Letter from Cempedak: Seven secrets to landing among the stars
It was exactly a year ago that I visited the private island of Cempedak in the Riau Archipelago of Indonesia and saw it in the making of stage. Piles of bamboo were strewn all over the white sand but there was a definite shape of a resort that resembled a sail unfurling out of the waters.
The isl [...]
Letter from Singapore: 8 key takeaways on creating “Better Travel”
From opportunity markets to product innovations to new tech, a lot was discussed at this week’s WIT Conference in Singapore. Here are the eight key takeaways.
The Next Billion Users and it will all be mobile
Most of the major travel brands, from Facebook to Google to Airbnb, are eyei [...]
GuestReady receives additional US$3m funding, acquires Easy Rental Services
Activity in the alternative accommodation space is picking up pace with GuestReady, a short-term rental management service, receiving a new round of funding.
The relatively young industry is already beginning to see consolidation as GuestReady also announced its acquisition of Easy Rental Service [...]
Google’s Heckmann on how machine learning will Translate to better travel and how Asia is setting pace in mobile
Ahead of his speaking on the WIT Main Stage on Tuesday, October 24, Oliver Heckmann, Vice President, Engineering for Travel and Shopping, Google, shares what's top of his mind on how new technology such machine learning/AI and voice can make better travel.
Q: As you get set for to speak at WI [...]
Letter from Hong Kong: From real estate to community, from brick to clicks, can hospitality make the leap?
The sky is piercingly blue, as blue as it could only get after a huge storm has just whipped through. I am in Hong Kong two days after the last Typhoon 8 visited this city built on a rock.
At the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP), I heard a panel of investors saying perhaps [...]
Tech should make Better Travel for everyone, with disabilities you can or cannot see
What’s your disability? Because as far as clinical psychologist Nicky Abdinor, born without arms and shortened legs, is concerned, “everyone has a disability, it’s just that you can see mine”.
And perhaps disabilities you can see versus those that aren’t visible may be easier to deal wi [...]
Letter from Muscat: And so we enter the golden age of digital travel in Middle East
For some reason, Muscat seems closer in my mind than it really is. To get here, I had to connect via Dubai and with a four-hour layover, it’s almost a 12-hour journey and I thought I could have flown to London in that time.
But returning to Oman eight years later was what I wanted to do. After [...]
Wego’s Ross Veitch on getting the timing right for Middle East and marketplace ambitions
He may have been too early for Singapore as well as Indonesia – indeed South-east Asia in general – but Ross Veitch, CEO and co-founder of Wego, believes he’s finally hit the right timing in the Middle East.
“We probably went into emerging markets too early,” he said. “We thought they [...]
Union pushback: Tough lessons learnt on MyCape’s startup journey
Coalescing his early experiences flying on standby as a child of airline executives with his understanding of challenges facing airlines managing perishable products, and then his engineering and enterprise technology knowledge, Lyle Jover set himself on a mission – to help full-service carriers c [...]
From idea to enterprise product, from WIT to New York
When Lyle Jover, co-founder and CEO of MyCape submitted his entry for a shot at the grand prize offered by WIT Startup Pitch last year, MyCape was “barely an idea”. A year later, it is now a “full-blown product, enterprise grade and has a great product fit with airline”.
MyCape is a socia [...]
