Vietnam to test reopening starting with Phu Quoc Island

Vietnam was one of the earliest countries to lockdown due to Covid-19, a strategy that had done it well until a massive outbreak in April, just like Thailand. And now, also like Thailand, they are looking to relaunch their tourism industry after close to two years of closures. Vietnam is now looking to reopen in late November, starting with the popular resort island of Phu Quoc.

The island aims to reopen to inoculated foreign tourists starting November 20 with charter flights bringing fully vaccinated international travelers to the tropical paradise. Phu Quoc is known for beautiful white sand beaches and clear blue waters on the coast with jungles and mountains inland.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese government was angling to turn the island in the Gulf of Thailand about 10 km off the coast of Cambodia into a beach-going tourist hot spot along the lines of Bali and Phuket. Phu Quoc had already been drawing massive crowds with figures from 2019 reporting US $18 billion generated by approximately 670,000 international travellers.

Like Thailand’s reopening, Vietnamese authorities hope to attract travellers from countries that are low risk for Covid-19 infections, citing parts of Europe, the Middle East, Northeast and Southeast Asia, North America, and Australia as their target market.

The reopening was originally planned for October, then postponed due to low local vaccination rates, with only about 20% of Vietnam’s 100 million people having received the full inoculation. But the Vietnam economy is suffering after closed borders and some of the strictest lockdowns in the world, with almost no commercial flights being allowed to land in Vietnam since the beginning months of last year.

So Vietnam is dipping its toe in the water with Phu Quoc, hoping to bring in a few vaccinated tourists next month and, if successful, slowly trickle in another 5,000 foreigners on charter flights between December and the end of March.

Vietnamese authorities hope that the experimental reopening of Phu Quoc Island will pave the way to reopening other popular tourist destinations like Ha Long Bay and Hoi An in the near future, but no timeline or details have been set yet.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World / The Thaiger

VISA AGENT

What makes Bali hotels so popular among luxury travelers?

Outstanding guest service, grace and genuine kindness are among the highlights of Bali's five-star properties, contributing to their regular inclusion in world's best hotel lists, according to Forbes Travel Guide CEO Gerard J. Inzerillo. 

"We have some incredible hotels on our list in Bali, and of course leading the way are the two Four Seasons properties and The Villas at Ayana Resort Bali. Though these Forbes Travel Guide five-star hotels are particular standouts for an all-round commitment to excellence in service and facility, across Bali all the hotels on our list show a dedication to very high levels of guest service, grace and genuine kindness—we see this come through quite clearly in our numerous visits and evaluations of the area," Inzerillo told The Jakarta Post via email.

Forbes Travel Guide, which claims to be the only independent, global rating for luxury hotels, restaurants and spas, recently celebrated its 60^th anniversary and unveiled its latest list of worldwide Star Rating winners in February. Among the five- and four-star hotel winners in Indonesia are the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay, The Villas at Ayana Resort Bali, Ayana Resort and Spa, Bali, Conrad Bali and Amandari.

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Currently there are 1,609 Forbes Travel Guide-rated properties across 50 countries. To determine the ratings, the Forbes Travel Guide’s ratings department vets each destination and identifies potential hotel, restaurant and spa candidates. A team of anonymous inspectors then conduct a short stay before assessing properties according to the organization’s set of 900 objective standards.

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Inzerillo added that as a destination Bali also nicely served the needs of family travel, a growing trend in luxury hospitality. 

"Accommodations that serve multi-generational guests who can be together in a villa setup—perhaps with some private facilities, such as a pool or access to a private chef, yet with all the conveniences of the main hotel or resort—is a growing need. Bali serves this need particularly well, offering the privacy /exclusivity aspect so many luxury travelers demand."

An avid traveler himself, Inzerillo said guests should expect more than stunning facilities when choosing to stay at a luxury property.

"While a stunning facility should rank high on a guest’s list of priorities in the luxury market, what is crucial is knowing you will receive a consistently high level of personalized service that strikes that fine line between being too attentive and too discreet," he said.

"Hotels that have staff committed to assisting every guest in a manner that serves each unique situation or preference in an intuitive manner is what will truly make for an all-round luxury experience. We like to say at Forbes Travel Guide that when the guest has to think, luxury stops." 

Source - TheJakartaPost

Top 10 destinations on the rise revealed

An Idyllic tropical lagoon full of clear turquoise water and perfect white sand beaches on Ishigaki island, Okinawa, Japan.

Travel planning and booking website TripAdvisor recently released its list of the world's top destinations on the rise based on its algorithm and comparisons to last year's data.

As reported by kompas.com, the top ten list is as follows:

Ishigaki, Japan

Kapaa, Hawaii, United States

Nairobi, Kenya

Halifax, Canada

Gdansk, Poland

San Jose, Costa Rica

Riga, Latvia

Rovinj, Croatia

Nerja, Spain

Number 10 we not promoted

Ishigaki, which tops the list, is particularly interesting since it beat out the world's popular tourist hot spot Hawaii. 

An island in Japan with a population of around 50,000 people, Ishigaki is actually known as the Hawaii of Japan because of its abundance of white sand beaches, crystal clear sea water, mangrove forests and breathtaking diving spots.

In 2016, this place was said to have welcomed up to 8.77 million tourists, an increase of 10.5 percent over the previous year. It is predicted to greet even more tourists this year.

Another interesting place on the list is Kenya's capital city, Nairobi. Many travelers are said to be very keen on visiting this destination, with one TripAdvisor user praising it as a modern city, full of spirit, blessed with fantastic wild nature but also home to glamorous nightlife.

Source - TheJakartaPost