Letter from Hong Kong: Hard questions posed at WIT Hospitality, the answer lies in commitment to change
The sky was blue. The air was distinctly chilly. Hong Kong put on her best winter frock for us as we kicked off our first WIT event of the year, our conference dedicated to hospitality.
The day prior to the event, we had held a Think Tank gathering of about 20 industry leaders and we were gathere [...]
Confessions of an airline miles hunter: Building Mileslife is harder than a self-drive in Western Africa
He says his hardest trip ever was a self-drive in Western Africa. Over a month, he crossed three countries. Road conditions were terrible and he kept hitting police checkpoints everywhere and at each point, he never knew if he would be arrested or released.
“It was a very hard trip,” says Tro [...]
Letter from Delhi & Shanghai: Meet the two giants shaking up travel & Asia
As I stood at the immigration queue at Delhi airport, just two days after I had departed Shanghai, I was mindful that I had just gone from one mega city to another, two giants that are leading what experts are calling the Asia Decade, or maybe the next two Decades.
In terms of population, both ar [...]
Think cities in ASEAN and tech disruption will play out differently in region
While the world’s attention is focused on North Asia, spare a thought for South-east Asia whose potential is immense and is developing at a rapid pace fuelled by a growing middle class whose behavior will be shaped differently by technology.
Fraser Thompson, director, AlphaBeta, speaking at [...]
flyiin gets “excited about travel again” building alternative “semi-direct distribution channel” to rival OTAs and meta-search engines
flyiin has built a new distribution model “from scratch”, based on the International Air Transport Association’s latest distribution standard, known as New Distribution Capability (NDC), and is ready to enter a beta phase with Lufthansa Group as its first partner airline.
flyiin claims it [...]
Could technology dehumanise the hotel experience? A thin line between sweetness of efficiency and coolest new thing
Hotel chiefs speaking at the HICAP Update in Singapore this week expressed concern over whether “too much attention to technology” could dehumanise the industry.
In his opening, Robert Hecker, managing director, Pacific Asia, Horwath HTL asked that with all the talk about the Internet of thin [...]
LodgIQ wants 3,000 more hotels to get onboard; Asia is strong growth market
While technology can sometimes leave smaller players on the back foot, LodgIQ’s latest self onboarding tool hopes to level the playing field for smaller independent boutique hotels.
“LodgIQ ONE completely eliminates any dependencies on PMS or CRS connectivity, therefore lends itself best [...]
Deep dive into MakeMyTrip’s culture – meet Sid and yes to more women at leadership level
On International Women’s Day, Yeoh Siew Hoon speaks to Deep Kalra, CEO & co-founder of MakeMyTrip, on the people who make his company tick and how the integration with Ibibo Group will affect the culture of this first Indian OTA to go public on the NASDAQ in 2010.
“Come meet my most inspi [...]
From intern to product and design head, Arthur Chapin talks about the blending of tech and consumer-facing skills
Arthur Chapin started at Expedia as an intern and never left. Today, 16 years later, he’s senior vice president of global product and design at Expedia Inc. Yeoh Siew Hoon catches up with the self-professed geek who’s not only curious about tech stuff but also what makes humans tick.
Q: Clear [...]
The Siam gets even more personal with Go Portier
How does a small urban luxury resort of just 28 suites and 11 pool villas, already known for its personal servide and top-notch butlers, get even more personal with its customers?
Well, The Siam Bangkok has deployed an in-room technology called Go Portier which will allow guests to explore the ci [...]
