Articles tagged “asia monthly”

The continued focus on tourism in the Middle East has helped the region navigate its way through the unchartered landscape of Covid. Qatar is leading the way on recovery.

The bright side of Covid for many Indian luxury boutique hotel operators has been the discovery of a domestic clientele, who previously formed a very small share of the pie.

Even as it calls itself a nature-based emirate, Ras Al Khaimah is keen to earn the reputation of being a leading meetings, incentive, conference and event hub. The emirate is adopting a measured approach with a controlled pipeline of sustainable development to help strike a balance.

After a great deal of will they or won't they, Thailand has finally decided to simplify travel for visitors. But in the absence of some of its most important source markets, like China and Russia, the country has its sights set on Indian tourists.

As travel moves to the next stage of recovery and resilience, investment will be key to unlock this phase. With sustainability as the key driver of choice, these investments will need to make local communities active stakeholders.

Destinations taking baby steps towards travel recovery should look to turn entry barriers into opportunities. Governments should reflect and review their pre-Covid traditional visa policies to make way for technology-enabled progressive approaches and the visa fee, though small, plays its part in determining travel decisions.

As it prepares to host Middle East's first-ever FIFA World Cup, Qatar expects the event to offer unique marketing potential to place the destination firmly on the tourism map. But for a country whose pre-Covid arrivals stood at 2.1 million in 2019, a goal of 1.5 million tourists for the two months of the tournament sounds overly ambitious.

Keen to feature the resort city of Eilat in the international tourism map, Israel has reintroduced the plan that allows airlines to avail $65 subsidy for every arriving passenger. However, it may take more than this for the government to woo tourists to the expensive city.

Even as uncertainty continues to weigh on travel plans, Marriott is offering personalized experiences through its loyalty program in Asia. The hotel chain currently has more than 55 million Marriott Bonvoy members in Asia Pacific.

The confidence of the hospitality sector in Indonesia seems to be getting stronger as the archipelago relaxes arrival restrictions. As hotly anticipated properties now announce opening dates, Indonesia is clearly emerging as a key market in Southeast Asia's hospitality ecosystem.