Sustainable travel now a priority for travellers

Trip.com Group, a global travel service provider, has released its inaugural Sustainable Travel Consumer Report in conjunction with World Tourism Day. The report sheds light on the increased acceptance of sustainable travel and its implications for the travel industry and the wider world.

Across the globe, sustainable travel - both in theory and practice - has moved to the forefront of the decision-making when it comes to travelling, with more than 68% of respondents in Singapore and 90% of respondents in Thailand acknowledging its importance.

Source: Trip.com. Despite regional disparities, more and more people are clearly engaging in sustainable travel practices.

A survey of 7,705 respondents across 11 markets in Asia and Europe has shown that the impact of travel tops the list of reasons why travellers are increasingly drawn to sustainable travel. Nearly seven in 10 (69.3%) Singapore respondents, and six in 10 (60.4%) Thailand respondents said they care about the impact of travel on future generations. 

Further, 16.2% in Singapore and 24.6% in Thailand cited the importance of sustainability in improving the travel experience, and another 6.2% in both countries perceived it as trendy.

The report indicates a growing proportion of travellers now approach the term 'sustainability' more wholistically, emphasising the economic, cultural and biodiversity aspects in addition to the more traditional environmental considerations. The more diversified understanding of sustainable travel comes through when it comes to almost four in 10 Singapore respondents (39.4%) recognising the benefit of supporting local businesses and livelihoods. Some 44.7% believe respecting the culture and heritage of local destinations is also part and parcel of sustainable travel.

The report points out that over half of respondents in both Singapore (63%) and Thailand (78.5%) named COVID-19 as a catalyst for their increased appetite for sustainable options. Travel restrictions enhanced their appreciation for nature and spurred demand for travelling closer to home.

Amid heightened sustainability awareness, more than half (59.2%) of respondents demonstrate an inclination to pay a higher price for carbon offsetting to reduce the impact of their travel.

Inadequate visibility of sustainable options poses a significant barrier to their wider adoption. Travellers blame this on the difficulty of accessing information about sustainable travel products, with 21.6% in Singapore and 39.7% in Thailand stating there is a lack of sustainable options and 18.3% in Singapore and over half of the Thai respondents (50.7%) saying these are not clearly labelled.

Accordingly, over 50% of Singapore (59%) and Thailand (57.3%) respondents believe online travel agencies (OTAs) should clearly label sustainable options, followed by 53.6% of Singapore respondents and 43.6% of Thailand respondents who called upon OTAs to make it easier to find these options. Over 70% of respondents from Singapore also suggested OTAs offer incentives to encourage sustainable travel.

While approximately half of travellers in both Singapore and Thailand are open to paying more to include sustainable options in their trips, they display varying levels of price sensitivity to the higher costs it usually entails, with only around 0.5% of Singapore respondents and 7.2% of Thailand respondents willing to pay over 10% of the total price for a sustainable option. The report also shows that 93% of respondents would consider booking via OTAs that provide sustainable options.

Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group, said: "The results reaffirm our vision to educate travellers better and provide a greater volume and variety of reliable, sustainable travel options. Our findings are a clarion call to ourselves as to our allies in the travel sector.

"In the future, we will join hands with partners, travellers and other stakeholders to venture towards a more sustainable world."

Explore

Download the Sustainable Travel Consumer Report 2022 (PDF).

Qatar Airways, British Airways shared network now includes 42 new countries

Qatar Airways and British Airways have completed the latest phase in the expansion of their partnership, offering global connectivity between more countries than any other airline joint business.

The airlines have added 42 new countries to their shared network, including the Maldives and Singapore. Customers will now benefit from even greater choices in prices and schedules with options for direct flights as well as connections via hubs in London and Doha.

The expansion will enable seamless connecting journeys on single tickets through Doha and London, bringing the total number of destinations served by the two airlines to 185 across more than 60 countries. The complementary networks access dozens of countries that no other alliance or joint business provides. The partnership also ensures access to more cities around the world than ever before.

Additionally, customers will have more freedom to engage with both airlines’ loyalty programmes, earning and spending Avios, their common currency. Customers are able to seamlessly link their Qatar Airways Privilege Club and British Airways Executive Club accounts to transfer Avios between the two, and combine balances to claim rewards offered by each programme. The collaboration further offers access to both airlines’ exclusive lounges, and cabins to suit all budgets and needs, including British Airways’ new Club Suite and Qatar Airways’ Qsuite.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, HE Akbar Al Baker said: “The growing collaboration between Qatar Airways and British Airways shows our customers our common goal to offer an unparalleled network with unique benefits. Travellers can now experience the best in quality and service as they travel across our joint network. The joint business between our airlines cements both Qatar Airways and British Airways as industry leaders, aiming to provide the utmost flexibility and unrivalled connectivity to our customers.”

Sean Doyle, Chairman and CEO, British Airways said: “This is a huge milestone in our longstanding relationship with Qatar Airways, an airline that shares our passion for customer service, choice and flexibility.

“From idyllic holiday hotspots such as the Maldives and Thailand, to business hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong, we are pleased to open up the world as the travel industry continues to make steps towards its recovery.”

*Cooperation on a small number of routes remains subject to pending regulatory clearances.

Salesforce uncovers where Singapore stands on national net zero targets

Salesforce, the customer relationship management (CRM) provider, has released research which found that 85% of managers in Singapore recognise the importance of technology in achieving a net zero target by 2050, with 43% noting that the role of technology would be ‘very important’.

The Trail to Net Zero for Singapore report, which surveyed over 1,000 managers from small, medium and large businesses in Singapore, reveals business sentiments towards the country’s net zero targets, and highlights how cloud technology can help to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Key findings include:

Cloud migration enables businesses to deliver energy savings and cost efficiencies

With Singapore’s data centre capacity estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8% between 2022 and 2030, businesses can significantly reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by taking steps such as moving to the cloud. 

A recent study* found that cloud migration will enable businesses to achieve energy savings of 79%. If cloud operators rely on 100% renewable power, Singapore businesses will likely be able to reduce carbon emissions by 19.3 million metric tonnes between 2022-2030, equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions from 4 million passenger cars in Singapore. This in turn results in US$4 billion (approximately S$5.6 billion) in cost savings.

Businesses show strong support for Singapore’s net zero target

Eight in ten (81%) respondents say they support Singapore’s net zero target by 2050. The level of support is even higher (88%) among larger businesses with more than 100 employees. According to the Salesforce report, 83% of managers also support the government’s initiative to provide subsidies and incentives to businesses for the development of renewable energy technologies.

Transition to net zero creates jobs

Managers are three times more likely to think that achieving a net zero economy by 2050 in Singapore will result in more jobs than less jobs (39% compared to 13%).

Businesses are more conscious of emissions across their value chain

Six in 10 (61%) managers surveyed said they are more likely to purchase products or services from supplying businesses with a net zero target.

Addressing climate change requires multi-stakeholder collaboration

Respondents agree that both the government (54%) and businesses in their industry (66%) can continue to do more to tackle climate change.

The report provides a number of policy recommendations to help accelerate Singapore’s trail to net zero. They include:

Source: Salesforce infographic. Recommendations on how to accelerate Singapore’s trail to net zero.

- Developing cutting-edge climate technology

- Increasing investment in cloud

- Addressing the sustainability skills gap

- Using environmental artificial intelligence (AI)

- Enhance international collaboration

- Adopting a shared digital platform to track emissions

Sujith Abraham, Senior VP and GM, Salesforce ASEAN said: “Technology can play a transformative role in climate action. This includes digital platforms and dashboards to help businesses drive better accountability, cloud computing adoption to drive lower carbon emissions, use of environmental AI and other cutting-edge climate innovations.”

Jared Ragland, Senior Director, Policy — APAC at BSA | The Software Alliance said: “BSA and our members are fully committed to contributing to the fight against climate change and are attuned to the responsibility that global companies have to advance sustainability while supporting communities in their efforts to do the same.

"Digital transformation is enabling businesses in all sectors to do everything from reducing energy and water use to reducing the climate impact of the buildings they fill. This Salesforce report shows how important digital tools are toward achieving sustainability goals, in Singapore and around the world.”

Lim Boon Pin, Co-Chair of SGTech's Sustainability Committee said: “The increasing migration to cloud is a major contributing factor to Singapore being home to the highest digital traffic in the Asia Pacific. 

"SGTech supports the shift to cloud and is active in championing dialogue between local data centre players and the government to strive towards decarbonisation of data centres within our shores. As we transit into a greener economy, we need our businesses to embrace the challenges, identify opportunities that come with them and create products and services that solve them.”

Explore

- Read the Trail to Net Zero for Singapore report (PDF)

- View the Trail to Net Zero for Singapore infographic

- Browse the Trail to Net Zero for Singapore YouGov survey (PDF)

*S&P Global Market Intelligence (2021): The Carbon Reduction Opportunity of Moving to the Cloud for APAC (PDF)

Crypto giveaway scams are on the rise

Source: Group-IB. A screen capture from a fake YouTube video purporting to feature Elon Musk.

Group-IB, a Singapore-headquartered cybersecurity provider, has found a fivefold increase in the number of domains used for crypto giveaway scams that involve fake YouTube streams in 1H22. Since Group-IB’s first report on the scheme, crypto giveaway scams evolved into a market segment with multiple services for fraudulent operations.

According to Group-IB, 63% of the new fraudulent domain names were registered with Russian registrars, but the fake websites are primarily designed to target English and Spanish-speaking crypto investors.

For the first time, the Group-IB Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-GIB) observed a sharp increase in the number of fraudulent YouTube streams “featuring” big names. Videos purporting to be from Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla; Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple Labs; MicroStrategy's co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael J. Saylor, as well as Cathie Wood, the founder and CEO of Ark Invest were found in February this year. 

The scammers used the footage of famous entrepreneurs and crypto enthusiasts to encourage users to visit a promotional website to double their crypto investment. Victims would be invited to transfer crypto to a specified address or disclose the seed phrase of their crypto wallet to receive even better terms.

Group-IB experts have discovered that the scheme has scaled significantly in six months. In 1H22, CERT-GIB identified more than 2,000 domains registered explicitly to be used as fake promotion websites. This figure increased almost five-fold compared to 2H21 and 53-fold in comparison with 1H21. In Q122 Group-IB researchers discovered 583 fake websites involved in the scheme. The next quarter the Group-IB team found an additional 1,500-plus domains newly set up by scammers to promote fake giveaways.

Scammers also advertised promo sites featuring Nayib Bukele, the President of Salvador, as well as the soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. Both names were chosen for a reason, Group-IB said. In 2021, mainly on the initiative of its president, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as its national currency. Ronaldo, on the other had, became the first football star paid with cryptocurrency: the player was awarded a bonus of 770 crypto tokens from his club Juventus, one for each goal scored in his career. In June 2022, Binance, a crypto trading platform, announced an exclusive partnership with Ronaldo.

Group-IB advises crypto owners to be vigilant about free giveaways and not to share confidential data on rogue websites. Other advice included:

- Double-check the legitimacy of the streams and the websites you visit using official sources only. If you cannot find any information about the promotion taking place, you are likely being deceived.

- Seed phrases must be kept secret and stored securely. To do so, use password management tools.

- To minimise the risk of leakage, prioritise desktop solutions over cloud-based ones.

- You risk being deceived twice if you have already transferred your crypto to fraudsters and want your money back. People who message victims on forums offering help often turn out to be scammers themselves.

Refreshed PARKROYAL on Beach Road is business-oriented

The refreshed PARKROYAL on Beach Road is designed with the business traveller in mind. Situated in the Kampung Glam district in Singapore, the hotel’s proximity to business hubs, local attractions and shopping malls provides convenience while offering the opportunity to go beyond guidebooks.

Source: PARKROYAL on Beach Road. A PARKROYAL Club Premier Room with a city view.

The PARKROYAL Club Rooms are furnished to enable productivity and comfort. Quality amenities include in-room coffee and tea as well as an extensive in-room dining selection of local and international flavours.

Beyond the club floor, common spaces like the lobby have been remodelled to contain pockets of workstations paired with property-wide high-speed Internet. For larger events, the hotel boasts seven versatile spaces, including two high-ceilinged, pillarless ballrooms that can accommodate hundreds. Each venue offers customisable layouts and convenient hybrid packages that allow event attendees to connect in the hotel’s spaces or dial in remotely for a seamless event experience. A dedicated Service Manager is assigned to manage events and meeting bookings for each client

All PARKROYAL Club Room guests are entitled to Club privileges which include a personalised check-in and check-out service, exclusive access to the PARKROYAL Club Lounge where light refreshments and cocktails are served, complimentary daily breakfast at Ginger and daily laundry service. To encourage guests to strike a balance and unwind, the PARKROYAL Club Room privilege also includes a 20% discount on gourmet experiences and spa treatments within the property.

Executives can opt for an elevated business lunch at Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant, a mainstay in the local Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine scene. The restaurant is connected to Tian Fu Tea Room, which carries a selection of over 30 types of premium Chinese teas and is the ideal prelude to private meetings conducted at the hotel. Finally, guests can leave the workday behind at Club 5.

Guests can also relax at level 4 of PARKROYAL on Beach Road, the hotel’s designated wellness floor, where they can visit a half-Olympic-sized pool, a fully-equipped gym and St Gregory Spa. 

Details

PARKROYAL on Beach Road
7,500 Beach Road, Singapore 199591
+65 6505 5666
enquiry.prsin@parkroyalhotels.com

PARKROYAL Club Deluxe rooms start from S$420/night while PARKROYAL Club Premier rooms start from S$450/night (rates are subject to prevailing GST and service charges). Book a room. 

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