrictions are lifted are likely to head to beach destinations such as Boracay, Bohol and Cebu, according to a recent study by C9 Hotelworks and Delivering Asia Communications.
Social distancing protocols enforced at these locations, which are likely to stick around post-pandemic, have increased the appeal of these already popular destinations, concluded the two companies.
Most survey respondents named Boracay (46 per cent) as the Philippine destination they would most likely visit when travel is possible, followed by Manila (23 per cent), Bohol (21 per cent) and Cebu (6 per cent)
The analysis that beach destinations would be popular because of increased controls echoed Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, secretary, Department of Tourism (DOT)’s comments in a May 12 article by the government news agency, that “safety”, rather than “food, culture and immersion” would be a primary consideration for travellers post-Covid-19.
Conducted in the first week of May among 1,150 respondents from five first-tier cities in China, the study drew out the preferences of the 700 or so respondents (61 per cent) who said they were looking to travel to the Philippines this year and beyond.
Of the shortlisted travellers, about 630 were planning to travel to the country in 2020.
When asked which destination in Philippines they would be most likely to visit, most shortlisted respondents (46 per cent) indicated Boracay, followed by Manila (23 per cent), Bohol (21 per cent) and Cebu (6 per cent).
Sightseeing remained the most preferred activity in the Philippines, with 37 per cent of the shortlisted respondents indicating an interest in it, followed by nature-related activities at 16 per cent.
The significance of the survey was brought home by the fact that China has consistently been the Philippines’ second-largest inbound market for the past three years, behind South Korea. Visitor arrivals of the two countries formed 45 per cent of the 8.2 million visitors to the Philippines in 2019, with China alone contributing 1.7 million (21 per cent).
More than half of the shortlisted respondents came from the 20 to 29 age bracket. Their preferred channel for booking hotels, besides the well-established Ctrip (almost 60 per cent), were Alibaba Group’s travel service platform Fliggy (16 per cent), hotels’ websites (12 per cent), and WeChat (6 per cent).
Interestingly, of the shortlisted respondents, of which 58 per cent were female, and more than 60 per cent were workers or employees in companies, 82 per cent preferred to visit the Philippines as independent travellers, without relying on group travel.
This means that the FIT, young, tech-savvy female traveller with some extent of spending power (being workers) is a market that the DOT and tourism players in the country could zoom in on.
Other findings that revealed the preferences of the shortlisted Chinese respondents for travel to the Philippines were uncovered. For instance, more than half of the shortlisted travellers said they wanted to stay for five days or more in the country. Most (47 per cent) were willing to fork out US$1,400 per trip.
August (more than 10 per cent) and October (nearly 30 per cent) were popular months among those who gave a specific date for their travel plans to the Philippines.
In terms of accommodation, shortlisted respondents said they would prefer to stay at four-star (39 per cent) and budget hotels (28 per cent) in the South-east Asian nation, rather than top-tier, five-star hotels (just 21 per cent).
Despite the popularity of beach destinations, restrictions remain on these places and domestic and international flights travel have yet to resume across the Philippines. Boracay, one of the key destinations in the country, has only just moved from extended community quarantine (ECQ) to general community quarantine (GCQ) status on Apr 27.
Meanwhile, the Central Visayas region, which includes Cebu and Bohol, have extended the GCQ from the original deadline of May 15 to May 31, with Cebu City in particular being placed under a modified ECQ between May 16 and 31, according to government news agency reports.
In light of the fast changing tourism landscape, shaped by changing restrictions, David Johnson, CEO, Delivering Asia Communications, recommends that hotels turn from “strategic planning cycles” to “fast-to-market digital strategies”.
Meanwhile, Bill Barnett pointed out that the challenging of having to build social connections, which he calls the “heartbeat of hospitality”, even amid physical distancing, is the new norm for tourism and travel players in the Philippines.
According to the survey report, long-haul travel is expected to resume only next year, with this year’s travel to the Philippines coming mainly from domestic and regional markets, particularly as the DOT works airlines to reduce domestic flight prices.
Stakeholders of India’s aviation sector are demanding that the government make a long-term correction to cost structures, particularly bringing Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) under the ambit of Goods & Sales Tax (GST) and reducing infrastructure charges at airports, as the pandemic-induced travel and tourism crisis deepens.
Aviation leaders claim that the current cost structures have made it difficult for Indian carriers to survive, and that the short-term relief alone – in the form of exemption from airport charges and temporary excise duty waivers – are insufficient.
Long-term cost restructures in aviation are needed for Indian airlines to survive this crisis
Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, said governments around the world are doing their best to ensure airlines do not collapse.
“While we need short-term help from the government, this is also an opportunity for them to look at structural reforms that we have sought for several years. Among those demands are getting ATF under GST. It is important that our cost structures are lower than or aligned with (competing airlines like) Emirates and Fly Dubai, among others,” said Singh.
Including ATF under the GST regime will allow airlines to take tax credit on paid taxes, thus bringing down cost.
Kanika Tekriwal, CEO and founder of JetSetGo Aviation, noted that ATF contributes about 40 per cent to an airlines’ operating cost.
She added that airlines are “going through a difficult time managing their cash flows” as a result of extensive flight suspensions.
Meanwhile, Singh urged the Indian government to consider correcting “anomalies” in infrastructure charges at airports. Citing an example, Singh said airports would charge airlines about Rs 4.5 billion (US$59.6 million) a year to store fuel in tanks that “probably costs something like Rs 250 million to build in New Delhi”.
As part of WTTC’s efforts to restore consumer confidence in travel, the council has released standardised protocols for hospitality and retail operations worldwide to be adhered to presently as well as post-Covid-19.
Drawn up using existing medical evidence and World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, the protocols were designed to “provide consistency” for destinations, countries, travel providers, and travellers themselves, shared WTTC in a press statement.
WTTC wants its health and safety protocols to be adopted by governments to enable a coordinated approach to recovering travel and tourism; tourists exploring Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok
Measures laid out for the hospitality and retail sectors include retraining staff in infection control and new policies, employing technology to reduce contact (such as making digital menus compulsory, using digital maps and queue management to advise guests on areas to avoid in retail) and removing unnecessary items from hotels.
WTTC said similar standards for aviation and cruise sectors are being developed and will be released in due course.
Guidelines for each sector will be categorised across five pillars: restarting operations; ensuring the traveller experience is safe and secure; rebuilding trust and confidence; innovation; and implementing enabling policies, including advocating for financial aid.
Gloria Guevara, president and CEO, WTTC, said: “We have learnt from the past… where the lack of coordination among governments and with the private sector caused long-lasting travel disruption, higher costs and a longer recovery time.”
According to Guevara, the “global private sector has aligned (themselves with)” the new protocols, and the ball is now in the governments’ courts to adopt them. While awaiting governments’ action, WTTC is engaging in ongoing discussions with key private sector stakeholders to promote maximum buy-in and guide practical implementation.
WTTC had previously shared that it was developing these protocols in consultation with global and regional travel bodies, such as the International Air Transport Association, Cruise Lines International Association. The intention was to put forth the protocols to governments worldwide, so that the standards can be translated into public policies that would allow travel to restart even before a vaccine is widely available.
Sri Lanka – similar to Maldives – is considering reopening its air and sea borders in July to foreign tourists.
However, Sri Lanka Tourism’s chairperson Kimarli Fernando said arrivals would be mostly overseas Sri Lankans returning to visit relatives and friends. In anticipation of this, the government is planning to aggressively promote domestic tourism in nine provinces to help fill hotels and resorts.
Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators has issued a set of guidelines for DMCs to follow once tourism gets underway; coast of Colombo pictured
She was speaking at a webinar on Monday hosted by the Cinnamon group of hotels, titled Charting a course for Sri Lanka’s tourism future, in conjunction with several other tourism stakeholders.
To reassure travellers, Fernando shared that hotels will have to go through a new certification process to ensure their properties are compliant with globally accepted health and safety standards. Also in the works is the Visit Sri Lanka Year campaign in 2022.
Another positive sign Fernando shared was that several airlines have expressed an interest in resuming flights to Colombo, and were actively seeking partnerships with tourism authorities.
Anita Mendiratta, UNWTO’s special advisor to the secretary-general, shared that according to latest projections, there will be a 60 per cent drop in global tourism travel, yet Asia will be the first region to recover. Business travel and people travelling to meet their loved ones overseas would be the first to take off.
Dillip Rajakarier, CEO, Minor Hotels Group, believes that tourism will take 12 to 18 months for a full recovery.
“We are looking at cash flows and how to sustain during this period,” he said, adding that in light of the situation, buffet-type meals will also not be offered for a long time to maintain social distancing.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators has issued a set of guidelines for DMCs to follow once tourism gets underway. For instance, group photographs will be discouraged, while local guides on the tour bus will have to speak from behind a screen.
The future format of physical business events as life returns to a new normal will be debated at the second edition of the TTG Conversations webinar series, to be held on May 21 from 15.00 to 16.00.
Titled, Setting the stage for a return in business events, the hour-long session will feature panellists: Ian Cummings, global vice president, commercial, CWT Meetings & Events; Kerry Healy, vice president sales Asia Pacific, ACCOR; and Vincent Yap, director, integrated marketing solutions, Pico Art International.
Cummings, Healy and Yap will share their views on how offline business events will evolve
Panellists will paint a picture of the state of recovery in meetings and tradeshows, discuss how new necessities – from heightened awareness of personal and public hygiene to physical distancing – will impact the way business events are conducted in time to come, and share what the new considerations will mean for event suppliers and specialists.
The session will be moderated by Karen Yue, group editor of TTG Asia Media.
Registration for TTG Conversations: Setting the stage for a return in business events is now open. Capacity is limited and registrations are on a first come, first served basis.
TTG Conversations joins the company’s stable of widely-read and established trade titles, such as TTG Asia, as well as the many knowledge sessions of IT&CM Events and CTW Events that take place several times a year.
The debut session was held on April 29, focusing on the value of virtual meetings and considerations needed in transitioning physical events online. A recording can be viewed here.
