Corporate Travel Analysis Reports For Asia

IHG Hotels & Resorts and Siam Sindhorn Co have confirmed plans for the first Vignette Collection hotel to open in Asia within the bustling city of Bangkok. The Sindhorn Midtown will join IHG's newest Luxury & Lifestyle collection brand in Mar-2022, two years since it first opened in Thailand's capital city.

This will be the second luxury and lifestyle brand that IHG and Siam Sindhorn will debut to South East Asia and Thailand. It follows a successful first partnership with the opening of Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok in 2020, that launched IHG's global boutique brand into South East Asia. Both hotels are situated within Sindhorn Village, a development project that spans 42 rai in the area of Langsuan Road and Soi Tonson.

CTC - Corporate Travel Community and BCD Travel once again partnered to bring together travel experts for this year's China Travel Smart Conference (CTSC) in Shanghai on 30-Nov-2021. An important event for the corporate travel industry, it was a day of networking and learning as experts discussed topics related to travel management in China.

As the global COVID-19 pandemic has irreversibly changed the way we communicate, the way we travel and even the way we do business, digital business such as AirAsia.com and AirAsia super app are proving to be vital parts of the airline business.

Singapore is opening its borders to more countries for quarantine-free travel as the city-state seeks to rebuild its status as an international aviation hub, and prepares to reach a "new normal" to live with COVID-19. It is not alone as increasingly around the world, as vaccination levels reach new heights, countries are changing their stance, removing the strong-armed restrictions in favour or a more relaxed stance to the dangers of COVID-19 transmission and spread.

Across 2021, airline CEOs from all parts of the world have spoken openly at the monthly CAPA Live virtual summit about air travel, the coronavirus crisis and the path to recovery. To say 2020 and 2021 have been a challenge for these professionals is a major understatement and each shares the journey for their respective airlines through one of the biggest crises to hit the world.

The world's biggest brands have seen their value decrease significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, but loyalty remains an important tool. Before the global health crisis the value of loyalty was regularly being questioned. It had lost some of its value, but loyalty programmes have become an important tool to help airlines and hotels navigate the storm.

The strong forecast sentiment for travel has translated into the return of traffic, in domestic markets at least, where the removal of restrictions has permitted mobility. There are even positive signs on the return of business travel with the slow removal of international restrictions now also allowing foreign visits. While the majority of these remain for leisure purposes there is increasing evidence that business travel rates are on the rise.

Across 2021, airline CEOs from all parts of the world have spoken openly at the monthly CAPA Live virtual summit about air travel, the coronavirus crisis and the path to recovery. To say 2020 and 2021 have been a challenge for these professionals is a major understatement and each shares the journey for their respective airlines through one of the biggest crises to hit the world.

Even though the COVID pandemic is far from over, vaccination progress and low incidence rates in certain parts of the world are encouraging more travel. Leisure and VFR - as expected - have led the way, but business travel is following, especially in large markets such as China and USA where domestic volumes are rising fast. The data from China in particular gives additional cause for hope.

The Asia-Pacific region was initially hit hard by the pandemic, probably more so than the other regions. But some of the key Asia-Pacific markets have also recovered more quickly than those in other parts of the world. While borders generally remain closed, or are subject to quarantine restrictions that have a similar effect on travel, there have been some so-called green lanes established for essential travel, but in general the hoped-for travel bubbles have been slow to develop.