SINGAPORE, 15 September 2022: If Japan restores its visa-exemption scheme after a two-year hiatus, it might be the magic wand to spur recovery in its beleaguered tourism industry.
So far, the token gestures at easing entry to the country are just not working. Too many caveats and footnotes attached to revisions announced on 7 September deter even the most enthusiastic travellers.
A Reuters report of 12 September quoted by CNA suggests Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may decide as early as this week to ease entry rules further. On the table is a proposal to resume visa-free entry for some nationalities. They will still need to show they have received three vaccine jabs. Before Covid-19, 68 countries and territories enjoyed visa-exempt travel to Japan. The privilege was suspended in early 2021.
If the proposed changes roll out, individual travellers can visit Japan without booking an itinerary through a travel agency, ending a requirement that irks travellers who book through popular travel sites.
The daily 50,000 arrivals cap will also be scrapped, which was increased from 20,000 on 7 September. At the same time, the two tests (pre-flight and after arrival) and the need to isolate vanished for fully vaccinated travellers, who hailed from any of the 128 countries on the “blue zone” list. Another 73 nationalities on the “yellow zone” list still needed to submit the two test results – pre-departure flight and after they arrive in Japan.
According to Reuters, Japan’s deputy chief cabinet secretary Seiji Kihara told the TV channel Fuji News Network on Sunday that “a weak yen is most effective in attracting inbound tourism,” adding that further steps must be taken to draw in foreign visitors.
LANGKAWI, 14 September 2022: Langkawi Island once more hosted cycling fans attending the Langkawi Legendary Ride 2022 Championship on 10 September. The event was last held in 2019.
The second edition of the annual LLR attracted 1,640 participants from seven countries, namely Singapore, Indonesia, the UK, Thailand, Australia, Netherlands and France, plus a strong turnout of local sports enthusiasts.
(Photo Credit LADA). Starting line up at Langkawi Legendary Ride.
This event was jointly organised by the Langkawi Development Board (LADA) and Tough Gorilla Ventures. This year’s edition offered three categories; the Legendary Ride of 101 km, Eagle Ride (60km) and Mahsuri Ride (30km).
LADA is confident that hosting sports events will generate more tourists as participants often take their families on vacation when joining a sporting event at a resort destination. In addition, the destination gains considerable media coverage, including TV sports channels that build awareness. Langkawi was the founding host for the Tour de Langkawi, one of the most popular tours in the cycle race calendar outside of Europe. It provided heaps of publicity for Langkawi and Malaysia as a national event that attracted international race teams.
Le Tour de Langkawi was conceived by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad to put Malaysia “on the world sporting and tourism map”. The first race was held in 1996. It was considered Asia’s richest bicycle race, with total prize money of MYR1.1 million.
The eight-stage race visits major destinations in Malaysia but retains its connection with Langkawi to recognise its role as the founding destination.
However, the 26th edition of the stage race returns to Langkawi this year for the final stage. Scheduled for 11 to 18 October, the 1,183km race will start in Kuala Lumpur and conclude in Langkawi, according to updated information posted on Arena Malaysia Asia on 3 September.
“Supporting cycling sports events in Langkawi remains a priority,” said LADA CEO Nasaruddin bin Abdul Muttalib. “Due to the confidence cyclists have in Langkawi’s expertise in hosting prestigious sports events, we expect tourist arrivals to Permata Kedah to increase during the fourth quarter of 2022.”
LLR 2022 was also used by participants as a warm-up session ahead of the IRONMAN Malaysia triathlon championship scheduled for 5 November.
SINGAPORE, 14 September 2022: Banyan Tree Group kicks off this year’s anniversary celebrations with its inaugural “Live Well, Travel Well” campaign.
It invites travellers to book stays with up to 33% savings on stays and spa experiences across 23 countries.
Banyan Tree Group’s 60 properties are participating in the campaign that covers four established brands; Banyan Tree, Angsana, Cassia and Garrya, plus the newest brand addition, Banyan Tree Escape. The campaign runs from 14 September to 4 October 2022 for stays until 30 September 2023.
SINGAPORE, 14 September 2022: Princess Cruises has announced an exclusive five-year licensing agreement with Xponential Fitness Inc, the largest global franchisor of boutique fitness brands.
With this unique partnership, Princess will leverage Xponential Fitness’s extensive content with OneSpaWorld’s unparalleled expertise in the health, wellness and fitness at sea sector to become the first major cruise line offering multiple, curated fitness brands to create uniquely customisable guest fitness experiences at sea.
Over the term of the agreement, a minimum of eight Xponential brands will be made available onboard each of Princess’ 15-ship fleet, resulting in a minimum total of 120 licensed studio experiences across the Princess fleet, featuring Xponential’s market-leading Club Pilates, Pure Barre, Yoga Six, CycleBar, Row House, AKT Dance, and StretchLab brands and fitness modalities to start, with more exciting Xponential Fitness offerings to come.
Xponential Fitness will work with OneSpaWorld, Princess Cruises’ exclusive partner for health, wellness and fitness services, to incorporate Xponential’s outstanding experiences into the fitness offerings provided to Princess guests, managed by OneSpaWorld’s fitness professionals and onboard staff in onboard fitness and spa facilities.
“Our goal is simply to provide the best vacation experiences in the world at the best value. Blending Xponential’s unmatched boutique fitness brand portfolio with OneSpaWorld’s beautifully-curated fitness program, developed throughout our 25-year exclusive collaboration, allows us to align the most iconic brand in cruising with the best and most comprehensive offerings in the fitness industry,” said John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises. “Whether at your home, your local studio, your stateroom, the ship fitness centre, sports court or lido deck, our guests can engage with Pure Barre, Club Pilates, YogaSix, StretchLab, Stride or any of their favourite fitness experiences.”
“This partnership will broaden the fitness experience available to the millions of guests who sail on Princess,” said Anthony Geisler, CEO of Xponential Fitness, Inc. “Our wide variety of fitness offerings, ranging from stretching to cycling, will provide everyone, including avid Xponential members and first-timers, the opportunity to experience our brands in addition to the existing extensive suite of OneSpaWorld services offered on board. We look forward to working closely with OneSpaWorld to create extraordinary value for Princess and its guests. Clearly, the strong synergies among Princess Cruises, Xponential Fitness, and OneSpaWorld will create value for all involved in the partnership.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Princess and Xponential to expand our delivery of personalised, custom Princess guest experiences at sea by incorporating the premier Xponential Fitness studio fitness brand content and its market-leading multi-modality programming into our offering,” said Leonard Fluxman, CEO, President and Executive Chairman of OneSpaWorld. “Together with the Xponential Fitness team, we will design remarkable Princess-inspired fitness experiences for each Princess guest, continuing our 25-year commitment to innovate and deliver marvellous new guest experiences and memories.”
In addition to the onboard Xponential brand studio classes, Princess will make Xponential Fitness’ XPLUS virtual on-demand studio class subscription service available in more than 23,000 staterooms on Princess’ proprietary digital content platform, OceanView. Princess guests need not be Xponential Fitness members to experience in-studio live classes and in-stateroom on-demand classes. They can continue their onboard experience post-cruise through XPASS at exclusive Princess discounted prices.
Princess will also integrate customised equipment packages from Xponential Fitness partners to complement its boutique studios and make Xponential Fitness merchandise available in onboard retail stores and on Princess’ industry-leading on-demand location-based services platform OceanNow.
Along with these exclusive onboard and post-cruise Xponential Fitness offerings, delivered by OneSpaWorld at sea, Princess Cruises also becomes the first Xponential Fitness corporate wellness partner through its XPASS multi-brand live studio class program and its XPLUS virtual on-demand subscription fitness programming made available at exclusive discounts to Princess Cruises’ more than 30,000 employees. With this agreement, Xponential Fitness and its brands become the Official Fitness Content Partner of Princess Cruises, while Princess Cruises becomes the Official Vacation Partner of all Xponential Fitness brands.
BANGKOK, 13 September 2022: Thailand’s meetings and incentives business shows positive recovery signs as the country registers 68,700 event visitors from April to June 2022.
Photo Credit: TCEB) Bangkok still Thailand’s top events destination.
Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) presented the figures last week, saying that another 4,143 event visitors should travel to Thailand during September based on the bureau’s support schemes. An estimated 30,700 event visitors based on 87 leads that TCEB is tracking should enter the country from October to December. It means Thailand’s meetings and incentives travel haul for the year could reach 100,000. The largest group to date has been the 2022 Unicity Global Leadership & Innovation Conference hosted in August, with 10,000 attendees from 50 countries.
The top three destinations for hosting meetings and incentives are Bangkok, Phuket, and Pattaya. Other destinations popular with planners are Hua Hin, Krabi, and Khao Lak.
SINGAPORE, 14 September 2022: Tiqets, an online platform for cultural and leisure experiences in Europe and North America and Klook, a travel and leisure e-commerce platform in the Asia Pacific, announced this week a partnership to connect their supply channels.
Key takeaways
● Two of the biggest players in the OTA space have joined forces to offer travellers worldwide museum and attraction-related experiences
● This strategic partnership will give Klook’s and Tiqets’ suppliers greater visibility and exposure in each company’s key markets.
Through the new partnership, Klook and Tiquets’ customers can now use both platforms to seamlessly book an expanded range of museums, while tour operators can increase their reach. Consumers can easily book thousands of sightseeing experiences wherever they travel.
“We are thrilled to partner with Klook, one of the most impressive OTAs in the industry. Through this partnership, our network of more than 4,000 of the best museums, attractions and tour operators that provide guided tours at these museums will benefit from greater visibility in the APAC market…Tiqets will benefit from a new supply that Klook already has connected,” says Tiqets president & founder Luuc Elzinga.
As the travel industry enters its rebound phase after a gruelling, two-year global pandemic, both companies are making a comeback. Over the summer months, Tiqets saw a 220% surge in bookings in Europe and the UK alone. Klook has seen outbound bookings grow 11 times in the same period compared to earlier in the year, signalling that the travel bug is stronger than ever.
“This partnership with Tiqets opens new doors for both groups of customers to enjoy seamless access to the widest selection of attractions and experiences across the Asia Pacific and Europe,” said Klook chief commercial officer Wilfred Fan.
“Klook has gone from strength to strength during the pandemic, and we’ve quadrupled the number of activities on our platform over the last two years in anticipation of travel recovery. We will continue working closely with our merchants to accelerate their recovery and reach more customers worldwide.”
About Tiqets
Since its start in 2014, the company has connected travellers to museums and attractions with instant, last-minute and mobile tickets. Tiqets works with top museums and attractions worldwide.
The company is headquartered in Amsterdam and now employs more than 200 people worldwide, including in Amsterdam (HQ) as well as Seattle, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London, Copenhagen, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, and Bangkok.
About Klook
Klook is a travel and leisure e-commerce platform for experiences and services worldwide. Founded in 2014, the company’s website and app allow travellers to book attractions, tours, local transportation and stays. Its portfolio extends to 490,000 activities in over 1,000 destinations.
SINGAPORE, 14 September 2022: G Adventures is welcoming its ‘little red ship’ – G Expedition – back to the water with up to 20% savings for travellers who book a trip during the upcoming 2022 / 2023 Antarctica season.
Two and half years since the global pandemic forced the ship out of service, it is now back taking bookings for the upcoming season. Booking dates are open through to 2024 for the Antarctica cruises.
Images: G Adventures
Travellers can save up to 20% on this season’s expedition trips when booked before 29 September 2022 for travel between 22 October 2022 and 13 March 2023.
The ship’s programme is designed to teach travellers the importance of environmental protection while at the same time introducing them to the beauty of Antarctica’s landscape and fascinating wildlife.
While onboard G Expedition in Antarctica, travellers participate in the ship’s long-standing citizen science projects and onboard education programme to help them make the most of their Antarctica expedition.
The onboard education programme includes lectures on the conservation of birds, marine mammals, marine wildlife and ecosystems – as well as global climate change and its impact on the world delivered by the ship’s“Scientists in Residence”, who facilitate the talks.
The latest cruise themes
Antarctica Classic – Passing huge icebergs in the flat calm of a polar morning will reshape the way you look at your world. Encounter huge whales, enormous rookeries of penguins, and stunning landscapes few have ever witnessed. This 11-day expedition will introduce you to the magic of the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula.
Antarctica Classic In-Depth – This 13-day expedition introduces you to the magic of the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctica Peninsula but adds on two additional days. Part of the reward of arriving in Antarctica is the challenge of negotiating the Drake Passage. G Expedition will take you there safely, where you encounter leopard seals lazing on ice floes and immense rookeries of penguins surrounded by towering glaciers.
MANILA, 14 September 2022: The Philippines’ Department of Tourism (DOT) hails the decision of President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr to liberalise the country’s mask mandate to allow the voluntary wearing of face masks outdoors.
“The President’s Executive Order is a welcome development, especially as empirical data shows that in other economies in Asia, Europe, and North America where stringent health protocols were lifted, this resulted in more favourable economic conditions, increase in tourist arrivals, and a faster recovery of their respective tourism portfolio,” the DOT said in a media statement released yesterday.
(Photo Credit: DOT)
“The DOT is optimistic that the lifting of the mask mandate will allow the Philippines to gradually catch up in the race for tourism recovery in the ASEAN region as this is seen to build more confidence in travel, spur economic activity, and enhance people-to-people connectivity into and around the country.”
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said it would, hopefully, speed up the recalibration of all remaining restrictions as the country strikes the necessary balance between protecting lives and promoting livelihood.
“Our prospects for recovery are much brighter with the Philippines’ signalling to the world that we are open, we are ready, and we are moving forward,” she said.
Under the EO, those who have yet to complete their primary Covid-19 vaccination series, senior citizens, and immunocompromised persons are still “highly encouraged” to use face masks.
The voluntary wearing of face masks will apply to open spaces and non-crowded outdoor areas with good ventilation. However, the Executive Order still requires face masks to be worn in indoor, private or public establishments, including in public transportation by land, air or sea and outdoor settings where physical distancing cannot be maintained.
KOTA KINABALU, 13 September 2022: Following the success of #flymetosabah contest in the first quarter of the year, Sabah Tourism Board is launching the second edition of #flymetosabah for international participants.
The contest will reward five lucky participants with a fully paid return flight and tours to Sabah.
The second edition of the #flymetosabah contest will be open to international participants from Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore and South Korea. It runs until 23 September 2022 on Sabah Tourism Board Instagram and Facebook platforms. To enter, participants need to post their most creative ‘virtual letter’ to Sabah Tourism via social media accounts, Instagram or Facebook and use the campaign hashtag according to their countries. Likewise, in the first domestic-centric #flymetosabah edition, the ‘virtual letter’ can be in the form of a photo, gif, animation, crafted digital letter or video.
One winner from each listed country will be rewarded with a return flight ticket from their country and a tour package of their choice worth MYR2000. The prizes will be valid until 31 December 2022.
“In the first edition of #flymeotsabah contest, Sabah Tourism received 245 eligible entries and more than 1000 hashtags mentioned on its social media. Our team received positive responses and enjoyed the entertaining entries made by participants.”
“Following this success and the relaunch of direct international flights to Sabah, we would like to celebrate with #flymetosabah 2.0. All the countries listed currently have direct flights to Sabah via various airlines company. Launching this contest for international visitors from these countries is timely.” said Sabah Tourism Board chief executive officer Noredah Othman.
Sabah is served by daily flights from Singapore (AirAsia, Scoot, Malaysia Airlines). From Seoul Incheon, Jin Air, Jeju Air and Air Busan offer six weekly flights. On top of that, there are four weekly from Brunei on Brunei Airlines, three weekly flights from Bangkok and two weekly flights from the Philippines, both on AirAsia.
“We hope that #flymetosabah 2.0 will increase the destination interest among travellers in these countries to experience Sabah. Our team has been promoting various holiday destinations available in Sabah from West to East, coast to coast. We are excited to host five winners of their dream Sabah bucket list holiday.” added Noredah.
The contest is open to nationals and expatriates from the listed countries, excluding Malaysians.
SINGAPORE, 13 September 2022: Six top-performing wholesale product managers from Australia, a key inbound source market, participated in a five-day educational trip crafted in collaboration with the Singapore Tourism Board to stimulate the recovery of travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific.
WebBeds continues to focus on stimulating the recovery of travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific by teaming up with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to stage a five-day fam trip to the “Lion City”.
The WebBeds X Singapore Tourism Board Familiarisation Trip selected six of WebBeds’ highest-producing wholesale product managers from Australia to visit Singapore.
For many of the participants, this was their first chance to explore this vibrant Southeast Asian city since the removal of travel restrictions, and the immersive itinerary allowed the product managers to find out what’s changed since their last trip.
Australia is one of Singapore’s most important visitor source markets. From January to July 2022, 193,750 Australians travelled to Singapore – the fourth largest market. Before the global pandemic in 2019, Singapore welcomed 1.14 million Australians², so the rebound is underway.
The travel trade is playing a pivotal role in this upward trend; WebBeds data shows a 15% jump in business from Australia compared to the same period pre-pandemic, so this fam trip provided the perfect opportunity to educate further and inspire.
The six travel professionals – Yvonne Chapple, Contracting Manager, Flight Centre; Stephanie Jones, Product Manager, HOOT Holidays; Dennise El-Kazzi, Travel & Product Advisor, Entire Travel; Michael Pollak, Product & Partnerships Manager, Play Travel; Kellie Ann Smith, Product Manager, Room Res; and Jake Chiem, Managing Director of Product, Travelcation Group – were joined by Anthony Valeriano, Manager, and Kerrin Trenorden, Marketing Representative – Victoria, STB Oceania; and Grant Sumich, Head of Commercial, Pacific, WebBeds.
During the trip, they visited Sentosa, including a powerboat adventure, a site inspection of Resorts World Sentosa, a visit to SkyHelix Sentosa and more. Day three was dedicated to culture with a trip to Kampong Gelam, Singapore’s Malay-Arab quarter, the colourful shophouses of Joo Chiat and a cruise on the Singapore River, culminating with an exclusive VIP tour of the famous Singapore Night Safari.
STB Oceania area director Stephanie Yong commented: “ We’re confident that this initiative will help to accelerate the return of more Australians to Singapore in the coming months and even years to come.”
The Singapore fam trip marked the latest phase of WebBeds’ mission to boost global travel and encourage cross-border collaboration. The company will continue re-energising travel, tourism and hospitality in the Asia Pacific with more events in the coming months. Stay tuned for further updates!
