KUALA LUMPUR, 22 May 2023: Tourism Malaysia is leading a sales mission to the Dhaka Travel Mart (DTM) 2023 and several major cities, including Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet in Bangladesh, this week.
The Malaysian delegation led by Tourism Malaysia deputy director international promotions division (Asia & Africa) Hafiz Hazin comprises tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers, airlines as well as tour and activity providers, including representatives from Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) and Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS).
Photo credit: Tourism Malaysia. Sales mission visits Dhaka Travel Mart.
With the growing demand for alternative travel experiences, Malaysia has been diversifying its tourism products to cater to different types of travellers. Malaysia is also promoting medical, educational, and ecotourism to attract more tourists from Bangladesh and other countries in South Asia.
Tourism Malaysia director-general Dato Dr Ammar Abd Ghapar said: “We believe Bangladesh is one of the important markets for us, and therefore committed to strengthening our presence and working alongside tourism fraternities in this region.”
Tourism Malaysia’s participation at DTM 2023 and the city sales missions conclude by 25 May. The objective is to raise Malaysia’s profile and showcase its tourism products while forging closer relationships with Bangladesh’s travel trade through pre-arranged business-to-business appointments at the travel mart.
In 2022, Malaysia recorded 10,070,964 international tourist arrivals and welcomed 59,033 Bangladeshi tourists. The number is projected to grow to 16.1 million international tourist arrivals, with RM49.2 billion in tourism receipts, as targeted in 2023.
Currently, visa applications to Malaysia can be made online through eVISA. Regarding connectivity, 37 direct flights with 7,269 seats are scheduled weekly between Dhaka and Malaysia via Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, AirAsia, Biman Bangladesh Airlines and USBangla Airlines.
BANGKOK, 22 May 2023: Dusit International, a leading hotel and property development company headquartered in Thailand, has appointed Jagdeep Thakral as general manager of dusitD2 Naseem Resort Jabal Akhdar and its adjoining adventure park in Oman.
Thakral is an accomplished leader with a proven track record of success in the hospitality industry. During his career, he has held several key leadership positions for IHG Hotels and Resorts, including Area General Manager for Indonesia, where he oversaw the operations of several flagship hotels in Jakarta, and area general manager for Holiday Inn Express in Bangkok, where, alongside serving as the General Manager of Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit, he successfully managed five hotels in different suburbs.
His extensive experience in the hospitality industry also includes, amongst others, serving as the general manager of IHG Hotels Pyeongchang, South Korea and Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre and resident manager of Holiday Inn Resort Penang, Malaysia.
Before joining Dusit, he was general manager of The Grand New Delhi, where he successfully repositioned the hotel in the luxury space by upgrading the product and standardising systems and processes.
“I am honoured to join Dusit Hotels and Resorts and work with the talented team at dusitD2 Naseem Resort and Adventure Park,” said Thakral. “Together with the team, I am committed to delivering exceptional guest experiences, building strong relationships with our partners and stakeholders, and driving sustainable growth for the property. I look forward to leading the team towards achieving new milestones and positioning dusitD2 Naseem Resort Jabal Akhdar as a premier destination in the region.”
Opened in 2021, dusitD2 Naseem Resort is located within an 8,000 sq m Adventure Park on the Saiq Plateau in Oman’s renowned Jabal Akhdar area, just a five-minute drive from the ‘Grand Canyon of the Middle East,’ and two hours by car from Muscat International Airport. Comprising 252 beautifully decorated rooms and suites, the contemporary resort fully embraces its unique mountain location with a spacious layout that blends seamlessly with its stunning natural surroundings.
About Dusit International
Established in 1948, Dusit International or Dusit Thani Public Company Limited (DUSIT) is a leading hospitality group listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Its operations comprise five distinct yet complementary business units: hotels and resorts, hospitality education, food, property development, and hospitality-related services.
The group’s portfolio of hotels, resorts and luxury villas includes more than 300 properties operating under a total of eight brands (Dusit Devarana, Dusit Thani, Dusit Suites, Dusit Collection, dusitD2, Dusit Princess, ASAI Hotels, and Elite Havens) across 17 countries worldwide. The group also operates culinary schools and hospitality colleges in Thailand, plus catering companies for the education sector in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
DOHA, 22 May 2023: Centara West Bay Hotel & Residences Dohahas been certifiedby Green Key Qatar2023, a prestigious certificate that recognises the hotel’s commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, making Centara West Bay one of the leading green hotels in Qatar.
The Green Key certificate is a leading standard of excellence in environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry. It encourages hotels to adopt environmentally responsible practices. The certification process evaluates the hotel’s environmental management, energy conservation, waste management, water conservation, and other sustainable practices.
The auditor comment from Martin Baeuerle, Country Manager, Green Key Qatar, noted:‘‘For a first-year applicant, we have been very impressed of how thoroughly the application documents have been prepared, which made it easy to review beforehand and during the audit. We furthermore like to highlight that we truly felt that sustainability is lived throughout the property and that the Green Key ecolabel is not just a tick-box exercise. Especially the idea with the herb garden, in the middle of the West Bay area, has been a highlight.’’
The audit focused on the property’s environmental responsibilities and its success in reducing its carbon footprint and promoting sustainable practices throughout operations.
“We are delighted to receive the Green Key Qatar certification for the first time. It is a significant achievement and a testament to our commitment to sustainable tourism. I congratulate and thank the entire Green Key Committee for their dedication and support to achieve Green Key Ecolabel for the first year. We take pride in our environmental efforts and will continue to reduce our environmental impact and provide our guests with an eco-friendly and sustainable stay experience.” said Centara West Bay Hotel & Residences Doha general manager Sean Spinks.
SINGAPORE, 22 May 2023: London has been named the best city brand in the world, followed by New York and Paris, by the inaugural Brand Finance City Index released at the Weekend.
Presented by brand evaluation consultancy Brand Finance, the ranking is based on a global survey conducted in April 2023 in 20 countries on all continents to measure perceptions of the world’s top 100 cities.
With a score of 84.6 out of 100, driven by its high familiarity among respondents worldwide, London has recorded stronger brand perceptions than any other city in the study.
Brand Finance chairman and CEO David Haigh commented: “London’s exceptional performance in the Index can be attributed to its global familiarity. Coming first on this particular measure, London has a huge advantage over its peers, leading to its success in ranking overall as the world’s best city. Knowing a city allows the public to form positive perceptions about it – to recognise its reputation and consider it the preferred place to live, work, study, retire, visit, or invest. High familiarity means a deeper understanding of its qualities and a broader reach of its appeal, allowing the city to draw significant economic benefits from inbound migration, investment, and tourism.”
New York City secured the second spot, behind London, with a Brand Finance City Index score of 83.0 out of 100.
Paris rounds off the podium, ranking third with a Brand Finance City Index score of 79.7 out of 100.
Dubai proves its reputation as the top city brand in the Middle East & Africa, and ninth; overall, Dubai comfortably makes the top 10 of the world’s best-perceived cities, with a Brand Finance City Index score of 75.8/100.
More cities from outside Europe and North America performed well in the Brand Finance City Ranking too. Sydney, Australia, ranked fifth overall, Singapore sixth and Tokyo seventh.
Singapore boasts the strongest perceptions globally as great for startups and innovations and clean and sustainable. It is also second for easy business and third for both a strong and stable economy and future growth potential.
BEIJING, 22 May 2023: China is easing rules to allow travel agencies to resume the sale of group tours for Taiwan residents to visit the mainland, according to a Reuters report quoting China’s Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.
The easing of regulations governing tour group movements between China and Taiwan was effective last Friday.
Global Times, an official news channel of the PRC, confirmed that starting last Friday, travel agencies could resume the business of group tours for Taiwan residents coming to the mainland quoting Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, who in response to a media inquiry said: “We warmly welcome Taiwan compatriots to visit the mainland.”
Also on Friday, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a notice, saying that travel agencies and online travel companies will resume inbound group tours and “air ticket + hotel” business for Taiwan residents.
The ministry asked all localities to steadily promote the resumption of travel agencies’ tourism business for Taiwan residents’ inbound group tours while upholding the conviction that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are of the same family. The ministry said they should guide local travel agencies to better design routes and related products, and implement group travel management systems.
Global Times noted that Spring Airlines currently operates a Shanghai-Taipei flight every Friday.
SINGAPORE, 22 May 2023: SalamAir based in Muscat, Oman, will launch three new destinations Almaty, Kazakhstan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the Turkish city of Rize, during June and July.
SalamAir CEO Captain Mohamed Ahmed commented on the expansion:
“We are thrilled to introduce these new destinations to our growing network. Almaty, one of Kazakhstan’s prominent cities, offers great tourism potential. We aim to establish year-round connections to cater to the demand and not limit it to seasonal periods.”
In addition to these developments, SalamAir is currently an economic study of 20 new tourist destinations in Europe and Eastern Europe. The objective is to attract tourists to the Sultanate of Oman and invigorate the tourism industry. This initiative aims to enhance the movement of tourists through Muscat and Salalah international airports.
Regarding seasonal destinations during the upcoming summer, the following routes will be reopened: Muscat-Sarajevo, Muscat-Baku, Muscat-Bursa, Suhar-Trabzon, and Muscat-Beirut.
SalamAir currently operates flights to 38 domestic and international destinations, including Suhar, Salalah, Duqm, Masirah, the GCC countries, and several Arab, Asian, and European destinations.
The airline also confirmed the addition of new aircraft to its fleet over the next six months when it will take delivery of three new Airbus A321neo, increasing the fleet to 17.
BANGKOK, 22 May 2023: Bangkok Airways will restart its direct flights from Samui Island in South Thailand to Hong Kong effective 1 July, after almost a three-year pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to a promotion aimed at the airline’s frequent flyers, the airline will offer flights to Hong Kong every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday flying an A320.
PG805 will depart Samui at 1055 and arrive in Hong Kong at 1515. The return flight PG806 will depart Hong Kong at 1615 and arrive in Samui at 1835. The flight time is three hours and 20 minutes.
One-way fares on the route start at around THB10,945 for travel in July and drop to around THB8,900 one way in July through to December.
HANOI, 22 May 2023: Vietjet Air will launch a new route connecting Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, with Hiroshima in Japan starting 19 July.
According to the airline’s schedule, flights will operate twice weekly on Wednesday and Sunday. The flight time is approximately four hours and 30 minutes.
Photo credit: Vietjet Air. Airline announces Hiroshima launch on sidelines of G7 Summit.
The flight using an A320 will depart Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport at 0215 and arrive at Hiroshima Airport at 0845 (local time). The return flight will depart Hiroshima at 0945 (local time) and land in Hanoi at 1235. Once the new route is established, the airline will offer 58 round-trip flights between the two countries weekly.
Last year Vietnam welcomed over 128,000 Japanese tourists, around 10% of pre-pandemic levels. Japan attracted more than 284,000 Vietnamese tourists last year, accounting for 7.4% of its international visitors.
Phuket flight
Meanwhile, the airline introduced its first direct service from Hanoi to the Thai holiday island of Phuket on 19 May, with 94 passengers on board the inaugural flight. Flight time on the daily service using an A320 is around three hours.
Vietjet is the first airline to operate a direct service between Hanoi and Phuket following the successful launch of direct services from Ho Chi Minh City to Phuket earlier this year.
The inaugural flight took off from Hanoi at 1135 and landed in Phuket at 1440. The return flights departed Phuket at 1545 and arrived in Hanoi at 1835.
MANILA, 19 May 2023: AirAsia Philippines has recorded a surge in summer bookings for 2023 achieving 75% of its pre-pandemic (2019) levels, encompassing domestic and international travel.
The top five most booked destinations for Filipinos this summer include Cebu, Boracay, Tacloban, Iloilo, and Bohol. The top international destinations for summer holidays included Taipei, Incheon, Bangkok, Narita, and Osaka,
AirAsia Philippines communications and public affairs country head Steve Dailisan said: “The surge in bookings this summer reflects a strong rebound in travel demand. We are thrilled to witness such enthusiasm from travellers, with reservations reaching unprecedented levels.”
Airasia Super App and the airline’s website generated the highest volume of seat bookings showing Filipinos’ high preference for online platforms rather than traditional booking channels.
Group bookings have also started to pick up after recording a more than 140% increase in bookings from March to May.
AirAsia Philippines is capitalising on Cebu as one of the alternatives to the Manila International Airport, especially with more international flights to Narita, Osaka, Narita, Seoul, Kaohsiung, Kuala Lumpur, and Shenzhen.
KUCHING, 19 May 2023: The word Gawai’originated from the Iban language and means ritual or festival, while Dayak refers to the native ethnic groups of Sarawak – the Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, Murut, Lun Bawang – and many more.
Gawai Dayak is celebrated to mark the end of the padi (rice) harvesting season. It’s a time of togetherness, gratitude for a productive harvest, and a prayer for a peaceful and prosperous future. Common events during the celebration are Kumang (Queen) and Keling (King) Gawai contests, Ngirup Ai Pengayu (Long Life Drink), traditional dancing and overall merrymaking.
Preparations for the Gawai festival start very early, with the brewing of tuak (traditional rice wine) and the making of traditional delicacies such as the kuihpenganan (Mexican hat shaped cake), kuih sarang semut (fishnet-like crispy snack), kuih chuan (crispy flower snack), pulut lulun (glutinous rice steamed in bamboo), manuk daun ubi lulun (chicken and tapioca shoot steamed in bamboo), and many more. After the general cleaning of the longhouse, new mats will be laid out on the ruai (the open area which runs through the entire longhouse), with the walls are adorned with the pua kumbu (traditional handwoven fabric) displayed on the wall and placed on the table as a table cloth.
Gawai celebrations at the longhouse offer celebrants a great time to wear traditional costumes. The women would wear the ngepan, a traditional costume for welcoming guests to the longhouse, wearing the sugu tinggi (Iban maiden headgear) as a hair accessory. The men would wear cawat or sirat (loin cloth) with necklaces, armlets and anklets and a headgear made of peacock feathers.
The celebration typically starts on the evening of 31 May with the Muai Antu Rua (casting away the spirit of greed), signifying the chasing away of the spirit of bad luck. Traditionally each family at the longhouse would throw unwanted articles into a chapan (winnowing basket) dragged by two men as they passed each room along the longhouse. The unwanted articles will then be tossed to the ground from the end of the longhouse.
As the sun sets, a miring (offering ceremony) will take place, starting with the beating of the gendang rayah (ritual music). The Tuai Rumah (Longhouse Chief) thanks the gods for the good harvest and asks for blessings, guidance and long life as he waves a cockerel over the offerings before ending the miring ceremony. Dinner is then served and just before midnight, a procession of young maidens and warriors in traditional garb go up and down the ruai seven times, known as the Ngalu Petara (welcoming the spirit of the gods).
At midnight, the gong is sounded, and the Tuai Rumah leads everyone in the longhouse in a toast with Ai Pengayu (a special kind of tuak) wishing each other “Gayu Guru, Gerai Nyamai” which translates to “Long Life, Health and Prosperity”.
The celebration turns merrier as some will dance to traditional music being played. Some will sing and recite their traditional poems (pantun or ramban), while some will perform the traditional dance called Ngajat to symbolise the joy of a good harvest.
The male ngajat copies the mannerisms of a hornbill – considered the king of the birds – to show courage, heroism and strength. The ngajat of the ladies is the opposite, as it consists of soft, graceful movements with precise body turns. A traditional band joins the dance troop giving life to the dance with their vibrant beats and tunes, playing the traditional folklore. There will also be blowpipe competitions as participants will take the opportunity to demonstrate their blowpiping skills.
On 1 June, the homes of the Dayaks open to visitors, a custom known as Ngabang. Traditionally, when guests arrive at the longhouse, they are served with ai tiki as a symbol of welcoming them to their home. From time to time, guests are served with tuak, which is called “nyibur temuai”, which literally means “watering the guests”.
For the Christian Dayaks, Gawai would also mean attending a church mass service to thank God for the good harvest. The Gawai celebrations usually last for several days, and it is also considered an auspicious time for wedding ceremonies and baptisms.
COME AND EXPERIENCE GAWAI IN SARAWAK
In conjunction with the 2023 Gawai festival, everyone is invited to experience the festivity first-hand with the local community at the Sarawak Gawai Festival Open House, to be held at Rumah Matop longhouse in Betong, about 246km from Kuching, on 9 June 2023.
The open house aims to promote the rich cultural diversity of Sarawak and highlight the unique traditions and customs of the Gawai celebrations. Visitors will have the chance to experience the warm hospitality and rich cultural heritage of the various ethnic groups in Sarawak. Not only will they get to taste traditional ethnic cuisines, visitors can also participate in cultural performances at the historic longhouse, which was built in 1941 from belian (ironwood) pillars.
Those interested in participating in the Gawai Dayak Open House can go to the websitehttps://sarawak.travel/openhouse/ for more information.
