8 Quotes That Define The First 50 Issues of Asia Travel Re:Set
“If I get the vaccine, when will I be able to travel to other countries?”
Hello. Welcome to the 50th edition of Asia Travel Re:Set…
Firstly, a BIG thank you to everyone who has contributed to and read any of the first 50 issues of this newsletter. I am extremely grateful. It makes all the effort worthwhile.
Travel and tourism in Asia Pacific is experiencing a journey like no other. Ever.
So, turning 50 has inspired a mode of reflection.
It’s time to ease the foot off the analytical pedal, recalibrate and reassess.
Over the next 2 weeks, I’ll be looking back at the stand-out issues, events and developments since Issue 1 was emailed out way back on 8 September 2020.
Seems like a distant era.
Anyway, here’s Part I of my Half-Century Roundup.
Thanks for being on board,
Gary
The Sunday Itinerary
8 Quotes That Define The First 50 Issues of Asia Travel Re:Set
This week’s 50th edition deconstructs 8 definitive quotes from the past 10 months. Who said them and why. What did they mean then… now… from here?
“2020 Was Going To Be A Phenomenal Year in Japan”
“Some Asian Airlines Are Going Back 25 Years”
“Locking Down Countries is Far Easier Than Reopening Them”
“A Small Stepping Stone Towards an Uncharted, Unpredictable Era”
“It Will Take Upwards of 5 Years for Australia to Recover”
“If I Get the Vaccine, When Will I Be Able to Travel to Other Countries?”
“COVID-19 Diplomacy is Becoming Stretched in South East Asia”
“Once it Becomes Possible, I Think a Lot of People Will Travel”
So, let’s start to rewind…
1) “2020 Was Going To Be A Phenomenal Year in Japan“
“The cherry blossom season of 2020 was due to be the most-visited period for Japan in history. Those two weeks from the end of March into early April would then be superseded within a few months by the Olympics. For all of us in tourism, this was going to be a phenomenal year.”
Japan had high hopes for 2020. In 2019, it welcomed a record 31.9 million visitors. That’s impressive given it only surpassed 10 million arrivals for the first time in 2013. Indeed, 2015 was the first year since 1970 that inbound arrivals outpaced the number of Japanese travelling overseas.
So, Japan was banking on a show-stopping Olympic year for its visitor economy.
We know what happened next, since - and now.
Issue 6 (23/08/20) was entitled Taking on Tokyo in the [Former] Olympic Year. It featured a fascinating interview with Mac Salman, Founder of Maction Planet, a Tokyo-based travel experiences company, discussing the tourism outlook in Japan following the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
2) “Some Asian Airlines Are Going Back 25 Years”
“Some airlines are probably going back 20 or 25 years in terms of growth, so they will have to readjust their network, some of the older and larger aircraft will be retired, and there may be a further reduction in staff numbers. Airlines usually operate though their cash flow, and when that isn’t being generated you have huge costs and need shareholder support. There’s no other way out.”
Issue 8 (30/09/20) was entitled Some Asian Airlines Are Going Back 25 Years. It featured a thoughtful interview with Mayur (Mac) Patel, Regional Sales Director of OAG, analysing how national carriers, LCCs and airports across Asia Pacific were confronting the deepening impacts of COVID-19 on the aviation sector.
3) “Locking Down Countries is Far Easier Than Reopening Them”
“While travel optimism oscillates in the region, the stepping up of governmental intervention will likely be an enduring outcome. Where countries are opening up, or readying to do so, we read about smart bands to track our movements and health. We must take mandated COVID-19 tests, biometric verifications, temperature checks and, most likely, vaccines. We all will probably need to carry a digital health passport.”
Issue 14 (01/11/20) was entitled Will Governments Control the Future of Travel? It featured a collection of observations and analyses about how travel and tourism was likely to become more controlled and regimented as a result of the pandemic.
4) “A Small Stepping Stone Towards an Uncharted, Unpredictable Era”
“Travel bubbles in Asia without Chinese participation can only achieve limited goals. China knows this, so do the destinations involved. Take Singapore and Hong Kong, for example. In 2019, Hong Kong welcomed 52.7 million visitors, and Singapore 19.1 million. Subtract Chinese visitors from the equation, and Hong Kong welcomed 11.34 million visitors, and Singapore 15.5 million.”
Issue 16 (15/011/20) was entitled 15 Things the Singapore-Hong Kong Air Travel Bubble Tells Us About Pre-Vaccine Travel. It discussed the implications of focusing on the Air Travel Bubble concept, and the challenges for revitalising demand region-wide.
Probably the most important edition of The South East Asia Travel Show so far in 2021. July saw the Delta variant accelerate through the region. It dominates every aspect of economic, social and health policy and daily discourse. We deconstruct the latest statistics from across South East Asia, China, Japan and South Korea, and assess what they mean for the rest of 2021 and beyond.
5) “It Will Take Upwards of 5 Years for Australia to Recover”
“A vaccine will be very important, but we also need a rapid upgrade on antigen testing and we need to rethink our hard 14-day quarantine. We've got to seriously look at how we reopen our economy, and reopen our borders to international business. Australia is so well placed in terms of safety and security in a post COVID-world - but once you open the borders again, people will be nervous.”
Issue 20 (13/12/20) was entitled A Torrid Travel Year in Australia. It featured a forward-thinking interview with Simon Westaway, Executive Director of the Australian Tourism Industry Council, about the 2020 travel year, and the outlook for 2021.
6) “If I Get the Vaccine, When will I Be Able to Travel to Other Countries?”
“As Chinese and US companies - in particular, but not alone - prepare to go head-to-head on vaccine distribution, the travel sector must reformat its entire modelling to account for an altered supply and demand landscape… There is a great deal of complexity to play out. And as we are seeing in countries like Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, the COVID-19 situation may get worse before it gets better.”
Issue 23 (10/01/21) was entitled Vaccines, Vaccines, Vaccines: The Race is On! It gathered together some of the emerging issues around the developing ‘Vaccine in Travel’ debate in South East Asia and across Asia Pacific.
7) “COVID-19 Diplomacy is Becoming Stretched in South East Asia”
“We are fierce competitors with Thailand when it comes to tourism. So I’m sure their statement that we are the 'Land of COVID' is motivated by the fact that they are struggling to invite people to come visit Thailand. They're worse off as they have a bigger tourism industry than us.”
Issue 22 (03/01/21) was entitled 20 Events That Defined Travel & Tourism in Asia Pacific in 2020. It discussed everything from the Chinese tourism lockout to the “Plague Ships,” and from Bali’s failed September reopening to “The Land of COVID” spat.
8) “Once it Becomes Possible, I Think a Lot of People Will Travel”
“Generally, there is more optimism than there was last November, because vaccines are coming through and case numbers are coming down in some countries in Europe, for example. But when it seems that things may be getting better, there are setbacks. New strains are identified, and people get anxious. The result is more focus on closing borders because the virus comes from outside.”
Issue 26 (31/01/21) was entitled When Will Chinese Outbound Travellers Return? It featured an in-depth interview with Prof. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, Founder of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), about the ways in which travel businesses worldwide are planning for the hoped-for return of Chinese travellers.
Singapore’s accelerated vaccine roll-out offers hope of emerging from the pandemic, but a return almost to normality was halted by recent outbreaks and new restrictions. Overlapping this, the government’s transition to an “Endemic Covid” framework could mean quarantine-free travel will be possible from September for vaccinated travellers. We tackle a variety of pertinent issues from the year so far with Karen Yue, who is Group Editor of Singapore-based TTG Asia.
And, that’s a wrap for Issue 50.
Part II of the Half-Century Roundup will hit email boxes next Sunday
Until then, you can find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and the Asia Travel Re:Set website.
And, if you are scratching around for something to read, catch my comments in this Bloomberg article: Delta Surge Pops Asia’s Travel Bubbles.
Have a great week,
Gary