Indonesia pledges hotels & former athletes’ village to Covid-19 support

The Indonesian government is collaborating with several hotels to turn their premises into temporary facilities to house medical staff, as well as converting Wisma Atlet Kemayoran, a former 2018 Asian Games’ athletes’ village in Central Jakarta, into an emergency hospital to treat Covid-19 patients, in response to a swell in demand for healthcare services.

The country has seen a spike in confirmed cases of coronavirus, which hit 579 as of March 23, with 49 fatalities, including five medical personnel.

Wisma Atlet Kemayoran, […]

APAC hotels posted significant decline in February

SINGAPORE – While occupancy across Asia Pacific hotels in February saw a significant decline, rooms rates remained steady, according to data by hotel research company STR.

Hotels in the region saw a significant 37.7% drop in occupancy to 41.2% as the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak took hold. Hotels also saw revenue per available room (RevPAR) decreased by 36.5% to US$44.27.

But a bright spot was the slight increase in average daily rates by 1.9% to US$107.35.

China, among the hardest hit in […]

Indonesia to suspend visa-free policy, expands ban

The Indonesian government has suspended the visa exemption policy for a short-stay visit, visa on arrival, and diplomatic/service visa-free facilities for all countries for a period of one month, starting March 20, to further curb the spread of Covid-19.

In addition, the government has denied entry or transit in Indonesia for visitors who have travelled to Iran, Italy, Vatican, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and UK in the last 14 days. Earlier measures taken for visitors from China, and South Korea’s Daegu […]

Archipelago gains new ground for Indonesia expansion

JAKARTA – Regional hotel management company Archipelago International has expanded “at record pace” with eight new signings in Indonesia that will add more than 1,300 rooms.

The new signings cover hotels from Bandung to Bogor and includes rebranding projects in Jakarta and Gorontalo.

All newly-signed hotels will be operated under long-term management contracts and carry the company’s Aston, The Alana, Harper and favehotels brands.

The company has earmarked West and Central Indonesia as “key development regions to maintain our growth momentum”, said John […]

As world cowers, China glimpses coronavirus aftermath

Restaurants are reopening, traffic and factories are stirring, and in one of the clearest signs yet that China is awakening from its coronavirus coma, the country’s “dancing aunties” are once again gathering in parks and squares.

As the rest of the world runs for cover, China — where the virus first emerged — is moving, guardedly, in the opposite direction as domestic infections fall to nil following unprecedented lockdowns and travel restrictions.

But ordinary life is far from normal.

Masks and temperature checks […]

ASEAN response on COVID-19 under spotlight as crisis deepens

A regional response on the new coronavirus disease outbreak has come under the spotlight as Southeast Asia scrambles to prevent the wider transmission of COVID-19, which has reached eight out of 10 ASEAN member states.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday called on countries in the Southeast Asia region to urgently scale up aggressive measures to combat COVID-19, as the number of cases continue to rise globally. The virus, which was first detected in China, spread rapidly to 152 countries and […]