Skift Travel News Blog

AirAsia on Tuesday announced the appointment of Mohamad Hafidz, who is currently the chief fintech officer, as the acting CEO of AirAsia superapp from April 1 onwards. 

With nearly 30 years in the payments industry, Hafidz, populary known as Mo, will be succeeding Amanda Woo in his new role.

Woo was appointed CEO of the superapp in May 2021, she was then the chief commercial officer.

Speaking to Skift earlier, Tony Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, had said that AirAsia would now be killing its other operations in the superapp to focus on what he calls its bread and butter — travel.

“Now that travel has returned, we’ve shifted our focus to making the superapp very much a travel fintech superapp,” Fernandes told Skift.

In his new role, Hafidz would continue to drive the platform’s fintech vision that will further help to boost the superapp’s choices for its users and bring more revenue to the business, the company said in a release. 

Having assisted in shaping regulatory policies in several regional markets, Hafidz has been a strong advocate for payments innovation and security in the Asia Pacific region.

Hafidz’s appointment follows the recent leadership transition announcement at AirAsia Digital, which include AirAsia superapp and BigPay.

Colin Currie will be taking on dual roles as AirAsia Digital’s CEO and president, commercial of Capital A.

Currie will lead the effort to forge a closer collaboration between AirAsia superapp and BigPay to create a better user experience in travel and payment for users within the Capital A ecosystem, a company release said. 

Capital A also appointed its head of investments John Cheing as the chief financial officer for AirAsia Digital and AirAsia superapp.

Calling fintech an essential part of travel, Fernandes had earlier spoken about the role that BigPay, Capital A’s fintech arm, would play in creating lending for travel as well as for insurance.

In its fourth quarter results, the company had showed strong performances in both its superapp and fintech business.

“We are excited to be launching the next phase of growth in our digital portfolios,” Fernandes had said earlier.

The U.S. will receive 62.8 million international visitors in 2023, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office. That’s a 21.2 percent rise from 51.8 million in 2022, but it’s still below its 2019 level of 79.4 million.

Next year, international visitor volume will be around its pre-pandemic level. The National Travel and Tourism Office forecasts it will hit 79.9 million in 2024, slightly up from its pre-pandemic 2019. Volume will surpass 2019 levels and be fully recovered with 82.4 million in 2025. By 2027, the total will reach 91 million.

At its current recovery pace, the Commerce Department will exceed its strategic goal to have 90 million international visitors by 2027. The National Travel and Tourism Office sits under the Commerce Department.

Inbound travel from the U.S.’s overseas markets, which excludes Canada and Mexico, will be 29.2 million in 2023, down from 40.4 million in 2019. Overseas volume won’t reach its pre-pandemic volume of 40.3 million until 2027.

The U.S.’s top inbound market recovery speeds will vary. Canada’s, the U.S.’s top inbound market in 2019, for example, won’t exceed its 2019 level of 20.7 million until 2025. India, in contrast, will exceed its 2019 volume next year with 1.5 million, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office.

International inbound travelers spent nearly $163 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services in 2022, up 96 percent from 2021, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office’s latest monthly data. On average, international travelers spent more than $445 million a day in 2022.

The month of December saw international spending on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the U.S. reach $16.5 billion, up nearly 49 percent year over year and the single highest month since February 2020, when the pandemic struck. The previous high went to November 2022, when spending hit $15.9 billion.

The U.S. ended up with a travel trade surplus in December. American traveler spending abroad amounted to more than $15.5 billion, yielding a surplus of $932 million. The U.S. also had a travel trade surplus in November and October.

International traveler spending on lodging, recreation and other goods and services inside the U.S. totaled $9.1 billion in December, up 68 percent year over year but down from $11.8 billion in December 2019.

Japan intends to draw a record number of inbound travelers in 2025, according to a draft of a government plan seen by Kyodo News on Thursday.

The 2023 to 2025 tourism plan also strives to boost per-person spending to $1,500 (200,000 yen) — up about 25 percent from the pre-pandemic level. The plan includes marketing efforts to coax travelers to visit more than just Tokyo and other well-known cities.

This proposal would be a return to Japan’s ambitious tourism trajectory. At 2020’s start — before the pandemic went global — Japan had aimed for a year-end goal of welcoming 40 million tourists, as Skift reported at the time. That would have been the country’s highest-ever visitor count.

The new plan is still subject to change and would need approval by the governmental cabinet.

Japan spent more than $1 billion over a decade to become more friendly to foreigners to welcome people to the Summer Olympics. That spending might yet pay off, even though the Olympics were a financial bust.

As Skift reported recently:

“Compared to before, Japan now offers more extensive free Wi-Fi, more infrastructure supported with multilingual signage, and increased deployment of universal designs for those with disabilities,” said Michiaki Yamada, executive director of the Japan National Tourism Organization’s New York office since May.

In recent months, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) said arrivals were rebounding but remained down roughly two-thirds below the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. (You can see Japan’s latest tourism statistics here.)

Japan’s depressed yen has attracted tourism from new markets with temporarily stronger currencies.

“Passenger demand from Canada to Japan is more than double what it was in 2019,” Reuters reported.

Indian carrier Vistara reported its first-ever net profit for the quarter ending December 2022, according to statement from the airline on Monday.  

The full-service carrier, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, reported break even for the first time since its inception in 2015 as it crossed the $1 billion revenue mark and remained earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization positive in the current fiscal year.

In 2022, Vistara reported that it grew its international network by over 180 percent adding seven routes including three new destinations — Muscat, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi.

The airline said that it grew its domestic network by over 50 percent, by adding six new routes and two new destinations — Coimbatore and Jaipur.

While the airline did not share numbers, but for the quarter ending December 2022, it reported a 37 percent growth in capacity and a passenger increase of 47 percent compared to the same period last year.

Since July 2022, the airline has maintained its position as the second largest domestic airline in India, flying more than 11 million passengers in the calendar year 2022.

Vistara also registered a 11 percent year-on-year growth in the member base for its frequent flyer program — Club Vistara.

The airline currently operates close to 8,500 flights per month.

“With significant network and fleet expansion and sustained growth over the last few months, 2022 has been a phenomenal year for Vistara, in terms of our operational and financial performance,” Vinod Kannan, Vistara CEO, said.

Vistara is also getting ready for a merger with Air India, the erstwhile Indian state carrier, that had been acquired by Tata Sons, via its subsidiary, Talace, early last year as part of a $2.4 billion deal.

The Vistara-Air India merger is said to be completed by March 2024, following which Air India shall be India’s largest international carrier and second largest domestic carrier with a combined fleet of 218 aircraft.

Chinese travelers cite financial constraints over the last three years as the leading reason for not wanting to travel abroad even as China decided to end its zero-Covid policy by easing travel restrictions, according to a report.

Chinese marketing solutions firm Dragon Trail International published a report on Thursday following a survey of more than 1,000 Chinese travelers between January 4 and 7 to gauge the consumer sentiment around outbound travel.

More than one-third of travelers said they would be staying at home because of time constraints, or because of the inconvenience of applying for a passport or visa.

China had stopped issuing passports at the start of the Covid pandemic in early 2020. Following the easing of restrictions, the administration had said it would start taking passport applications from January 8.

Even as more than 60 percent of survey respondents said they wanted to travel outside of mainland China this year, travel spending will be somewhat constrained for many in the aftermath of Covid.

Around 45 percent of those surveyed said they would keep travel budgets within $3,000.

In 2019, Chinese tourists took 150 million trips overseas per year while spending $255 billion.

Of those who plan to travel overseas, 71 percent said they would do so for 5-10 days – a point to consider when creating travel products for the Chinese market in 2023.

Another interesting insight that the survey highlights is the increasing relevance of social media platform Xiaohongshu, more popularly known as the Chinese version of Instagram, not just for travel inspiration, but also for planning.

Skift Megatrends 2023 has also highlighted how short-form video content has become such a dominant format, particularly for destination storytelling.

Recovery of outbound travel in China is expected to pick up in the second half of the year with July witnessing a strong comeback.

The survey expects a bumper 8-day Golden Week holiday from September 29-Octover 6 for mid-autumn festival and China’s National Day.

However, Chinese travelers will be travelling closer home as the most popular outbound destinations in 2023 are all in Asia with Hong Kong leading the way, while Thailand is by far the most popular foreign country.

Both the Middle East and Europe are on track to reach their pre-pandemic levels in 2023 , according to the UN World Tourism Organization. Last year saw a stronger than expected recovery for the global tourism economy.

In 2022, more than 900 million tourists traveled internationally, double from 2021 but 63 percent of 2019 levels. International tourism receipts rose across most destinations. The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) cited increases in average spending per trip due to longer stays, traveler willingness to spend more at destinations and higher travel costs due to inflation.

International tourists arrivals could reach between 80 to 95 percent of pre-pandemic levels in 2023. The potential economic slowdown, the Ukraine war, Asia Pacific’s recovery timeline and other factors will play a role in how quickly international travel returns to its pre-pandemic level.

The Middle East had the best comeback of all the regions last year. The region reached 83 percent of its pre-pandemic level. Europe reached around 80 percent. Africa and the Americas received around 63 percent of their pre-pandemic level. 

Asia Pacific had a rough year. The region reached only 23 percent of its pre-pandemic volume due to stronger pandemic restrictions, according to UNWTO. China’s zero-Covid policy was a big driver. For most of 2022,  the policy effectively shut China out of the global tourism economy. 

Tourism leaders have repeatedly said China’s absence has dragged the global recovery. “We look at Greater China, the zero Covid policy has continued to dampen recovery in a meaningful way,” said Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano at World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit.

With China now relaxing its policy, Asia Pacific and the world have made a significant step toward recovery. UNWTO said the availability and cost of air travel, visa regulations and COVID-19 related restrictions will shape how the recovery will play out.  At least 32 destinations have imposed travel restrictions on Chinese tourists. The U.S., for example, requires Chinese tourists to test negative for Covid no more than two days before departure.

Travel demand from the U.S., however, will continue to be strong in 2023 thanks to the strength of the American dollar, according to UNWTO. Europe in particular will enjoy strong travel flows because of the euro’s relative weakness compared to the dollar.

Hotels and restaurants continue to lag in filling positions in the post-pandemic recovery, and new research suggests that it’s anger — rather than fear, laziness, pay disputes, or another factor — that’s a critical component creating the worker shortfall.

Many skilled hospitality workers who were furloughed or laid off during the pandemic remain angry about how the sector had treated them, according to just-published research by academics at the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership.

During the worst of the pandemic, many lodging and restaurant owners had to slash their workforces. Today the hospitality industry continues to lag in filling jobs relative to other U.S. sectors. Employment in hospitality hasn’t returned to 2019 levels according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, even though data shows that workers are receiving wages that are higher on average than 2019 levels.

Four researchers reviewed more than 325 online surveys and more than 100 responses to a scenario-based study of current, former, and aspiring hospitality industry professionals. They found that trust had been broken with many workers.

“Contingency plans such as offering employees continuing benefits, alternative work arrangements, and/or training programs, may go along way towards attenuating negative emotions towards the organization and hospitality industry,” the researchers wrote in the study.

They concluded that it’s critical for organizations to find ways to communicate that they value their employees and are prepared to protect employee interests in the face of future hardships.

“It’s important that organizations understand this anger among workers and build better communication with them,” said teaching fellow Iuliana Popa. “If there’s another crisis in the industry, they’ll want to know there’s a plan in place and that they’ll be protected, financially, emotionally and physically.”

Find the study “Losing talent due to COVID-19: The roles of anger and fear on industry turnover intentions” in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Six casino companies have agreed to invest a total of $15 billion in Macau over ten years, with more than 90 percent of the money pledged to non-gaming activities.

In line with the easing of Covid quarantine rules for inbound arrivals, Macau has renewed the casino licenses of six companies — MGM China, Galaxy Entertainment, Sands China, Melco Resorts, Wynn Macau and SJM Holdings — for the next 10 years.

Genting Group lost the bid even as reports earlier had stated that the Malaysian goup was a strong contender for a new license promising the biggest shakeup in Macau in over two decades.

As the new contracts come into effect on January 1, the casino firms have promised to spend almost $13.5 billion on “exploring overseas customer markets and developing non-gaming projects,” the government said.

The investment on gaming projects would only be around $1.2 billion.  

Macau has been looking to diversify its tourism offerings for some time, looking to position itself as not just a hub for the gaming industry.

In recent years, almost 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product has come from the gaming sector.

However, the casino closures as a result of China’s zero-Covid policy dealt a blow to operators who had been losing millions of dollars a month since March 2020.

Doing away with its institutional quarantine, Macau announced last week that inbound arrivals would have to quarantine at home for five days while restricting outbound travel movements for another three days.

Earlier, travelers had to institutionally quarantine for five days in addition to three days of home quarantine.

After a whole lot of “will they, won’t they,” Hong Kong has finally announced that visitors to the destination would no longer be subject to home monitoring for three days.

Inbound travelers testing negative upon arrival would be allowed to move freely around the city from Wednesday onwards.

The city state has finally ended its much-criticised “0+3” policy where even passengers testing negative are issued an amber code on the LeaveHomeSafe health app and are not allowed to enter restaurants, gyms and beauty parlours during the first three days.

People would also no longer be required to scan QR codes using the health app while entering venues around the city. 

“Any measures that we introduce to deal with Covid is based on actual figures, data and risk assessment,” Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday.

Cheering the news that comes as relief for all the restaurants, bars, hotels, gyms and offices around Hong Kong, Girish Jhunjhunwala, founder and chief executive of Ovolo Hotels mentioned on social media, “The announcement serves as a definitive step towards the recovery of the local hospitality and tourism industry, and therefore, Hong Kong’s economy entirely.” 

However, arrivals would still need to take a polymerase chain reaction test at the airport and on their third day in the city, and a rapid antigen test for five days.

Last week, while cutting the period for inbound arrivals to take daily rapid antigen tests from seven days to five days, Hong Kong authorities had announced that the outdoor mask mandate and other anti-epidemic measures would continue till December 28.

While the goal is to allow normal cross-border travel as soon as possible, Lee Ka-chiu said that Hong Kong would be clooking at data and the risks involved to decide on its next move.