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!
DUBAI, UAE, 13 September 2022: Marking World First Aid Day this month, Emirates celebrates 3,000 new cabin crew recruits who are now equipped with aviation first aid skills after successfully graduating from the airline’s rigorous cabin crew training programme.
As part of a highly successful recruitment drive this year,Emirates has already hired 3,000 new joiners who undergo eight weeks of intense ab-Initio training to become world-class cabin crew. The ab-initio period includes various courses from security to service, safety and emergency to hospitality, and the critically important medical response training. Far from the erroneous perception of cabin crew just serving meals and looking glamourous, Emirates crew are trained to manage various situations on board, including learning essential life-saving skills. Using a combination of practical, in-situ, classroom and online learning, new recruits are taught invaluable lessons which prepare them for life and to save the lives of others.
What exactly do they learn?
Medical training is provided to new cabin crew on all aspects of first aid, including dealing with a collapsed casualty who has fainted, managing choking, recognising and managing breathing difficulties like asthma and hyperventilation, sudden illnesses like chest pain, stroke, low blood sugar, allergic reactions, deep vein thrombosis, barotrauma, decompression illness, and substance misuse. The crew are also taught how to deal with injuries like fractures, burns, amputations, communicable diseases, the importance of infection control procedures, and on-board hygiene.
The new recruits are schooled in the life-saving skills of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), where they practice on patient simulation mannequins and on how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) machine properly. Using a specially designed medical mannequin, the cabin crew also experience what it’s like to deliver a newborn baby on board. All training is provided by certified aviation first aid instructors in the world-class training facility – Emirates Cabin Crew Training Centre in Dubai.
Do they save lives?
In July 2022 alone, Emirates’ cabin crew saved two passengers from cardiac arrest on two different flights. A potentially fatal incident, cardiac arrest, causes the heart to stop beating suddenly. The lack of blood flow to the brain and other organs can cause a person to lose consciousness, become disabled or die if not treated immediately. Emirates cabin crew used a combination of CPR techniques and a defibrillator to save both passengers’ lives and keep them stable until they could receive medical attention from emergency services on the ground. Both passengers are now recovering well.
Putting First Aid into action
Flying with the world’s largest airline, Emirates cabin crew enjoy non-stop new adventures as they travel to over 150 cities across 85 countries. Many Emirates cabin crew describe the role as ‘the best job in the world’ – not only because they deliver award-winning service at 40,000 feet and the unique lifestyle that comes with the job, but because they also discover their heroic potential through life-saving skills and emergency management. Access to Emirates aviation first aid training helps recruits develop their communication skills, initiative and leadership qualities, the ability to work effectively as a team, the focus to stay mentally strong and calm to work effectively under pressure, and – how to save and protect the lives of others.
KUALA LUMPUR, 13 September 2022: A little over 21 years ago, two gentlemen from the music industry Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun bought AirAsia for a mere MYR1 on 8 September 2001.
The almost bankrupt airline was saddled with debts of over MYR40 million in debt. Today, 21 years later, it has flown 700 million guests evolving from a two-aircraft airline to become a one-stop-shop platform to include e-hailing services, food delivery, logistics, fintech and airline engineering & maintenance.
Back in 2001, with the world as their oyster, Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun embarked on a life-changing journey that would soon enable everyone to fly.
Some 21 years, 252 months and 7,674 days later, Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, the holding group that owns AirAsia, comments:
“What a ride it has been! Twenty-one incredibly meaningful years and a loyal family that I could not be more proud of and thankful for. Like every family, we’ve had some tough times. These last few years have been unimaginably challenging – we went from flying 90 million passengers a year to having to ground our entire fleet at one point due to the pandemic.
There are no words to express how grateful I am to my dedicated Allstars for weathering through these times and to our loyal guests who’ve supported us and chosen us repeatedly. I always say – we never waste a crisis or let it get us down.”
To celebrate this historic birthday, AirAsia has launched a new campaign with the underlying message ‘Some things never change.
“Through this campaign, we come together, near and far, as we reminisce about the impact AirAsia has had on our lives as a homegrown company that constantly strives to uphold its values as a brand that brings the masses together.”
In conjunction with its 21st birthday, the airline will launch a can’t-be-missed and a first-of-its-kind sales campaign.
MANILA, 13 September 2022: A new tourist hotline will be up and running by the end of the year for travellers visiting the Philippines, the Department of Tourism announced during last week’s Travel Tour Expo 2023.
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco announced at the show the imminent launch of a “tourist assistance call centre”, according to the Philippines News Agency.
Photo Credit: DOT) Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco.
“This year, we will launch a multilingual tourist assistance call centre that will cater to requests for information and assistance she told travel executives who attended the fair. She called it a “one-stop shop where tourists could get information and raise travel concerns.”
Philippine Travel Agencies Association president Michelle Taylan noted it would help to rebuild travel confidence in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thailand and South Korea have similar assistance centres that respond to travel-related emergencies and provide recommendations on travel for visitors.
DOT will also develop a Tourist Lifecycle App, which Frasco said would serve as a “super app” that connects tourists to accredited tourism establishments, rides, restaurants, tour operators, and tour guides, the Philippines News Agency reported.
BANGKOK, 13 September 12, 2022: As travel rules relax in regional destinations, Thai Vietjet will increase flights from Bangkok to Japan and Taiwan.
Flights from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport to Fukuoka will increase from four to five weekly starting 1 October 1, 2022, while flights to Taipei in Taiwan will double from one to two flights weekly, effective 2 October 2022.
“After a long break from Covid-19, the gradual recovery of the international travel market is a good sign for the airline industry. Beyond our expectations, we found positive feedback from the travel markets in Japan and Taiwan since the two of our flight services initially launched. With further relaxation of travel restrictions by the two governments, we are eager to add more flights during the upcoming peak travel season,” said Thai Vietjet director of commercial Pinyot Pibulsonggram.
Thai Vietjet commenced flights connecting Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) and Fukuoka on 16 July 2022 and to Taipei on 18 August.
On the Fukuoka route, flights are scheduled on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, with a flight time of five hours and 30 minutes. Daily flights are on the table shortly.
On the route to Taipei, the airline will fly every Thursday and Sunday, with a flight time of three hours and 45 minutes. See the flight schedule below.
In addition, the airline has also announced a new international service from Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi) to Phu Quoc (Vietnam), starting from 12 October 12, 2022. It will be the first direct flight link between Bangkok and the popular holiday island in southern Vietnam since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Currently, passengers entering Thailand are no longer required to possess a certificate of testing for a negative Covid-19 result before entering the country or upon arrival. Passengers are also not required to quarantine upon arrival due to the removal of the ‘Test & Go’ scheme since 1 May 2022.
