Empty Asian beaches

Sun, sea, sand and space as coronavirus empties Asia's beaches

Just weeks ago, some visitors were complaining that Bali's famous sand and surf spot of Kuta Beach was way too busy.

Now it is deserted, with access banned as part of measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, which has killed nearly 100,000 people around the world and infected more than 1.5 million.

The picture in Bali is similar at other top Asia Pacific destinations such as Sydney's Bondi Beach and Thailand's Phuket.

"To stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, all the beaches in Kuta area closed for public," reads a sign in Bali, Indonesia, the country with the highest coronavirus death toll in Asia after China, where the virus emerged.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus, which emerged in central China late last year.

The virus has killed 306 people in Indonesia out of 3,512 cases, but more limited testing than in neighboring countries means the figures are widely believed to be higher.

The long Easter weekend would normally be a busy time in Bali, but not this year.

"Business is down almost 95 percent," said souvenir shop owner Ruju, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. "I have to borrow money just to buy food."

Not everyone agreed with the restrictions on the beaches.

Among them was Australian Daniel Baker, who said it would be better to just enforce social distancing of up to two meters to prevent the virus spreading.

"I should be able to swim or surf, it's important for mental health and exercise to stay healthy to fight COVID."

Bondi shut

Bans on public gatherings larger than two also forced Sydney's Bondi Beach to close over the Easter holiday. On Manly Beach, people were allowed to exercise but not swim.

Australians have been told to stay home or face dire consequences in the crackdown against the coronavirus, even as its spread slows. Australia had 6,152 infections by Friday with 53 virus-related deaths.

The co-owner of Bondi Surf Seafoods, George Dimitrios said 2020 was the worst year in his family's 47-year-old business and Good Friday sales had been disastrous.

"We've had the bushfires, we've had the rain and now we've got this," he said.

Bondi made headlines in March when thousands of people were seen ignoring social distancing rules at its world-famous beach. Authorities have since opened up a pop-up clinic.

On the Thai resort island of Phuket, coronavirus has largely eliminated the tourist industry on which it has survived. It is now on a partial lockdown to curb the spread of the virus, which has killed 33 people in Thailand and infected at least 2,473.

The usually busy Walking Street in the Old Phuket Town was almost empty.

"The impact is so severe because most of our customers are tourists," said Ittipat Klomkliang, owner of the Roast Coffee Cafe.

"From China and now Europe, a lot of the tourists have gone to zero."

Source - TheJakartaPost

Great Wall of #China partly reopens to visitors

The famous Badaling section of the Great Wall in Beijing has partly opened, after being closed for almost two months due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The scenic area will be open between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and the daily number of visitors will be capped at 19,500. As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, a total of 892 tickets had been reserved.

Visitors must book tickets on the official website or through WeChat in advance and register with their personal information to get a health code, while their temperatures will be taken upon entry.

A one-way circular tour route has been designed to prevent the gathering of crowds. The cableway, the China Great Wall Museum, the ancient Great Wall and some other sections remain closed.

The Badaling Great Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in Beijing's Yanqing District, about 60 km northwest of the city center. It was the earliest section to open and is the most popular segment of the Great Wall among tourists. The scenic area received more than 9.9 million visitors in 2018.

Source - TheJakartaPost

Over 30 percent of tourist sites reopened in #China

A total of 3,714 tourist sites in 28 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland had reopened as of Monday, accounting for over 30 percent of the total, said an official Wednesday.

This came as part of the efforts to resume work and operation in the cultural and tourism sector as the situation concerning the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is improving in the country, according to Gao Zheng, head of the industrial development department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The reopened sites mainly include outdoor sites such as mountains, hills and parks, and no cases of COVID-19 had been reported in these spots, he said.

Moreover, over 180 museums had reopened as of Sunday, and construction of a number of museums also restarted, he said.

Epidemic prevention and control measures such as online real-name reservations to control the number of visitors were taken by the museums based on the instructions of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, according to Gao.

Source - TheJakartaPost

Thailand - Visas on arrival being denied 18 nationalities

(Update) Beginning on Friday (March 13), visitors to Thailand from 18 countries will no longer be eligible for visas on arrival, Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda announced on Thursday. 

The measure, aimed at checking the spread of the Covid-19 virus, will remain in effect until September 30.

Anupong said visitors must apply for visas in their home countries and bring a certificate of sound health.

Visitors from hard-hit locales Italy, South Korea and Hong Kong also become ineligible for visa-free entry, he said.

The 18 countries are Bulgaria, Bhutan, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Malta, Mexico, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu and “China (including Taiwan)”.

A government panel made the call on Wednesday at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is also heading the Covid-19 management centre.

Prayut and Anupong signed off on this Interior Ministry order on Thursday. 

 However, Department of Consular Affairs' director-general Chatree Atchananant said earlier today that there would be no official announcement of the measure until the Cabinet considers it on March 17, before Anupong came out later to confirm that the measure would be implemented tomorrow (March 13).

Source - TheNation

Visitors vanish from Asia's most visited sites

As dawn breaks the unmistakable tapered towers of Angkor Wat emerge from the gloom - but for once there are no tourists jostling on its steps to capture Cambodia's most famous sunrise.

Asia's most Instagrammable sites - temples, promenades, shopping streets,

museums and mausoleums - are empty, victims of a virus keeping visitors at home.

The usual crowds have evaporated from Sensoji temple in Tokyo to Shanghai's Bund; abandoning the viewpoint at The Peak in Hong Kong and alleviating the pedestrian crush along Sydney Harbour.

Many of the now vanished visitors are from China - a country whose travelers have completely reshaped the tourist economies of Asia over the last few years, yet where only around 10 percent of the population hold passports.

At the Angkor Wat complex, a 12th century marvel of Khmer architecture whose unique crenellations and reliefs lure millions each year, high season has brought the lowest number of tourists on record.

Chinese-speaking Cambodian guide Hor Sophea has not taken any tours since late January. Several weeks on, money is getting tight.

"I've never seen so few tourists," said the 36-year, gesturing at the large moat inside the Angkor Wat complex, whose gangways normally bustle with selfie-taking hordes but are now empty.

"I am very worried... I don't know how much longer we can carry on like this."

The Angkor complex in Siem Reap province attracts the bulk of the kingdom's foreign tourists -- which hit a record 6.6 million in 2019, nearly half of whom were from China.

But the outbreak of the coronavirus has withered Chinese tourist arrivals by 90 percent.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced tax breaks for hotels and guesthouses in Siem Reap for four months to offset the losses.

But the discovery on Saturday of the first Cambodian with the infection - in Siem Reap - is likely to cement the stay-at-home mentality among many travelers.

The economic impact is also cascading across Asia.

In Bali, piers once bristling with arrivals from China are now decorated with moored boats, while in Tokyo the slump in mainland visitors - as well as South Koreans - is hammering restaurants in tourist areas.

At the Tsukiji fish market some restaurants say their take is nearly 70 percent down.

"People stopped coming from China during the Lunar New Year... the streets and shops around here are near-empty," Hiroshi Oya, 61, a cook at a Japanese seafood restaurant told AFP.

"Then South Koreans stopped coming too. The tuna shop next to us decided to close temporarily to avoid running costs," he added.

But for those who are inured to the panic gripping the globe and choose to navigate travel restrictions and the morass of quarantine, a rare privilege of empty sites is their reward.

At the Angkor complex, even Ta Prohm -- the 'Tomb Raider Temple' famed for its embrace by giant tree roots and a Hollywood film franchise -- has only a smattering of visitors each day.

"We're very very lucky. Covid-19 has probably done us a favor," Australian tourist Andres Medenis, who came for sunrise at Angkor Wat, told AFP.

"But the economy is going to be really affected by that... so I feel sorry for the local people." 

The JakartPost

Online hotel booking sites may be duping travelers: Consumer rights group

A new study out of Britain shows that travelers could score better bargains if they go directly through the hotel rather than book with an online travel agent like Booking.com or Expedia.com.

That's according to Which?, a consumer rights group that found that when they contacted hotels directly they were able to score a better room rate compared to the prices listed on secondary travel websites or snag other incentives including free breakfasts or upgrades.

For the study, Which? contacted 10 hotels in Britain and asked if the hotels could offer a better deal than the ones posted by online travel agents (OTA) like Booking.com or Expedia.

In eight of the 10 cases, hotels offered discounts on rooms, food, spa treatments, or freebies like breakfast and parking. A hotel in Cornwall offered a discount of £20 (US$25.63), slashing the rate from £170 to £150.

"Customers shouldn't be duped into thinking they're getting the best price from a hotel booking site when more often than not, they can get a better deal by avoiding its commission and booking directly with the hotel," said Which? Travel editor Rory Boland in a press release.

"Hotel booking sites might be a good place to start your search, but you should always call or email the hotel for the best chance of getting the cheapest deal – even in cases where they can't offer a better price, there's a good chance they'll throw in a freebie or two."

Online travel agents typically charge commissions of between 15 percent to 25 percent on every booking, a fee that's often passed down to the consumer.

To get the best room rate, Which? editors recommend using an OTA as a starting point, and then calling the desired hotel directly. Quote the rate listed on Booking.com or Expedia.com, and ask if they can do better. A reasonable discount is between 15 percent to 25 percent. 

Source - TheJakartaPost

Travel giant Expedia says it will cut 3,000 jobs

Online travel giant Expedia will cut about 3,000 jobs after what the company described in a statement as "disappointing" performance last year.

The firm, which operates its flagship travel site as well as Hotels.com, Hotwire, Travelocity, Cheaptickets, Egencia and CarRentals.com, said on Monday the decision was made after determining it had been "pursuing growth in an unhealthy and undisciplined way."

"Great tech companies have walked this same path in order to come back stronger and more competitive than ever. We have restarted the journey and bringing the world within reach is in our hands," the company said.

Expedia's share price rose 1.4 percent after markets opened on Tuesday.

During a February 13 earnings call, Diller called the organization "bloated" and said many employees didn't know what "they were supposed to do during the day."

Diller also said he was aiming for savings of $300-500 million in 2020.

Over the course of 2019, sales increased by eight percent, net income by four percent and earnings per share by six percent.

By the end of December, the company had 25,400 employees around the globe. The job cuts will eliminate about 12 percent of the workforce.

But company leadership revealed that in the last quarter, net profit had gone down four percent and earnings per share had gone down one percent.

In early December, Expedia announced the immediate departures of chief executive Mark Okserstrom and chief financial officer Alan Pickerill after what the company termed "disappointing" third-quarter results.

Source - TheJakartaPost