WiT Africa Watch: USA travel ban blocks Nigeria, South Africa boosts travel safety, and national parks face new mobile rules
Kruger National Park wants to regulate mobile phone use in wildlife spaces
Technology is a facing a backlash of sorts, at least when it comes to wildlife tourism in South Africa. Officials from Kruger National Park are looking at developing new rules to mitigate the impact of mobile technology, [...]
WiT South Korea Watch: Five new tourism hubs, Korean Air’s new Budapest service, shopping festival launched
Highlights: Five new tourism hubs in South Korea, Korean Air’s new route to the Hungarian capital Budapest, shopping carnival in South Korea with attractive discounts across travel sector
Five new tourism hubs picked to expand tourist activities beyond Seoul
Busan's Gamcheon Culture Villag [...]
Loyalty program fraud sees astronomical rise, estimated losses of $1 billion per year
Loyalty program fraud has seen an astronomical rise of 89% year-on-year, and is now estimated at $1 billion each year. According to e-commerce fraud prevention agency Forter, this is predominantly driven by the amount of personally identifiable information (PII) available from increasing numbers of [...]
AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin step down from executive roles amid probe over Airbus bribery
AirAsia Group Bhd (AAGB) chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and executive chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun have relinquished their executive positions with immediate effect for two months following allegations that the airline received a US$50 million bribe from aircraft manufacturer Ai [...]
Singapore Tourism Board first with support to mitigate tourism fall out from virus spread
Singapore Tourism Board has unveiled initial steps as part of a wider set of measures to help tourism businesses mitigate the immediate impact of the 2019 novel coronavirus (“nCoV”).
STB said that it will waive licence fees for hotels, travel agents and tourist guides, and defray enhanced c [...]
Booking.com announces $3.4m in grants to support sustainable accommodation
Applications for the fourth annual Booking Booster program open now. This year's focus is to accelerate the development of sustainable solutions for the global accommodation industry.
Booking.com announced the opening of applications for its 2020 Booking Booster program to support solutions in s [...]
Trip.com’s James Liang looks at the numbers behind the Wuhan virus in bid to “alleviate excess panic”
Trip.com’s Group’s chairman and co-founder James Liang turns his analytical eye and shares his views on the Wuhan coronavirus, and compares the toxicity of the virus with influenza in the US in the hope that “this analysis will help to alleviate excessive panic”.
James Liang speaking at [...]
Airbnb nabs Walt Disney veteran Powell to lead Experiences team
Walt Disney Company veteran Catherine Powell (left) has been handed the reins of Airbnb Experiences, a growing segment in the group.
Powell will serve on Airbnb’s executive team and manage a team spanning five continents to grow the number of offerings and support Airbnb Experience Hosts.
Her ap [...]
Anyplace, a startup that helps digital nomads feel at home anywhere, launches in APAC
Anyplace – an online marketplace offering extended stays without long-term commitment
– has recently announced its expansion into APAC, through partnerships with lyf (Singapore) and Outpost (Indonesia, Bali).
Co-founder and CEO, Satoru ‘Steve’ Naito created
Anyplace to address the growi [...]
The Wrap: Accor to eliminate single-use plastics by 2022
News Roundup: Accor’s commitment to remove single-use plastics within two years, Sabre’s global partnership with OYO Hotels & Homes, new media partner for Japan's Chubu Centrair International Airport
Environment: Accor to eliminate single-use plastics by 2022
Accor's new economy segm [...]
