Positive image of tsunami-hit Khao Lak, pricing and access remain challenges
A survey of holidaymakers in the beach destination of Khao Lak in Thailand shows that the December 26, 2004 tsunami is no longer a significant factor in tourists' perception of the area. Costs and travel time seem to be dampening modern demand more than any negative feelings about the disaster.
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Ctrip.com taps Pegasus’ global commission processing
China’s Ctrip.com has tapped Pegasus Solutions for its market-leading Global Commission Processing.The world’s third largest online travel agency (OTA), which is also the largest OTA in the ASPAC market, will utilize the preferred financial service to consolidate commission payments from Pe [...]
No more flag-waving group tours for Chinese tourists
The days of groups of Chinese tourists following their tour guides around to the world could well become a thing of the past, according to the latest ITB World Travel Trends Report.Young and wealthy Chinese citizens, fascinated by technology and with a desire to experience individual forms of trave [...]
Predictions for 2012, Part 2
Gerry Samuels, CEO, Mobile Travel Technologies Limited 1. Every cloud has a silver lining.In 2012 more and more travellers (even business travellers) of the Apple persuasion will leave the laptop at home in favour of the iPad and/or iPhone. With Apple iCloud, travel app developers can seamlessly sy [...]
South Korea, rising tourism star
Amadeus has predicted that South Korea will be a market to watch in 2012 for both inbound and outbound travel growth.According to the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO), Korea has already registered a record number of visitor arrivals for 2011 - nine million visitor arrivals as of December 1, exce [...]
Watching online videos popular among billions worldwide
The inaugural data on worldwide online video viewing from comScore Video Metrix service found that in October 2011 nearly 1.2 billion people, aged 15 and older, watched 201.4 billion videos online globally from a home or work location."As global broadband connectivity continues to rise, online vi [...]
MAS slashes routes, capacity to cut costs
Ailing Malaysia Airlines, will axe eight loss-making routes, or 12% of its capacity, from January 2012 as part of its latest business turnaround plan unveiled on December 7.The affected routes are:• Kuala Lumpur - Surabaya (B737) from January 6, 2012• Kuala Lumpur - Dubai (A330) from January 1 [...]
Asians want to travel
A survey by OTA, Travelzoo Asia Pacific, reveals 70% of its subscribers prefe travel over luxury goods.When asked specifically what they would give up in order to travel more a high percentage of respondents in the markets surveyed were willing to spend less on luxury goods: Australia 60%, mainlan [...]
APAC enjoys rise in tourist arrivals
Statistics from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) show a 6% increase in international visitor arrivals to Asia Pacific destinations for September 2011.For the first nine months of this year all Asia Pacific sub-regions maintained a positive performance, although at different levels of gr [...]
Predictions for 2012, Part 1
As the year winds to an end, WIT asks its panel of experts to look into their crystal ball and tell us what lies ahead.Fritz Demopoulos, Former CEO, QunarChina1. We'll see a continued shift to online sales vs offline sales, direct-to-consumer vs third-party agency sales, leisure travel vs busines [...]
