covid19

The travel industry has been in a state of flux with COVID-19 movement restrictions and business grinding to a halt. With vaccinations underway and the borders re-opening across APAC, many companies are striving to resume some form of normalcy.   In a bid to revive the travel and tourism industry, some governments have been setting up travel bubbles, which would allow quarantine-free air travel in between destinations. However, with the unpredictable COVID-19 situation, travel arrangements remain erratic. After two cancellations, the highly anticipated Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble is set to take off…

As 2021 unfolds, businesses are treading the year with caution as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop with new strains and resurgence of cases across APAC. To gain a better projection and understanding of how the pandemic might shape press releases in 2021, we analyzed 7 press release trends in key industries, from healthcare, technology to events, last year and how they were affected by the health crisis. (For each industry, we have also added the % increase in press release volume from 2019.) 1. Volume of healthcare-related press releases (+60%)  During the pandemic, demand for medical products and services such as masks, vaccines and medical…

Travel demand is on route to increase in the Asia-Pacific region in the coming months. Domestic travel in markets, such as Malaysia and Vietnam, is seeing an uptick, while more international travel bubbles are being established in between cities in the region.   As the state of travel resumes, the media’s appetite for travel news and stories is growing as the focus is shifted to local tours and staycations.   PR Newswire chats with Juhan Kamaruddin, the Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of Gaya Travel Magazine, a Malaysia-based publication that reports on the travel and tourism sector, as part of PR Newswire’s COVID-19 Travel Industry Recovery Toolkit.   On gaining media coverage, Juhan emphasized on the importance of PR reps establishing a long-term relationship with the media.  One way…

As the travel and tourism industry gradually recovers from COVID-19, communications need to be relevant and forward-looking. Over the past few months, PR Newswire has distributed numerous press releases on the recovery efforts of the travel industry, from campaigns to boost hygiene standards in hotels and tourist destinations, brand partnerships to virtual travel experiences. As travel restrictions ease at varying degrees across the APAC region, travel businesses have to adapt their key messages along different stages of recovery. Securing media coverage plays a key role for businesses to amplify their…

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that a clear communications plan is integral to responding to a public health crisis. What makes the current pandemic more dangerous is the spread of rumors and false information that would fuel an information epidemic or infodemic. Without authoritative news sources, this creates opportunities for the spreading of fake news and falsehoods, especially on the internet. Providing the public with information that comes straight from the source in a timely manner can become an important “vaccine” as the world is reeling from the effects of COVID-19. News consumption &…