Hotel industry and travel news from around the Asia Pacific region: Macau lifts quarantine for Guangdong and introduces a system for future Hong Kong travellers, Pokémon wonder theme park opens in Japan and more...
New Pokémon Wonder Theme Park Opens in Japan
The Japan-based Pokémon Company announced that they are opening Pokémon Wonder, a new limited-time theme park settled in a forest that has been left untouched for 20 years. The nature park is built on a 4,500-square-metre forest, located behind Yomiuriland, the largest amusement park in Tokyo. It is expected to open from 17 July 2021 to 3 April 2022. Within the park, there will be grasslands, bamboo groves and a wide variety of flora with miniature Pokémon figures. Instead of computer-animated images or stuffed animals, the Pokémon statues are hand-crafted from organic materials such as wood and leaves. The park’s main attraction will be an immersive nature adventure, where guests are tasked as a Pokémon researcher to spot over 50 different kinds of Pokémon statues within the park, with the help of print-out clues. According to the official website, up to six guests will be allowed to participate in the adventure at the same time for 90 minutes, where they will look for Pokémon in three different areas, the Wonderfield, Ancient Stone Wall, and Whispering Bamboo Grove.
Macau Lifts Quarantine for Guangdong Travellers and Introduces a ‘Blue Code System’ for Future Hong Kong Travellers
Macau has officially abolished the quarantine restrictions for travellers from Dashi subdistrict in Panyu, part of Guangzhou city in Guangdong province on 7 July 2021, leaving no cities in Guangdong province mandated for a 14-day quarantine on arrival in Macau. Macau had imposed stricter entry restrictions towards numerous Guangdong communities as the latter has suffered spikes in new COVID-19 cases since June. Mainland China is currently the only destination that has established a quarantine-free travel bubble with Macau, and Guangdong province has been the main source market of Macau’s inbound Chinese tourists in recent months.
Furthermore, Macau has introduced a new ‘Blue Code System’ for future Hong Kong travellers. The ‘Blue Code System’ would allow Hong Kong travellers who have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccines and hold a negative virus test result within 48 hours to enter Macau without any quarantine. Designated hotel floors and gaming areas would be assigned to the Blue Code holders. All dining and retail facilities would be allowed to visit but activities without masks such as using the swimming pools would be prohibited. Nevertheless, there is no official implementation date set for Hong Kong and Macau’s quarantine-free travel at the moment.
Hong Kong Unveils HKD4 Billion Water World Ocean Park
Hong Kong has unveiled its latest attraction, the HKD4 billion Water World Ocean Park, with 27 outdoor and indoor attractions. It will include Hong Kong’s first-ever surf rider and indoor wave pool, together with nine dynamic water slides. There will be five zones, including Splendid Reef, an expansive open area located on the shores of the South China Sea; Torrential River with thrilling slides; Thrill Valley with extreme and freefall slides; Adventure Coast, with food and beverage options; as well as Hidden Village, home to Hong Kong’s first-ever indoor wave pool, Horizon Cove. The Horizon Cove is a 1,450-square-metre all-weather indoor wave pool, sponsored by Canada-based Manulife. It will feature both calm and lapping waves, as well as powerful double diamond waves for thrilling surfs. It will also offer a large screen and a centre stage to cater for various parties and programmes to engage guests. As part of Manulife's sponsorship, the company will be distributing 3,000 Water World charitable tickets annually from 2022. Currently, Water World is in its final phase of preparation before launching this summer. Once opened to the public, it will be Asia's first and only year-round, all-weather seaside water park.
Tianfu International Airport Debuts in Chengdu, China
Chengdu’s Tianfu International Airport (“CTIA”) has officially begun operations in China, marking the third city in the country – after Shanghai and Beijing – to have two international airports, alongside the old Shuangliu International Airport. Constructed at a cost of RMB70 billion, phase one of CTIA covers 710,000 square metres with three runways and two terminals that could handle up to 60 million passengers annually. CTIA will continue to develop and construct four additional runways and terminals to handle 120 million passengers and 2.8 million tons of cargo annually. Metro line 18 was built to connect CTIA with Chengdu South Railways Station in less than 40 minutes. Chengdu–Zigong high-speed railway was also commenced to connect CTIA with Chengdu East Railway Station and Zigong city in the future. CTIA sees great opportunities as demand from China’s domestic market has markedly recovered from the pandemic. According to the International Air Transport Association, China’s domestic traffic in April 2021 has seen a 6.8% increase as compared to the pre-pandemic level. The new airport is also expected to further open up China’s South-west region and connect China with other countries under the Belt and Road Initiative.
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