Accor sees increased Chinese, Indian business due to Optimum Service Standards
Accor, the first Australian hotel group to launch a fully-accredited Optimum Service Standards initiative to cater to Chinese and Indian travellers, is reaping rewards from increased occupancies at the 33 participating properties.First introduced in September last year for the Chinese market, the i [...]
WITovation Awards’ back and open for entries
WITovation Awards is back in 2012, following the success of last year’s inaugural programme. Winners will be recognized and presented at the WIT Conference, taking place on Oct 16-17, at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.In line with this year’s theme of “Unplugged: Journey With WIT”, this year� [...]
More low fares for Chinese travellers from Jetstar
Jetstar expands its distribution channels in China with new and convenient initiatives designed to give consumers and the travel trade easier access to its fares.The addition of popular payment methods, such as Alipay and China Union Pay credit cards, make the purchase of flights on Jetstar.com e [...]
Social media not a priority for hotels, says survey
A resarch paper by Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, Switserland and Rate Tiger shows hotels are going back to basics by increasing focus on offline and direct sales to reduce third-party costs instead of new social media techniques.According to the survey, hotels are putting social media on hold as a [...]
How low cost will change the game in Japan
These days, when people talk of opportunity markets in Asia, it’s always about China, India and, lately, Indonesia. Japan, which was the travel juggernaut of the region for most of the 80s and 90s, is hardly mentioned.But things are changing. The advent of low cost airlines will undoubtedly chang [...]
No fifty shades of grey here, simple sells
It’s been a bad week so I have decided to write about sex. See, I have sex on my brain after reading the entire trilogy of “Fifty Shades of Grey”. Yes, I did. Not ashamed to admit it along with millions of women around the world.It topped the New York Times bestseller list for 12 weeks and [...]
WIT 2012 Charity: Island Foundation, raising English and IT literacy in Riau
It was a Sunday, the hours of fasting during the Ramadan season, in Bintan. I had not expected anybody to be at the learning centre opened by the Island Foundation. But Andrew Dixon, one of the owners of Nikoi Island, had called ahead.I wanted to see one of the five learning centres opened by the [...]
Customer of the future – in control, locally-connected and needs-based
The personalization of technology and travel is creating a customer who wants to be in control and who wants to be locally-connected wherever they are, and their travel patterns will soon be need-based rather than destination-oriented.This was the key message made by the four panelists at a Singapo [...]
Amadeus reports 26.1% increase in H1 2012 profit
Amadeus’ adjusted profit for the first half of 2012, ended June 30, rose 26.1% to €332.5 million, due principally to the substantial reduction in interest expense.Revenue increased 8.6% to €1,508.9 million and EBITDA by 6.1% to €606.9 million.There was also significant year-on-year growth [...]
Backick, Expedia Traveler Preference – all about empowering customers, says Lynn
Backick.com is AirAsia Expedia’s attempt at cracking the social and travel puzzle. Touted as the world’s first hotel booking site where friends help pay for each other’s travel, the site is an initiative by the joint venture partnership between AirAsia and Expedia.“I believe the social and [...]
