Accor’s acquisition of Mirvac changes the hotel game in Australia/NZ
Accor has completed the purchase of the Mirvac Group’s hotel interests in Australia and New Zealand, which will see the hotel group adding 43 hotels across the two countries.The Mirvac hotels are currently being integrated into the Accor network. In the first phase of integration Sydney Marriott [...]
What travel agents and start-ups could learn from each other
As the travel agency business gets more complicated and competitive, the winners will be the ones who care about productivity and are focused on the end traveler experience and, dare I add, the vision to embrace technology and recognise what it can do for their business.Brett Henry, Abacus’ vice [...]
Google throws its social travel planning service Schemer onto mobile
Remember Schemer, Google’s service to find out things to do in a destination based on tips from friends within a user’s network of contacts and professional reviewers?Initially unveiled with unusually little fanfare (for Google, compared to, say, Wave, Buzz et al) in December last year, Schem [...]
MakeMyTrip partners with SiteMinder
The partnership between SiteMinder and MakeMyTrip is a boon for the former’s hotel customers around the world keen to sell their rooms in the rapidly growing Indian travel market.MakeMyTrip has a 48% share of India’s burgeoning online travel sector, with more than 3.5 million customers and [...]
Welcome to the new sexuality of the Internet
It’s hard not to talk about sex in Bangkok, especially when you are having dinner with four men at the table (and a woman).It started when I brought up the subject of Rakuten’s investment in Pinterest at a dinner prior to the start of an Abacus underground event in Bangkok – a subject I th [...]
Singapore’s hot for mobile commerce
Singapore saw phenomenal growth in mobile commerce in just one year, jumping from S$43 million in 2010 to S$328 million in 2011 (+660%).
Paypal, in its “Online and Mobile Shopping Insights 2011” study. attributed the growth to a dramatic increase in spend per head for mobile shoppers [...]
With funding from Ctrip, HomeAway, Tujia set to take flight
Hot on the heels of her appearance at WITX-Women In Travel in Bangkok last month, and co-founder and CTO of Tujia.com Melissa Yang is all set to take flight like the wild geese she said she was at the conference, when asked what kind of bird she thought she was at the event. That’s because the co [...]
The Making of ‘My Dream Job’ video
If you’ve watched our video for “The Dream Job Pitch”, the job competition we are doing for the WITNext Summercamp, you might like to know who was the creative brains behind it.Meet Joanne Kwok, who is an Undergraduate (Year 4) at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management [...]
Excuse me, do you use both sides of your brain? If so, AirAsia Expedia wants you
As the person responsible for shaping people and culture at AirAsia Expedia, Linda Lim has a big job on her hands.While both companies are heavily focused on technology, the cultures of the joint venture partners are distinctly different and Lim, who joined the 50/50 joint venture last October, has [...]
Keen on business events? 10 things you ought to know
A swathe of changes is sweeping through the business events industry. Competition is rising among destinations all going after the lucrative segment and technology and sectoral shifts are also transforming customer behaviour.At the recent WITX-Women In Travel, Elizabeth Rich (pictured right), a lea [...]
