Tag: Travel

Singapore – The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched ‘SingapoReimagine Global Conversations’, a new forum series that puts industry game-changers on the global stage. Featuring speakers across different sectors, disciplines, and locations, the series outlines new travel experiences and business models that demonstrate how the travel industry has innovated and adapted for the future. 

STB Chief Executive Keith Tan said that the needs and expectations of travelers are changing significantly. He commented that as borders gradually reopen around the world, the tourism industry must work together to innovate, develop solutions and reimagine what the new travel experience can and should be. 

“With SingapoReimagine Global Conversations, we hope to provide a platform for such innovation, and a voice for leaders in the tourism sector and beyond,” said Tan.

SingapoReimagine Global Conversations is a key part of STB’s SingapoReimagine initiative, which was launched last year to affirm the destination’s commitment to shaping a new standard for travel, through safety, technology, experiences, and sustainability.

The series comprises three key forums, with overseas adaptations. The first forum titled ‘Reimagine Experiences’ is available on-demand in four video episodes released weekly on STB’s website and YouTube channel. The first episode under the first forum dropped on 8 September. 

The episodes will tap into the top minds in tourism and lifestyle, through a rich blend of interviews, rapid-fire questions, and data insights, to inspire new collaborations and ideas. 

The other two forums, ‘Reimagine Travel Journeys’ and ‘Reimagine Sustainability and Wellness’ will focus on the themes of travel journeys as well as sustainability and wellness, and will be introduced later this year and in the first half of 2022.

The new SingapoReimagine Global Conversations will spotlight different topics with speakers from across various industries, which include Felix Loh, CEO of Gardens by the Bay; Michael Lee, CEO of Hustle & Bustle; and Charu Kokate, principal & director of Safdie Architects; and Chong Siak Ching, CEO of National Gallery Singapore, among others. 

In the first episode, global trend forecaster and data partner WGSN unveils deeper insights into three future traveler profiles that will influence the future of the travel industry, as well as actionable steps for industry stakeholders. The three profiles are ‘The Wander Must’, ‘The Mindful Explorer’, and ‘The Slow Pacer’.

‘The Wander Must’ are the early adopters of technology and digital experiences, while ‘The Mindful Explorer’ are the nature and outdoor lovers who are likely to make sustainable choices. Meanwhile, ‘The Slow Pacer’ are travelers who place great importance on recharging and in seeking wellness destinations. 

The next episode, which will be released on 15 September is titled ‘A Whole New (Phygital) World’, which will discuss the convergence of digitalization and experiences to address the business needs of today and tomorrow. 

To further the discussion on reinventing the travel experience, SingapoReimagine Global Conversations will be rolled out in overseas markets in localized formats. The forum series will roll out in the USA and China in 2021, while in UK & Dubai, the series will be released in 2021-2022. 

Singapore – Travel and leisure booking platform Klook has some good news for both its consumers and operators as it will now be expanding the presence of its partner destination brands with a new integration into Google’s ‘Things to do’. 

‘Things to do’ is Google’s display feature that allows consumers to discover, plan and compare prices across activities and attractions around the world. It also allows for the availability of products to be updated and booked in real-time through a partner’s website. 

The integration will now be part of Klook’s digital suite of offerings for travel operators which will enable them to operate as an official site listing on Google Things to do.

Klook’s CCO Wilfred Fan said that the new integration is part of Klook’s commitment to equip and support travel operators with advanced capabilities and tools to achieve online success.

“With the integration of Google Things to do, we continue to build on our strong momentum of digitizing the travel experiences sector and supporting the digital transformation of operators,” said Fan. 

The platform said that more than anything, the new digital offering is a big boost to online consumer engagement without having to do with sophisticated technological development efforts. Furthermore, Klook said that by leveraging the company’s proprietary digital solutions, operators will be able to manage their prices, ticketing, inventory management, and even marketing, while Klook manages the technology from API integration to payment enablement.

Singapore – With travel now under strong consideration and vaccination programs slowly gaining momentum in Asia, Booking.com, the online travel arm of Booking Holdings for lodging reservations and other travel products, has announced the inaugural launch of its new campaign that aims to re-ignite travel inspiration.

The new campaign is a celebration of the trailblazers and explorers among people, shedding light on why travel has continued to remain so fundamental to their identities and showcasing what a return to travel could mean to people personally.

Titled, ‘Booking Explorers’, the campaign is a series of stories by leading personalities in the APAC region, such as Amazing Race Australia winners, Tim Sattler and Rod Jones, who have traveled the world proudly representing the freedom to love and who advocate making travel more inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community. It also features Indian multiple Grand Slam Champion, Sania Mirza, who was a global citizen that pursued a successful professional career in tennis before the pandemic, and Korean alternative pop band, Leenalchi, who connected people through the power of their music by traveling the world to find inspiration for new songs and interacting with global fans. 

In addition, rising style icon and global fashion model, Chau Bui, was also featured in the campaign. She calls Vietnam home but has traveled from Seoul to Paris, New York, and Milan to find inspiration for her unique style. And lastly, the campaign includes the famed Japanese illustrator in Paris, Kaori Watanabe, who expanded her mental comfort zones through travel and used this new perspective to create art that transports us to faraway lands.

Laura Houldsworth, Booking.com’s managing director and vice president for APAC, shared that the campaign is a heartfelt reminder of travel’s transformational impact and celebrates the spirit of travel through the voices of the explorers, who were forced to look inwards during this time and found new inspiration in the travel where it was possible while advocating for their greatest passions from home.

“With travel slowly resuming, it is my hope that these stories will bring a message of hope to our Asian travelers; and continue to broaden our horizons on how we can still experience our world responsibly when it’s safe to do so,” said Houldsworth.

The new ‘Booking Explorers’ campaign will be available at www.bookingexplorers.com.

Shanghai, China – ITB China, one of this year’s business-to-business (B2B) exclusive show catered to the business of the Chinese travel market and bringing together buyers and industry professional from all over the world, has appointed global travel service provider Trip.com as its official service partner for the event, which will be held from 24 to 26 November 2021 in Shanghai, with a virtual extension from 8 November to 31 December.

Through the appointment, Trip.com Group’s engagement at ITB China 2021 will include numerous on-site activities, sharing its latest market knowledge and forecasts at the ITB China Conference sessions, and added networking opportunities by co-hosting the ITB China Cruise Night for the fourth consecutive time, this year set to take place on the evening of 24 November.

Furthermore, Trip.com Group’s flagship events, the 2021 Asia-Pacific Corporate Travel Summit will be held concurrently to ITB China on 24 November in Shanghai to discuss the future development of the business travel eco-chain together with high-value corporate customers, airlines, hotels, MICE companies, travel payment and expense management companies. 

Said event is also the ‘Corporate Travel Event Partner’ of ITB China 2021 this year. Senior executives from Trip.com Group Corporate Travel will in turn be joining the discussion of the ITB China 2021 MICE and Business Travel Conference sessions, to take place on the second day of ITB China, 25 November.

“I am very excited to attend ITB China in person this year. It has been a while, but it is wonderful to be able to meet up with industry partners again. While the pandemic has brought global travel to a standstill, we are working together at full speed toward travel recovery. ITB China 2021 will provide the travel industry with a trusted platform for personal encounters and successful business again. I can’t wait to see you all in Shanghai again soon,” said Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – To show support for the vaccination movement, there has recently been a bandwagon of brands offering attractive discounts to individuals that will be fully vaccinated. This is in hopes of cushioning the level of vaccine hesitancy that is obviously present in different nations. 

On the side of travel brands, booking platform in Asia, Agoda, has today piloted a campaign ‘Vaxxed To Go’ in Malaysia that would see its accommodation partners incentivizing fully vaccinated travelers special travel deals and benefits. 

Through this campaign, Agoda hopes to galvanize others in the travel and hospitality industry to come together and play a part in helping the country return to normalcy. Agoda said that the current campaign is in support of Malaysia’s nationwide immunization drive.

The ‘Vaxxed To Go’ campaign follows the implementation of Malaysia’s National Recovery Plan (NRP), which places vaccination as one of the three key threshold indicators to determine the gradual re-opening of economic and social activities.

With Agoda’s Vaxxed To Go initiative, accommodation providers will be able to get behind the national vaccination effort and benefit from bookings from travelers who are vaccinated and looking for safe ways to travel. 

Hotel partners that will be joining the campaign will be able to benefit from the support of Agoda’s comprehensive marketing efforts for the campaign which expects increased visibility and exposure to participating properties. 

Engagement will span across a range of marketing channels including social media, banner promotions, and pop-ups. One of the benefits as well for brands is that consumers will be able to easily browse through their ideal ‘Vaxxed to Go’ packages through dedicated landing pages. 

Cleland Robertson, Agoda’s country director for Malaysia and Brunei, commented that after months of lockdown and movement restrictions, many Malaysians are no doubt looking forward to traveling again as it becomes safe to do so. Robertson said that Malaysians have always had a healthy appetite for travel, and so with the concept of ‘Vaxxed To Go’, Agoda hopes to encourage more Malaysians to feel safe and confident to travel again, and to get their COVID-19 vaccinations. 

“Aside from safeguarding public health, increased inoculation rates will be crucial in kickstarting the recovery of the nation’s economy as a whole and particularly that of the travel and hospitality sector. Agoda also hopes to inspire other industry players to play their part in helping Malaysia achieve herd immunity as soon as possible,” said Robertson.

Discounts within the campaign will also have value-added perks such as room upgrades, or food and beverage discounts. Properties may also list special packages for on-site experiences, from resort activities to spa and wellness deals.

“Vaxxed To Go’ is an extension of the Agoda Special Offers offering, which was launched in May in several other markets. Malaysia is only its pilot market for the campaign, and Agoda said that it aims to roll out ‘Vaxxed To Go’ in more markets in the coming months. 

Singapore – Indeed, the gravity of the pandemic has prompted everyone to rethink the climate of everything we’ve come to identify as normal pre-covid, and even without a direct link, at the start of the spread of the virus, the conversation, specifically on sustainability and the health of the environment, has become even louder. 

The most prominent being is how people are theorizing that the halted operations of businesses are what will lead to a drastic reduction in carbon footprint. Interestingly, a new study by booking platform Booking.com is showing that the pandemic has become an influence for people to travel more sustainably in the future. 

According to the latest study, 70% of Singaporeans stated that the pandemic has encouraged them to be even more environment-conscious when traveling. The study finds that in general, people are expressing pressing concern over the environment with 74% of Singaporean travelers believing that people have to act now to save the planet for future generations

Based on the study, Singaporean travelers are determined to extend their daily sustainable commitments, such as reducing general waste and energy consumption, when making their travels. When traveling, about 83% eyes minimizing general waste, with 81% wanting to lessen their energy consumption such as turning off air conditioning and lights when they are not in a room. Meanwhile, a good percentage – 77% – are also willing to look to more environment-friendly modes of transport such as walking, cycling or public transport over taxis or rental cars when traveling. 

The study found that Singaporeans’ desire to take part in the sustainability movement is not only as good as a pledge, with data showing that people are starting to get on the act, and are staying true to their word. 

About 47% of Singaporean travelers revealed that while on vacation in the past 12 months, they have made the conscious decision of turning off their air conditioning or heater in their accommodation when they weren’t there. Meanwhile, 43% of travelers within the same period took their own reusable water bottle, rather than buying bottled water while on vacation, while 30% stated that they did activities to support the local community. 

Truly, sustainable living is becoming a lifestyle commitment, with people bringing their conscious habits outside their homes. This behavior has also become apparent with how people are viewing accommodations. 

The study reported that over half, or 55%, have admitted that they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example, by not offering recycling facilities. A vast majority – 90% – of Singaporean travelers have also expressed desire in staying in sustainable accommodation in the upcoming year, with 59% still believing that in 2021, there simply aren’t enough sustainable travel options available. 

In fact, 77% of Singaporean travelers would be more likely to choose an accommodation if it has implemented sustainability practices, with a similar amount, 75%, thinking travel companies should offer more sustainable choices. 

This comes as a valuable insight for hospitality companies, tourist spots, and travel accommodations as travelers, specifically the Singapore market, are using sustainability as a metric of whether a certain place is worth staying in. Such finding is proving its importance even more as nations are prepping up to ease travel restrictions. 

Nuno Guerreiro, regional director of Booking.com for South Asia, Oceania & Chains, said that the time is ripe for the industry to rebuild with a renewed focus on sustainability, as seen with recent efforts by Singapore to boost its transformation into a sustainable destination.

Singapore is a country that has been doubling down on its efforts on sustainable tourism, announcing in April its allocation of S$68.5m into its Tourism Development Fund for travel businesses looking to test-bed sustainable tourism offerings. 

“Despite travel being on a pause across most Asia-Pacific countries, it’s been inspiring to see awareness of the importance of sustainable travel consistently grow,“ Guerreiro said. 

Delhi, India – As India continues to grapple with the second wave of the pandemic, people have been advised to stay indoors to curb the spread of the virus. However, constant reminders of beautiful locations and serene beaches on social media can potentially trigger housebound travelers to put their pending travel plans in action. 

To urge people to avoid non-essential travel, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has launched a social media campaign series, consisting of travel quotes with a twist, done in collaboration with 22feet Tribal Worldwide, the media agency by advertising holding company DDB Mudra Group.

The new campaign by DIAL aims to put the national interest first, for the safety of the people and the country. It was brought to life by putting a unique spin on often used terms such as ‘Carpe Diem’ and ‘Wanderlust’ with visuals that are looking out from a window, showing beautiful locations but from the safety of one’s home. The idea was to play around with people’s expectations of such inspiring travel quotes.

Debashish Ghosh, the national creative director at 22feet Tribal Worldwide, said that social media captures an individual’s imagination, especially when they are cooped up in their home with a limited set of activities. 

He further shared that in the current scenario, staying home is the best way to protect ourselves, and leisure travel must be avoided. 

“While DIAL is at the forefront of receiving and facilitating aid flights as well as Vande Bharat flights from across the globe; the travel facilitator also took on the responsibility to dissuade people from non-essential travel. The team deployed a counter-intuitive take on popular travel verbiage to inject the message with a dose of levity. And that’s how this campaign came to fruition,” said Ghosh.

The campaign is already available across social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

New Zealand – Tourism New Zealand, the organization tasked to promote the country’s tourism around the world, has recently launched a new campaign targeted at its regional neighbor – Australia – to encourage the country’s locals who happen to be the country’s largest former international visitor market, to come explore and renew their wanderlust towards New Zealand. 

Done in partnership with creative agency Special Group Australia, the campaign titled ‘Stop Dreaming about New Zealand and Go’ takes a quirky turn with a depiction of an Australian dreaming about New Zealand from his sleep, and is then is then taken through a range of the country’s popular attractions including National Parks and even stargazing with a surreal giant Kiwi.

According to research by Tourism New Zealand, about 77% of Australians are actively considering traveling to the country on holiday, followed by 27% who want to visit their family, with 15% to visit friends.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive René de Monchy shared that despite record numbers of Kiwis ‘doing something new’ and traveling domestically, there is an estimated $12.9B annual gap from the loss of international visitors, and the return of Australian visitors is projected to help reduce this gap with both domestic tourists and international visits making up 70% the pre-COVID visitor market.

“The campaign is designed to tap into people’s renewed desire to explore and showcases New Zealand’s natural environment, experiences, and the warm welcome of our people. We are seeing longer itineraries being booked by Australians which helps support travel to more remote locations within New Zealand,” said Monchy.

According to Ann Lockhart, the interim chief executive of Destination Queenstown, Australia is likewise a hugely important visitor market for Queenstown, particularly over winter when Australian visitors previously made up around 50% of all of our international visits.

“The ability to welcome them here is a huge boost for Queenstown and we are delighted the trans-Tasman bubble is open and our tourism operators are open and ready to welcome our Australian friends back,” said Lockhart.

In line with the campaign, Tourism New Zealand has also released a toolkit for interested partners who want to adopt and integrate with the campaign. The kit provides an overview of the campaign, the creative assets, and details on how partners can get involved through their own channels. The kit is available for download through its website.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – As Malaysia ramps up its vaccination efforts, airlines have been preparing themselves to aid customers on their travel plans across the nation this year with the launch of different travel passes. 

Last March, airasia has released its ASEAN unlimited pass, and this time Malaysia Airlines has also jumped in with the latest ‘MHflypass’. 

‘MHflypass’ is a product that offers the option to secure customers’ travels for the year at an affordable price. It aims to extend ‘value-for-flights’ to customers, enabling them to purchase flight coupons at a fixed attractive price that gives them full flexibility, convenience, and control over their spending for the flights.

The ‘MHflypass’ is subdivided into three convenient options for passengers based on their destination origin, allowing them to choose the zone that matches their travel needs best. The Zone 1 option allows passengers to fly from Peninsular Malaysia destinations to Kuala Lumpur and vice versa, as well as flights between destinations within Sabah and Sarawak, while Zone 2 option offers passengers the opportunity to fly to Kuala Lumpur from destinations in Sabah and Sarawak, alongside flights between destinations within Peninsular Malaysia, with a connection through Kuala Lumpur. And lastly, Zone 3 option allows passengers to fly from Sabah and Sarawak to Peninsular Malaysia destinations, with a connection in Kuala Lumpur.

Each set of ‘MHflypass’ comes with six flight coupons, equivalent to the option of three return or six one-way flights, to destinations across Malaysia throughout a period of one year, at only RM699. Early birds can grab the ‘MHflypass’ at a promotional price as low as RM499 for the domestic pass, valid for purchase until 2 May 2021 for all-year-round travel dates in 2021 and beyond.

Furthermore, the members of the airline’s frequent flyer program Enrich who will purchase the ‘MHflypass’ can receive 50% bonus points upon purchase, which can be used to redeem amazing promotions with Enrich brand partners or for discounts or free travel.

“We have created this new product to spur domestic travel and to make it more attractive for our passengers to catch up on all the traveling they have missed, and at the same time, assuring them the peace of mind to fly with us with our #FlyConfidently measures put in place,” said Lau Yin May, the group chief marketing and customer experience officer of Malaysia Airlines.

On 16 April 2021, Malaysia Airlines has also announced the extension of rebooking travel flexibility that offers passengers a longer ticket validity with a one-time fare difference and service fee waiver, following the prolonged travel restrictions imposed by countries and interstate travel for domestic destinations.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Now that vaccination efforts are fast developing in the region, AirAsia has readied itself to welcome travelers with open arms when travel restrictions further ease with the launch of ASEAN Unlimited, a new product that would offer unlimited travel as well as free e-commerce delivery on its Asean super app for Malaysia-based AirAsia BIG members. 

The users can enjoy unlimited flights to destinations within Malaysia, which include Alor Setar, Langkawi, Penang, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, and Johor Bahru. They can also opt to travel around ASEAN countries – Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.

By purchasing ASEAN Unlimited, consumers can also enjoy unlimited free delivery for every order made on AirAsia Shop, Fresh, and Food, which is available until 26 March 2022 for deliveries in the Klang Valley with more locations in the future.

The pass is priced at RM599 and is available to purchase on airasia.com/deals or the airasia ASEAN super app from 3 March (1000hrs MYT) to 7 March 2021 (2359h MYT). BigPay users will enjoy RM50 off their purchase when they pay with BigPay until 5 March 2021.

AirAsia has also extended the travel period of its previous AirAsia Unlimited Pass Cuti-Cuti Malaysia from 31 March to 30 June 2021. Launched in June 2020, the AirAsia Unlimited Pass Cuti-Cuti Malaysia, which costs RM399, allows pass holders to redeem unlimited flights (flight code AK) within Malaysia.

Furthermore, the AirAsia X Unlimited Pass and AirAsia Unlimited Pass Cuti-Cuti Malaysia pass holders are also entitled to Unlimited Free Delivery on airasia shop, food, and fresh until 30 June 2021.

CEO of AirAsia Group Tony Fernandes commented that they have always been a disruptor and this time they are taking another unprecedented step to launch ASEAN Unlimited, as Airasia has expanded into a super app, offering much more than just travel products, e-commerce, and fintech products. AirAsia has received many positive responses and support on their new offerings, and they want to continue providing value to the customers.

“With positive developments on COVID-19 vaccination across the region, we are revving up our engines to ensure a smooth take-off when travel returns. As part of our preparations to welcome the recovery of air travel in the region and to further stimulate the local economy, we hope that this product can also catalyze as the ASEAN tourism industry gears itself for a post-Covid revival,” said Fernandes.

Meanwhile, the CEO of airasia.com Karen Chan said that they are thrilled by the highly positive response when Airasia Unlimited’s buy-now-travel-later pass was introduced in 2020.

“This time, we are offering even greater value to our customers by allowing ASEAN Unlimited pass-holders to redeem unlimited flights both domestically within Malaysia and internationally across ASEAN (when borders reopen on flight code AK) for future travel from 17 March 2021 up to 26 March 2022, subject to availability of flights. Aside from flights, pass-holders will also have unlimited access to free delivery services across the airasia shop, airasia food, and airasia fresh. Delivery is currently available within the Klang Valley with upcoming expansion into more cities across Malaysia,” added Chan.