Ctrip buys travel planning startup Trip.com
Chinese travel giant Ctrip, the parent company of Skyscanner, has acquired Trip.com, the Silicon Valley-based travel planning and local discovery app and site.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2010 in Menlo Park, California, Trip.com was formerly called Gogobot [...]
WIT 2017 Conference: Expedia’s Melissa Maher on beyond distribution, diversity and Asia
At WIT 2017, Melissa Maher (Senior Vice President, Global Partner Group, Expedia, Inc.) discussed how Expedia perpetuates a strong culture of diversity – from its suite of brands down to the people they hire.
As someone who has been with Expedia since 2001 and risen through the ranks, she remar [...]
The Wrap: WorldKoins lets AirAsia guests convert leftover currency into credits for shopping or good cause
In The News: WorldKoins partners with AirAsia in conversion of leftover currency; movable kiosks for fast check-in at Hong Kong airport; Maxim’s Travel's new branded mobile app
STARTUPS: WorldKoins lets AirAsia guests convert leftover currency into credits for shopping or good cause
Co [...]
WIT 2017 Conference: Focus on what a person can be instead of do in a destination, says STB’s Lynette Pang
In August, Singapore launched a new tourism brand, going from Your Singapore to Passion Made Possible. The marketing move was a first for the country, in that it is manifested through a joint effort by two statutory boards — the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Economic Development Board (EDB [...]
Duetto introduces new level of personalisation to booking process
Duetto has launched a new personalisation tool PlayMaker, claiming it now brings “true personalisation” to the booking process for hospitality companies.
“The lack of real personalisation in hospitality, despite all the data hotels and casinos have at hand, is a challenge as old as revenue [...]
WIT 2017 Conference: Self-driving cars are closer than we think, says CarTrawler’s Bobby Healy
In 2050, your self-driving car could go to the drive-through and pick up your coffee as you are just getting out of bed. It could then drive you to the office as you work in the car. You will get an accurate arrival time — because there will not be unpredictable driving with autonomous cars on the [...]
Hotels can ride the co-working wave but they need to think of spaces differently
As technology eliminates the boundaries in our lives, lines are also being blurred how we think of and use spaces. Now, a new breed of co-working spaces are on the rise, designed to empower a new generation of workers.
Through collaboration and community, these are spaces that give artists a sen [...]
WIT 2017 Conference: How Asian hotel groups keep their home advantage in a changing world
Home grown independent, owner-controlled hotel groups are mushrooming in Asia, and are competing not only among themselves but also in a world of scale, consolidation and distribution power. How do they fend off the global competition? By localisation, personalisation and doing things differently, s [...]
WIT 2017 Conference: Over S$34,000 raised for the NVC Foundation, WIT’s Charity of Choice
As Day Two of WIT 2017 came to a close, the WIT Charity Auction successfully raised over S$34,000 for this year’s charity of choice, the Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC) Foundation in the Philippines.
The NVC Foundation is a charity organisation based on nutrition and education for the poor [...]
WIT 2017 Conference: YouTubers are prime customers of travel, shows Google survey
In Asia Pacific, the average traveller watches about two hours of videos a day, travels five times a year, and spends $3,657 on travel a year.
This was part of the findings from a new piece of research by Google presented by Ryan Ferguson, sector lead of travel, Asia Pacific, Google at day tw [...]
