KUALA LUMPUR, 8 June 2022: Malaysia’s travel companies are looking forward to participating in a major consumer travel event, Bazaar MATTA, organised by the country’s Malaysian Association of Tours and Travel Agents.
Designed to drive bookings to domestic destinations, the event scheduled for 18 to 19 June in Kuala Lumpur will be packed to the rafters with travel deals for land and air transport as well as accommodation. Bazaar MATTA flies the flag for domestic travel, which is right now helping to keep thousands of resorts, hotels and homestays open and counting an improvement in cash income. The show will be hosted at the Sunway Velocity Mall in Kuala Lumpur from 1000 to 2200 on 18 and 19 June. Bazaar MATTA’s lead sponsors are Sabah, Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines.
MATTA is promoting the event to revive domestic travel but has an eye on international travel markets such as Singapore, Australia and Europe in the long run. But the priority since international borders reopened on 1 April is to boost domestic travel to put cash in the pockets of small to medium-sized travel operators.
MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang told the New Straits Times earlier this week he expects travel arrivals to Malaysia to hit 5 million this year. Source markets such as India and Singapore will play a big part in boosting arrivals during the second half of 2022. According to Tourism Malaysia, the first four months of 2022 delivered 1 million visitors, with around 600,000 travelling from Singapore.
Key source markets looking forward to Q4 are India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and Europe. Indonesia and Thailand will emerge too as strong supply markets by the fourth quarter.
BANGKOK, 8 June 2022: Airbnb is releasing the first results from its latest survey* of hosts and guests worldwide, focusing on its findings from Thailand.
Hosts surveyed in Thailand, who used the platform last year, provided insights into how Airbnb hosts are using their income in a time of soaring inflation, emerging as key contributors to the local economy, and building strong people connections.
Mitigating Rising Costs with Hosting
As external forces pushed inflation higher around the world last year, income earned through hosting became essential for navigating higher prices for hosts in Thailand.
In response to a question about why they host their space on Airbnb:
Almost 35%t of hosts surveyed in Thailand said one of the reasons they host is to earn money to help cover the rising cost of living;
Nearly a third said they host to earn money to make ends meet;
Over half said they host to earn extra spending money;
Almost half said they host to earn money to grow their business.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Food Price Index steadily increased last year, up to an all-time high in March 2022**. Against the backdrop of higher prices for everyday goods, nearly 45% of Thai hosts surveyed said they use the income earned through hosting to buy food and other necessities that have become more expensive. In Thailand, most hosts surveyed stated that they use the money earned through hosting to improve their homes.
Hosts surveyed also indicated that they expect that income earned through hosting will become more critical. Over 45% say they expect to become more reliant on host income in 12 months.
In addition, to revenue from guests and their local spending, Thai hosts surveyed contribute to Thailand’s tourism income.
Almost two-thirds of those surveyed say that they hire support staff such as professional cleaners.
Hosts also like to share recommendations with guests about restaurants and cafes (85%), outdoor sites and activities (two thirds), lesser-known areas and places to visit (60%), and shops and boutiques (almost half), amongst others.
In fact, more than three-quarters of Thai hosts surveyed recommended places to visit in and around their Airbnb neighbourhood to guests.
People to People Connection – Hosting to meet people from different cultures.
Almost 35% of hosts surveyed in Thailand are hosting on Airbnb to meet people worldwide. Nearly one-third of the hosts surveyed want to connect with people from different countries to learn about their culture and share more about Thai culture.
*Based on a survey of 87,070 Airbnb listings booked between 1 June 2021 and 31 December 2021. All additional host-centric survey data in this report originates from this survey.
SINGAPORE, 8 June 2022: As countries worldwide reopen their borders and ease restrictions on international travel, demand is soaring beyond expectations.
In response, the global digital travel platform Agoda partners with several tourism authorities in the Asia Pacific region to boost confidence and help their respective countries safely welcome back travellers.
Following its initial success in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, Agoda expanded its partnerships to the Philippines, Korea and Taiwan to feature Clean Certified Accommodations by each government to support countries’ safe reopening and revitalization of their tourism industries.
With the adoption of clean certifications, Agoda supports ongoing government initiatives to promote properties with high hygiene standards, enabling travellers greater access to safe and well-managed accommodations on their travels – in accordance with hospitality industry standards.
Properties that have fulfilled hygiene criteria in line with the local market and regional standards will receive a Clean Certified Accommodation badge on their property page on Agoda. Certifications including CHSE (InDOnesia CARE) of Indonesia, Clean & Safe Malaysia, Korea Quality, OK Travel in New Taipei City of Taiwan, Safety Seal of the Philippines, SHA+ of Thailand, and SG Clean of Singapore are now displayed on Agoda’s platforms.
“We are proud to partner with government authorities across the Asia Pacific and beyond to promote hygiene standards for all travellers,” said Agoda COO Omri Morgenshtern. “Agoda’s top priority has always been to help make travel easier, and travellers will be able to easily identify which properties meet the government cleanliness and hygiene standards in each market. Our objective for the Certified Clean Accommodation program is to help promote hygiene protocols among our accommodation partners and offer a layer of confidence for travellers looking to get back out there. We want to continue doing everything we can to help rejuvenate the tourism economy in the best way we can.”
Korea
“With the removal of the week-long quarantine-on-arrival measures in South Korea, we look forward to the inbound travel market coming alive,” said Kim Yong Jae, Director of the Tourism Certification Center of the Korea Tourism Organization. “In particular, since the Covid-19 outbreak, travellers’ standards for hygiene and safety have become stricter, and demand for clean and safe accommodation has increased. The Clean Badge partnership with Agoda provides international travellers with the ability to be able to explore every corner of South Korea safely and comfortably.”
New Taipei City
“New Taipei City Government considers epidemic prevention as the primary concern for tourism promotion. We are pleased to partner with Agoda in promoting ‘OK Travel’ among hundred accommodation partners providing accommodation references for travellers. We are excited that this collaboration will be an extra step towards helping us welcome more accommodations to participate and build New Taipei City a safer tourist destination ahead of tourism recovery to welcome domestic and international visitors in the future”, said Tsung-Ming Yang, Commissioner at Tourism and Travel Department of New Taipei City.
In line with travel trends noted in Agoda’s Travel Trend Survey, travellers are seeking reassurance that hygiene measures at their destination are rigorous and follow global best practices. Survey respondents were most interested in “daily room disinfection” followed by “daily disinfection (of general areas),” “providing hygiene standard listings,” and “hygiene certification from the government.”
MADRID, Spain, 7 June 2022: Tourism continues to recover at a robust pace, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.
Globally, destinations welcomed almost three times as many international arrivals in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021. Europe led the sector’s rebound.
UNWTO data indicates international tourism increased 182% year-on-year from January to March 2022, with destinations worldwide welcoming an estimated 117 million international arrivals compared to 41 million in Q1 2021. Of the extra 76 million international arrivals for the first three months, about 47 million were recorded in March, showing that the recovery is gathering pace.
Europe and the Americas lead recovery
UNWTO data shows that during the first quarter of 2022, Europe welcomed almost four times as many international arrivals (+280%) as in Q1 of 2021, with results-driven by strong intra-regional demand. In the Americas, arrivals more than doubled (+117%) in the same three months. However, arrivals in Europe and the Americas were still 43% and 46% below 2019 levels, respectively.
The Middle East (+132%) and Africa (+96%) also saw strong growth in Q1 2022 compared to 2021, but arrivals remained 59% and 61% below 2019 levels, respectively. Asia and the Pacific recorded a 64% increase over 2021, but levels were 93% below 2019 numbers as several destinations remained closed to non-essential travel.
By subregion, the Caribbean and Southern Mediterranean Europe continue to show the fastest recovery rates. In both, arrivals recovered to nearly 75% of 2019 levels, with some destinations reaching or exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
Destinations opening-up
Although international tourism remains 61% below 2019 levels, the gradual recovery is expected to continue throughout 2022, as more destinations ease or lift travel restrictions and pent-up demand is unleashed. As of 2 June, 45 destinations (of which 31 are in Europe) had no COVID-19 related restrictions. In Asia, many destinations have started to ease restrictions.
Despite these positive prospects, a challenging economic environment coupled with the military offensive of the Russian Federation in Ukraine poses a downside risk to the ongoing recovery of international tourism. The Russian offensive on Ukraine seems to have had a limited direct impact on overall results, although it disrupts travel in Eastern Europe. However, the conflict has major economic repercussions globally, exacerbating already high oil prices and general inflation and disrupting international supply chains, which results in higher transport and accommodation costs for the tourism sector.
Export revenues to recover faster as spending rises
The latest issue of the UNWTO Tourism Barometer also shows that US$ 1 billion were lost in export revenues from international tourism in 2021, adding to the USD1 billion lost in the first year of the pandemic. Total export revenues from tourism (including passenger transport receipts) reached an estimated USD713 billion in 2021, a 4% increase in real terms from 2020 but still 61% below 2019 levels. International tourism receipts reached USD602 billion, 4% higher in real terms than in 2020. Europe and the Middle East recorded the best results, with earnings climbing to about 50% of pre-pandemic levels in both regions.
However, the amount being spent per trip is on the rise – from an average of USD1,000 in 2019 to USD1,400 in 2021.
Stronger than expected recovery ahead
The latest UNWTO Confidence Index showed a marked uptick. For the first time since the pandemic, the index returned to levels of 2019, reflecting rising optimism among tourism experts worldwide, building on strong pent-up demand, particularly intra-European travel and US travel to Europe.
According to the latest UNWTO Panel of Experts survey, an overwhelming majority of tourism professionals (83%) see better prospects for 2022 than 2021, as long as the virus is contained and destinations continue to ease or lift travel restrictions. However, the ongoing closure of some major outbound markets, mainly in Asia and the Pacific, and the uncertainty derived from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, could delay the effective recovery of international tourism.
A higher number of experts (48%) now see a potential return of international arrivals to 2019 levels in 2023 (from 32% in the January survey), while the percentage indicating this could happen in 2024 or later (44%) has diminished compared to the January survey (64%). Meanwhile, by the end of April, international air capacity across the Americas, Africa, Europe, North Atlantic and the Middle East has reached or is close to 80% of pre-crisis levels, and demand is following.
UNWTO has revised its outlook for 2022 due to stronger-than-expected results in the first quarter of 2022, a significant increase in flight reservations, and the UNWTO Confidence Index prospects. International tourist arrivals are now expected to reach 55% to 70% of 2019 levels in 2022.
BANGKOK, 7 June 2022: Go City, a multi-attraction pass, relaunches Go City Bangkok this week and confirms a renewed investment in Thailand.
The reimagined product now offers travellers to Bangkok access to more than 25 of the destination’s top attractions, experiences and tours. Additionally, Go City has expanded pass options in the most popular destinations for Thai travellers, including London, New York, Paris, Stockholm and Sydney.
Go City Bangkok soft-launched in February 2020, with 60% of sales coming from long haul markets such as the UK, US and Canada before travel restrictions ended inbound tourism. During the pandemic, Go City doubled down on tech and invested in long term improvements to the business, including rebranding the company around the customer.
Favourite destinations amongst Go City Thai customers
As the industry looks ahead to the full return of travel, Go City is betting big on APAC, both as a source market and destination. Thailand grew to be the company’s fifth-largest source market in APAC, and demand signals for Go City Bangkok are strong.
“We’re increasingly optimistic about APAC’s bounceback,” said Go City CEO Jon Owen. “As soon as restrictions began lifting earlier this year, we saw sales grow 10x. Go City Bangkok’s launch is the first step, but we’re equally excited to improve the experience for Thai travellers as they look to return to destinations including London, New York and Paris, which were the most popular cities in the Go City portfolio amongst Thai travellers in 2019.”
Attractions now available with the Bangkok pass include the King Power Mahanakhon Skywalk, Chinatown Food Tour and Bangkok Pub Tour. Popular staples include Ayutthaya Day Tour, Chao Phraya River Dinner Cruise, Tuk Tuk Tour, and authentic Thai massage experiences. Go City plans to add more lifestyle options into the mix, such as sky bars, F&B options and other lifestyle products.
There are two options for the Go City Bangkok pass.
An Adult Two-Day All-Inclusive Pass costs THB2,999 (approximately USD89). An Adult Three-Choice Explorer Pass costs THB1,899 (approximately USD57).
KUCHING, 7 June 2022: The Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) 2022 will be hosting a slew of brilliant performers from over 15 countries representing the many unique sounds from parts of the world.
On the top bill of talents, bringing the different representations of Indian music to the forefront include BluGuru, best described as a twisted tale of Indian, Blues, Celtic, Swing, Jazz, Bluegrass, and adventure.
Comprising multi-instrumentalist and three-times Bluegrass National Guitar champion Andrew Clermont and Fringe Award nominee Josh Bennett, along with the extraordinary vocals and dance of Parvyn, who is the daughter of the renowned singer Dya Singh, expect a sound that resonates with Jeff Beck meets Ravi Shankar on the set of “O Brother, Where Art Thou’ while dancing in Rio.
Their shows are sure to keep you on your toes with soaring vocal harmonies, blistering guitar and fiddle, with regular appearances of traditional Indian, Australian, European and American instruments like the sitar, tabla, and dilruba, didgeridoo, mandolin, banjo and more.
Despite their extensive musical abilities and experiences as musicians individually, the trio only debuted their first album in 2010. “Ragas 2 Blu Riches” was hailed as a triumph for acoustic music and covers everything from Jazz and Bluegrass to Brazilian samba and meditative Indian pieces.
Also on the list of musicians set to perform a powerful show at the 25th RWMF is Indian slide guitar maestro Debashish Bhattacharya who will be accompanied by his daughter, rising vocal star Anandi Bhattacharya. Along with them will also be their Grammy-nominated family member Subhasis Bhattacharya on tabla.
A disciple of the legendary Brij Bushan Kabra, he is a constant innovator who takes the Indian slide guitar beyond its boundaries to the point where he designed several new styles of the instrument to realise his musical vision.
As a performer, Debashish gave his first guitar recital at the tender age of four on the All India Radio (the national public radio broadcaster of India), and in a public concert. It was inevitable that by the age of 21, he was awarded the President of India award in 1984. In his twenties, he evolved a unique style of playing the guitar and also synthesised selected features of various other instruments such as the veena, sitar, sarod and kannur.
A seasoned performer, Dehabshish has performed worldwide and recorded with some of the world’s top artists, including 12-times Grammy winner Jerry Douglas, African Kora legend Ballake Sissoko, jazz guitar legend John McLaughlin, Moroccan Oud legend Driss el Maloumi, American bluesman Bob Brozman, British singer Martin Simpson, Australian rocker John Butler, American rocker Henry Kaizer, Indian legends Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pt Ravi Shankar and many others.
Rainforest World Music Festival 2022
The Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), is back once again, celebrating its 25th anniversary as a hybrid event for the first time since the beginning of the music festival in 1998 from 17 to 19 June 2022 with the physical concert taking place at Sarawak Cultural Village while viewers can also live stream it from their homes via rwmf.net.
With the theme “25th Legendary Rainforest Celebration”, RWMF will feature a host of international performers from Canada, India, USA, Finland, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Madagascar, Ukraine, China, Bhutan and Seoul, among others while showcasing a string of Malaysia’s talents such as Alena Murang, At Adau from Sarawak, Bamboo Woods from Sabah and many more.
Activities at the Festival
The festival is back with its familiar format of daytime workshops and evening concerts with various activities planned throughout the festival. Festival-goers can enjoy craft fairs featuring the best of Borneo handicrafts or savour a diverse choice of traditional delicacies from the food bazaars.
The musical workshops bring together diverse musicians from many disciplines, drawing together these talents under unifying themes to showcase, jam and create unique music in the setting of the Sarawak Cultural Village. Among the activities to look out for are a Sape Gathering’ that brings together anyone who can strum a sape in Sarawak and a kiddie’s workshop to bring on the next generation where they can play with instruments create art, and enjoy the festival ground to their hearts’ contents.
Rainforest World Music Festival tickets
Festival-goers can choose from the different ticket categories at pre-sale prices – Adult 1-Day Pass (RM165), Adult 3-Day Pass (RM405), Child 1-Day Pass (RM85), Child 3-Day Pass (RM195) and 1-Day Family Package Pass- 2 Adult and 2 Children (RM440). The virtual tickets are priced at RM25 per one-hour block.
BANGKOK, 7 June 2022: Thai Airways International and Warner Bros. Discovery are partnering to deliver projects that will promote the filming industry in Thailand.
THAI director of sales Korakot Chatasingha and Warner Bros Discovery Inc executive producer E Bennett Walsh concluded an agreement that gives THAI the priority as the first-choice carrier for its international travel to Thailand linked to film productions.
Korakot noted that many foreign film production companies select Thailand as their destination to make movies, documentaries, TV programmes, commercials, and music videos.
“THAI, as the national flag carrier, is pleased to facilitate all air travel arrangements. We can offer direct flights from many destinations worldwide and cargo services that can accommodate various items that require special attention, such as video cameras, lenses, lighting and other filmmaking equipment.
“This and future cooperation with WBD will mark an important milestone in promoting Thailand as one of the top destinations for international film productions.”
THAI and THAI Smile gained their first assignment to fly the film crew members and transport equipment from Europe to destinations in Thailand to shoot ‘The Meg 2: the Trench’ at various locations across the country.
PARIS, 7 June 2022: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for holistic reforms to manage the long-term need for a stable talent base for the ground handling sector.
Thousands of ground handling staff left the aviation industry during the pandemic. Now, as aviation ramps up, the severe shortage of skilled ground handlers is shedding light on the need for reform to stabilize the talent pool.
In the immediate term, the most pressing issue is the bottleneck for security clearances as the airline industry prepares for the peak northern summer season. IATA urges the ground handling sector to adopt a stronger talent acquisition strategy; streamline onboarding processes, and develop a more compelling retention proposition.
“The peak northern summer travel season is fast-approaching, and passengers are already experiencing the effects of bottlenecks in getting security clearances for staff at the airport. Additional resources are needed to accelerate the processing times for employment security clearances which can be six months in some markets. The shortages we are experiencing today are a symptom of the longer-term challenges to achieve a stable talent base in ground handling,” said IATA’s senior vice president for operations, safety and security, Nick Careen.
At IATA’s recent Ground Handling Conference, the association proposed a comprehensive approach to recruitment, onboarding, and retention:
Recruitment
Attracting fresh talent is critical. This is made more challenging by perceptions created in the pandemic with the critical retrenchment of large numbers of staff, including those in ground handling.
More efficient onboarding processes
Training and security clearance for new staff can take more than six months. More efficient and expedited onboarding will allow the sector to adapt quickly to demand changes, including seasonal ones.
IATA recommends
A greater focus on competency-based training; moving to more online training and assessments will improve onboarding speed, flexibility, and efficiency.
Mutual recognition by authorities of security training and employee background records will expedite onboarding and reduce redundant processes.
MANILA, 7 June 2022: The Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) at the weekend reassured travellers saying measures are in place to ensure that destinations in the southern part of the country are safe for tourists.
Mindanao is recognised as a key tourism destination that has figured in TPB promotional activities during the past few years.
“The Mindanao region is a safe tourism destination with peace talks continually being done in the region, military, national and local law enforcement are doing its best to keep our destinations safe, and local government units are also working with NGOs (non-government organisations) and international organisations to make their destinations more sustainable and inclusive,” TPB chief operating Officer Maria Anthonette Velasco-Allones told the Philippines News Agency.
Mindanao is host to equally-stunning destinations such as the beaches in Davao, the sand bars and waterfalls in Camiguin, and adventure hubs in Cagayan de Oro, to name a few, she added.
“We have other amazing destinations in Mindanao, in fact, we are supporting Philippine Airlines’ inaugural flight from Cotabato to Tawi-Tawi on 9 June,” she said.
“Other destinations are still being vetted for compliance with health and safety protocols as we grow towards a safer, more sustainable and more inclusive tourism destination.”
Local governments in Mindanao, their respective tourism officers, the Department of Tourism’s regional offices, and the military are “doing their best” to ensure tourists are given necessary logistical support when travelling to the region, Velasco-Allones said.
BANGKOK, 7 June 2022: Thai Vietjet is partnering with MSIG Insurance to launch ‘Sky Insurance’, the outbound international travel insurance add-on service with a starting rate of THB159 (including Covid-19 treatment cover.
The deal is exclusive to passengers booking the airline’s outbound air tickets at www.vietjetair.com.
The collaboration between Thai Vietjet and MSIG aims to offer convenient protection choices for those travelling abroad with the airline, covering medical expenses due to accidents and sickness (including Covid-19), damage or loss of baggage and personal belongings.
There are three types of the insurance bundled with tickets: a one-way plan at THB159 (applies to all international routes), a roundtrip plan for other countries THB359 (applies to Vietnam and countries requiring medical expense cover of USD10,000), and a roundtrip Singapore plan at THB399 (Singapore requires the cover of USD 30,000).
All three packages include service from MSIG Assist and free 24-hour travel assistance worldwide. If the treatment requires hospital admission, no payment upfront is required.
Passengers can select ‘Sky Insurance’ while booking air tickets on the airline’s booking page, and the insurance will be added automatically after the passenger completes the payment information form.
Currently, the airline operates international flight services from Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) to Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang (Vietnam).
A new international service from Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) to Fukuoka (Japan) will start on 16 July.
