Hotel linen supply IoT platform Tuxiaoer raises nearly $4 million
>> Tuxiaoer, an Internet of Things technology company specialized in hotel linen supply, has raised RMB 25 million (USD 3.8 million) in its recent financing round led by Qihong Investment and Gongchuang Investment in Shenzhen. The company will use the proceeds to fully expand its linen IoT lines and go further by upgrading the IoT system, implanting RFID chips and growing its market share.
Kyoto is empty of Chinese tourists, and Japanese netizens would like to keep it that way
>> Alibaba’s travel platform Fliggy joined forces with the West Japan Railway Company to “bring popular tourist attractions in Kyoto online to Chinese netizens”. The former imperial capital was chosen because of its existing popularity with travelers from the Middle Kingdom. But many Japanese netizens complained that Kyoto had already been suffering from overtourism before the pandemic. The absence of tourists is a chance to assess the situation and implement more sustainable tourism management.
China's top diplomat to visit Japan next week, focus on travel resumption
>> Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi plans to visit Japan next week for meetings with senior Japanese officials during which they are likely to focus on ways to resume reciprocal business travel, Japanese government sources said Wednesday. The two sides had hoped to restart travel as early as mid-November but have not been able to because of a resurgence of coronavirus infections in Japan.
Indians question necessity of China's three-test coronavirus travel rule
>> China requires travelers from India to have three Covid-19 tests before boarding a plane. While the approach reflects China’s strict control mentality to detect every case, in India getting all tests done in three days could be a challenge, experts say. Under the protocol that started on November 7, passengers in India must take their first nucleic acid test up to three days before boarding China-bound flights, followed by a second nucleic acid test and an IgM antibody test up to 36 hours before boarding. India has almost hit 9 million Covid-19 cases and China seeks to ensure no new outbreaks are imported by travelers.
US-China routes see first "circuit breaker" due to 10 imported virus cases
>> Air China's flights from Los Angeles to Tianjin will be suspended for four weeks starting from November 23, marking the first "circuit breaker" on the US-China air routes. The Chinese flag carrier reported 10 COVID-19 positive cases on the CA988 flight on November 9.
Air France flight to Shanghai is suspended
>> Air France’s flight from Paris to Shanghai has been suspended by China’s civil aviation regulator for a week from November 23. Flight AF198 was suspended after six passengers on a flight from Paris tested positive for COVID-19 on November 6, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Wednesday.
"All eyes" on Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble as Asian countries prepare for more
>> Eric Gnock Fah, co-founder and COO of bookings platform Klook, told CNBC that all eyes are now on the highly-anticipated Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble. If successful, he’s optimistic that there will be more of such travel bubbles in the region. Travelers from Singapore proved particularly restless, he noted, with travel searches from the tiny city-state up 8-10 times versus 3-5 times in Hong Kong.
Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong drop by over 90% for 9 consecutive months
>> The Hong Kong Tourism Board has announced that visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in October dropped by 99.8% year on year to 7,817, making October the ninth month to witness a decline of over 90 percent since February due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
