Daniel Kerr has been named general manager of Chatrium Grand Bangkok.
The British national brings with him more than two decades of hospitality experience across Asia-Pacific, having gained experience with Hyatt, Langham Hotels International, and Ovolo Hotels Group.
He joins Chatrium Grand Bangkok from his last role as general manager for Starbucks Indonesia, where he launched Starbucks Reserve Dewata in Bali, the world’s first Starbucks concept store and the largest Starbucks Reserve in the Asia-Pacific.
Travel accessibility is improving after more than two years of disruption, and people around the world have responded to easing border restrictions by getting back to travel planning.
However, for people with mobility, mental and/or sensory issues, the definition of travel accessibility takes on a much deeper meaning. While differently-abled, these consumers share the same wanderlust as everyone else and look to destinations and tourism suppliers to provide the support they need to fulfil their travel dreams.
Spain, whose tourism appeals range from big-city draws, star-studded football clubs, historical landmarks and tantalising cuisine, says all these and more welcome travellers with disabilities. Fifteen cities across the country whose historical centres and urban spaces have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites promise universal accessible routes.
Take Ávila for instance. The destination, renowned for its medieval city walls, is regarded as one of the leading accessible tourist destinations in Spain. The Visitor Reception Centre offers wheelchairs for loan, while travellers relying on hearing aids can communicate with a magnetic loop installed at the information desk. Typhlological scale models of five of the nine gates in the iconic city walls enable travellers with visual difficulties to learn about the monument through touch. Furthermore, audio-video guides are available in nine different languages, including international sign language and a version adapted for children.
The Spain is Accessible website helps users to search destinations by theme or disability
As differently-abled travellers explore Ávila’s best sights via a specially-designed accessible route that threads through town, they will notice that commercial establishments with basic accessibility requirements are identified by the international symbol of access on their doors along with the Ávila Accessible label – the latter awarded by the Ávila Town Hall and the Municipal Board for the Disabled.
To further assist differently-abled travellers, Turespaña has created the Spain is Accessible website that allows users to search destinations by theme or disability.
Contributing to Spain’s commitment to accessible tourism is local hotel chain, Ilunion, which has 29 properties adapted for people with disabilities. Supportive facilities include individual articulated beds, telephone adapted for people with hearing and visual disabilities, inclined bathroom mirrors for people in wheelchairs, and recreational areas and parking designed for the disabled. The hotels are awarded with the universal accessibility certification (UNE 170001-2), while Ilunion itself has earned the Ethics Award from the UNWTO for its work in the field of accessible tourism. As of November 2021, two in five of the company’s 37,000-strong workforce have an impairment – demonstrating Ilunion’s determination to have diversity in both its clientele and talent teams.
Here in Asia-Pacific, Tropical North Queensland in Australia is the latest to take firm steps towards accessible tourism. In September, it announced the addition of Accessibility Hub to its destination website, listing experiences and accommodation that are accessible to all travellers.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland worked closely with Spinal Life Australia and Out There Travel Care to put together content showcasing accessible products, such as wheelchair-friendly beaches and rainforest boardwalks that are wheelchair-friendly.
“People needing to consider accessibility can now easily find accommodation options from specialised providers like Spinal Life’s Healthy Living Centre which has personal support workers, to traditional hotels with accessible rooms such as the Cairns Novotel Oasis Resort,” said Mark Olsen, CEO of Tourism Tropical North Queensland.
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is an accessible tourism experience. Photo by Dane Cross, Spinal Life Australi
Disabled Mission Beach journalist Imogen Kars has trialled a selection of accessible accommodation and tours, and has produced a series of blogs on travel options in Cairns, Palm Cove, the Cassowary Coast, Port Douglas and the Atherton Tablelands.
To align tourism operators with its accessible tourism goal, the NTO led a Making Tourism More Accessible Workshop at the Spinal Life Healthy Living Centre. Trade participants got to learn about opportunities in the accessible tourism market, access business case studies, and hear from people with physical disabilities about what they are looking for in a destination.
Senior advisor access and advocacy for Spinal Life Australia, Dane Cross, said the accessible tourism market represented a largely untapped opportunity for tourism operators.
“Often, tourism operators don’t know where to begin on their journey towards better accessibility – this workshop enables people to ask simple questions and find out more about where to begin. We’d love to help tourism operators understand how to be more accessible and to secure a larger part of this market,” said Cross.
Accessible sandy paradise
Recognising that the Maldives is usually physically out of bounds for differently-abled travellers, no thanks to its sandy island paths, water jetties and layout of villas and restaurants, one private island resort has made it its mission to make its space welcoming for everyone, including those with additional mobility, sensory and cognitive requirements.
Taking guidance from Inclucare, a UK-based organisation that works to remove barriers to travel for disabled people across the globe, Amilla Maldives Resort has ordered staff training on inclusion excellence and has had its facilities audited by Inclucare officials.
The property is now waiting for the certification process to be completed.
General manager Jason Kruse told TTG Asia that Amilla Maldives Resort is equipped to meet inclusive travel needs. It already boasts many universally accessible villas on the ground level, all designed with wide doorways and accessible showers. These units also come with beach wheelchair, floating wheelchair for swimming, and in-villa phones that light up when they ring, for the benefit of hearing-impaired guests.
Soon to come are deaf-alert systems, induction hearing loops, magnifying glasses, adaptive yoga, aroma and sound experiences through the jungle for vision-impaired holidaymakers, and facilities that regulate sensory input for guests on the autism spectrum.
Tripseed’s electric tuk tuks are designed to bring ease of movement to differently-abled guests
Taking ground control
Thailand-based travel operator and distributor Tripseed has recently made the country even more welcoming through a range of accessible travel programmes and experiences.
These inclusive tours for elderly and disabled travellers promise more than just wheelchair-accessible facilities. Extensive audits have been conducted across properties, tour locations and transportation – all to evaluate ramp inclinations, availability of grab bars, manoeuvrability clearance and other important aspects, and to advise agents and partners on the most suitable travel options based on the level of assistance required.
Looking to support travellers with invisible disabilities, Tripseed is standing by specialised guides who are trained in American sign language, British sign language and Thai sign language, as well as those trained to assist guests with other audio-visual impairments.
With this universal accessibility arrangement, Tripseed’s differently-abled guests can enjoy top-selling tours, such as an evening street food experience in an electric tuk-tuk, specially outfitted with a built-in wheelchair ramp and unique wheelchair restraint system – a first in the industry.
Tripseed also scrutinises tour routes to ensure that travellers are not met with navigation difficulties.
Founder Ewan Cluckie told TTG Asia that his company has delivered two accessible trips for the Thai market at press time in September, and has a few international bookings lined up for the upcoming Christmas period and through to mid-2023.
It is also working with Wheel the World to reach out to differently-abled travellers.
The Cathay Pacific Group has named the following senior management appointments.
Ronald Lam will take on the role of chief executive officer effective January 1, 2023. Previously chief customer and commercial officer, he is responsible for all customer, commercial and cargo-related activities of the Cathay Pacific Group’s airlines.
Ronald Lam has been named chief executive officer of Cathay Pacific Group
In his new position, he will lead the airline through its post-Covid recovery and the introduction of the Three-Runway System at Hong Kong International Airport. He will also continue to serve as chair of HK Express.
Effective from January 1, 2023, Lavinia Lau will take over Lam’s role as chief customer and commercial officer. Lau will also be appointed executive director on the board of Cathay Pacific. She will be succeeded by Erica Peng, who will also be appointed director of customer travel.
Alex McGowan will be appointed chief operations and service delivery officer and also executive director on the board of Cathay Pacific effective April 1, 2023. McGowan will also be appointed chair of Air Hong Kong.
Mandy Ng, currently chief executive officer of the HK Express, will return to Cathay Pacific as director service delivery effective April 1, 2023.
Jeanette Mao, currently general manager inflight services at Cathay Pacific, will take over Ng’s current position of chief executive officer of the HK Express from April 1, 2023.
Katerina Giannouka has been appointed as the new CEO of Jumeirah Group, effective December 2022.
A recognised professional in the international hospitality industry, Giannouka joins Jumeirah Group from Radisson Hotel Group, where she had served as president Asia Pacific since 2017.
She brings with her 20 years of experience in business leadership, operations, hotel development, asset management and strategic advisory.
Meliá Hotels International has appointed Ada Jian as general manager for the new INNSiDE by Meliá Kuala Lumpur Cheras, which opens in 4Q2022.
She possesses over two decades of hospitality experience throughout China, beginning with a front office role in 2001 at Hyatt Regency Xi’an China. She then spent eight years with Sofitel, before joining Meliá Hotels International in 2014.
At Meliá, Jian held roles at Gran Meliá Xian and INNSiDE by Meliá Zhengzhou, as well as worked for the corporate team where she was senior area director of operations Asia-Pacific covering 47 hotels in the region.
Hilton has signed an agreement with Wondergrain Exports to launch DoubleTree by Hilton Amritsar, marking the debut of the DoubleTree by Hilton brand in Punjab.
The hotel is scheduled to open in early 2026, and will be situated in Ranjeet Avenue, providing travellers with convenient access to the city’s cultural and religious sites, as well as prime commercial and business zones. With 116 rooms, it will also offer a spa, fitness centre, dining outlets, and event spaces.
DoubleTree by Hilton Amritsar will open in Punjab in 2026
Navjit Ahluwalia, senior vice president and country head of Hilton in India, said: “With its strategic location in the heart of the one of renowned pilgrimage centres in India, DoubleTree by Hilton Amritsar will be well positioned to serve business and leisure travellers in Punjab.”
He added that the signing puts Hilton on track to double its presence in the country in the next five years.
Gurinder Bhatti, managing director, Wondergrain Exports said: “Amritsar is known for its rich culture, tradition and history, attracting travellers from India and across the world. We look forward to working with Hilton and together deliver value and excellent customer experience synonymous with DoubleTree by Hilton brand.”
Leading Indian DMC Creative Travel (CT) is “diversifying” and focusing on the growth of its seven-year-old outbound arm Away & Co (A&C) to tap the country’s “enormous appetite for luxury travel”.
CT joint managing director, Rajeev Kohli, told TTG Asia that his younger brother and joint managing director, Rohit was overseeing A&C’s development and the target was for outbound business to match inbound in the next five years.
Rohit: to rewrite the idea of experiential travel in an ever-changing world
The rebranding of A&C, formerly Signature Tours, as a purveyor of fine experiences was on the cards before the pandemic and the disruption expedited the process, according to Rohit.
He described A&C as “destination agnostic” and that any destination would come alive through “an amazing experience-based journey”.
“What we have is deep knowledge and great partnerships across the world to rewrite the idea of experiential travel in an ever-changing world,” he said.
A&C, he added, would focus on destinations that were now underserved in the Indian market which include Central and Latin America, off-the-beaten path Africa, North Asia and Indochina.
Customer acquisition has been the focus since the rebranding, and A&C has been spending time and energy in training the team on product and positioning.
According to Rohit, a first-time traveller to Europe or Asia is not a typical A&C guest, and neither is a traveller going to Europe for the fifth time but wants to plan a “vanilla trip”.
Rohit observed luxury travel was “totally misconstrued in India”, and a booking with A&C was not just about staying at the best hotel or using the best car, but defined by the luxury of the experiences.
Despite India having a challenging ecosystem and a fragmented consumer mindset, the outlook is promising.
Rohit said: “India’s current economic growth pattern and all economic expert research clearly put the market as the future leading consumer of luxury goods and services across the world, and that’s not just a factor of the size of market – it’s the pure disposable income available.
“India continues to be among the top-three markets for many global destinations and this number will only climb further. The challenges now are really logistical in nature, such as prohibitive airfares and deficiency in visa processing by many destinations.
“However, we’re confident this will get alleviated soon enough,” he said.
Dorchester Collection has appointed Arabella El Barkouki as its new global director of sales.
El Barkouki will be responsible for leading the brand’s global sales teams, developing sales strategies to support growth and spearheading policies, objectives and initiatives across the portfolio of current and future hotels.
The Brit brings over 20 years of leadership experience from the luxury hospitality industry to her role. She first joined Dorchester Collection in 2008, before moving to Mandarin Oriental in 2015 as head of regional sales Europe.
Most recently, she was vice president of global sales partners at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.
The 2022 GSTC Asia-Pacific Sustainable Tourism Conference was held recently in September. What were the focal points at the event?
There were three principal themes: attraction & destination stewardship, MICE & hotels, and ecotourism & heritage.
We started the conference with a keynote speech by Caesar Indra, president of Traveloka, which joined the GSTC recently and has a few collaborations with us in 2022. We also had a session on sustainable development, looking into the Saemangeum reclaimed land project in Jeonbuk, South Korea as well as the sustainable tourism path that Sentosa Development Corporation of Singapore is taking.
Another special session and topic focused on the young generation in the tourism industry. It was very well received, as we had young leaders (as speakers), including Natalie Kidd, chief people and purpose officer of Intrepid Travel; Jason Lin, CEO of Talent Basket; Jennifer Lin, senior business development manager of Rezio; Shinobu Hayama, CEO of Journey for Change; and Halim Choi, programme officer of Jeonbuk MICE Bureau.
Where do you think the travel and tourism industry stands in terms of sustainability?
The term sustainability is now mainstream. We have all the framework in place; we have credible assurance programmes set by GSTC, our partner certification bodies and accreditation bodies. We are working in this ecosystem together so we have this foundation.
We are also working with governments to support training to increase knowledge on the skills and benefits of sustainable operations and businesses. We have OTAs that are promoting (sustainability) to their customers.
We are at a critical point here. There are many stakeholders that can (facilitate) change and are making the change.
However, from a consumer perspective, it is still difficult to find a sustainable provider. We need hotels and tour operators to start making this shift to become more sustainable, especially since this proper system has already been set.
It is now much easier to explain the benefits of making this shift: becoming more sustainable usually means cost savings, allows for better market benefits, and it is the right thing to do!
There is no doubt that sustainability is the keyword for our industry. How will GSTC assert its authority as the global body for sustainable tourism to better educate both the industry and the public on this subject? That is a very good question. Clearly, there’s still a lot of greenwashing, as well as misleading and false claims.
The UK’s competition and markets authority as well as equivalent bodies and two European Union member states had recently begun investigating companies over eco-friendly and sustainability claims, to make sure that consumers are not being misled. A greenwashing lawsuit was also filed against KLM Airlines in court in the Netherlands.
So, it raises the topic again on the liability to organisations and companies when they make sustainability claims. The assurance of sustainability claims is very important, and it is one of the GSTC’s core activities, which is eventually providing assurance for sustainable tourism. We do that through an accreditation programme for certification bodies as well as collaboration with standard owners.
I’m happy to see that different actions are being taken by regulators and private organisations to tackle that and to criticise those that make false or misleading claims.
It is also important to note that when we speak about sustainability in tourism, it is not just about the environment; it refers to a number of dimensions as set out in the GSTC criteria, including societal, cultural and economic aspects.
How has GSTC’s work evolved? (There has been greater) involvement from governments with regards to guidelines and enforcement. We are now working specifically on supporting businesses in the region or country to be more sustainable.
In Japan, for example, we run tens of trainings every year sponsored by the Japan National Tourism Organization. In Turkey it will soon be mandatory for tourism businesses to follow the Turkish version of the GSTC criteria, with a transition period until 2030.
Booking.com, Agoda, Traveloka, Makemytrip, Google Travel – and a few more in the coming months – work with GSTC on different levels. The foundation is to highlight sustainable hotels and tours on their platform to consumers, a segment the GSTC does not directly engage with. When customers learn more about sustainable brands through these OTAs, it helps to push hotels and tour operators to adopt more sustainable measures.
(Accommodation buyers) are also joining the scene. For example, TUI and American Express Global Business Travel (AMEX GBT) make it clear in their RFPs that they prefer sustainable hotels.
So, GSTC’s collaboration with these three main stakeholders influences the travel and hospitality industry to become more sustainable.
How has the GSTC membership from destinations and hotel organisations evolved in the past two years? I see three main trends. Firstly, destinations and governments have been introducing sustainability in a systemic manner over the past two years of the pandemic. This was very different from pre-Covid times where there was a general interest, moderate engagement, (and application of) some framework from the GSTC.
During the pandemic, many NTOs and DMOs invested a lot of effort into raising their skills, knowledge and cooperation to make their destination more sustainable. It is no longer just plugging the word sustainability into destination marketing campaigns, but pushing the agenda in a serious and systemic manner.
The second trend is the rise in hotels and chains joining GSTC and their sustainable tourism movement. Some of them are even updating their programmes (in accordance with) GSTC criteria.
Most notably, in March this year, the Singapore Hotel Association and the Singapore Tourism Board launched the Singapore Hotel Sustainability Roadmap with a goal of reaching 60 per cent of hotel room stock certified by GSTC-accredited certification bodies by 2025. It’s a great example of collaboration between the government and the private sector. It has really pushed hotels to take this topic more seriously.
One of our important OTA members, Agoda, launched online training for Singapore hotels in October, using their CSR budget to support this (initiative).
The third trend is an increasing demand for business travel to be more sustainable. AMEX GBT is actively promoting and preferring hotels that are certified by GSTC-accredited certification bodies, as it recognises the importance of assured sustainability claims made by hotels.
Recently, we also had BCD Travel and CWT join GSTC as members. These three huge entities represent the majority of the corporate and business travel companies out there, and they mean business when it comes to sustainability.
What more can we expect from GSTC’s work in 2023? One core message to highlight in 2023 is the emphasis on the general usage of the sustainability standards as guidelines. Anyone can use the standards, which are readily available and free on the Internet, such as the one published by GSTC.
Apart from the GSTC Destination and Industry criteria, we are now in the process of creating the GSTC Attraction criteria and the GSTC MICE criteria which we expect to be published at end-2023 or early 2024.
Resorts World Cruises (RWC) will launch three- and five-nights cruises to Phuket from both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (via Port Klang) aboard Genting Dream later this month.
Guests can choose to board the ship from Singapore for the five-night Kuala Lumpur-Penang-Phuket cruise departing on November 20, 2022 and March 12, 2023; or from Port Klang on November 21, 2022 and March 13, 2023 for a five-night Penang-Phuket-Singapore sailing.
Genting Dream will commence sailings to Phuket In November; fishing village Koh Panyee pictured
There are also the three-night options, from Singapore and from Port Klang with sailing dates available between May 2023 and April 2024. All cruises to Phuket will offer shore experiences.
Bookings will open from November 15.
Michael Goh, president, RWC, said Genting Dream’s two- and three-night cruises have been very popular.
“As such, the introduction of Phuket as a cruise destination is timely and will further fuel the growth of the domestic and FlyCruise markets in the region,” said Goh.
Nongyao Jirundorn, director, Malaysia & Brunei, Tourism Authority of Thailand, said: “As the cruise tourism industry is making a comeback, we are delighted to collaborate with Resorts World Cruises to welcome more inbound tourists to Phuket and across Thailand from the cruise sector.
“We are excited that more calls to the island are confirmed and expected in 2023 and 2024.”
He joins Chatrium Grand Bangkok from his last role as general manager for Starbucks Indonesia, where he launched Starbucks Reserve Dewata in Bali, the world’s first Starbucks concept store and the largest Starbucks Reserve in the Asia-Pacific.
The Brit brings over 20 years of leadership experience from the luxury hospitality industry to her role. She first joined Dorchester Collection in 2008, before moving to Mandarin Oriental in 2015 as head of regional sales Europe.
The 2022 GSTC Asia-Pacific Sustainable Tourism Conference was held recently in September. What were the focal points at the event?
