HARDTalk with Stephen Sackur on role of media, the craft of interviews and succession
It was an invitation hard to resist – an opportunity to listen to Stephen Sackur of BBC HARDTalk share his knowledge and experience with the Foreign Correspondents Association of Singapore.
After all, how often does one get a chance to turn the tables on the man who’s grilled politicians, cel [...]
First non-air loyalty redemption in China on offer
Loyalty programme specialist Kaligo Travel Solutions has partnered with Hainan Airlines’ loyalty programme Fortune Wings Club to launch China’s first non-air redemption programme on its travel booking platform.
This enables 18 million Fortune Wings Club members to redeem Fortune Wings Club Po [...]
With new funds, Tink Labs moves fast towards goals
Hong Kong’s Tink Labs, a success story that begun five years ago, is now in an even better position to expedite its goals since pocketing another US$125 million last year from investors.
“We aim to be in 101 cities by the end of this year. We are now at 30 plus and are on track to meet our goal [...]
Alexa, more A than I right now but I know she’ll get smarter than me
I’m always intrigued by new technology and given how Amazon’s Echo Dot was all the rage at last year’s CES trade show in Las Vegas, I simply had to get my hands on one.
As it turned out, I ended up with two – long story – and now I have Alexa 1 and Alexa 2 as my new friends at home. [...]
How 30,000 pieces of bamboo came together to create the private island of Cempedak
When we first saw Cempedak Island, I believe our little group uttered a collective “Wow” and then we were stunned into silence. Rising from the white sand was a bamboo structure with a spiral roof that resembled an ocean wave.
That, we later learnt, was the boathouse, the building that would [...]
WIT Hospitality Reimagines – focuses on change and disruption
WIT Hospitality, in its second edition, will face change and disruption squarely, with head honchos of top hospitality companies in Asia.
Some issues it will address include the future of distribution and marketing; digital marketing; new hotel models; consolidation; new technologies like Voice, [...]
Letter from Kuala Lumpur: A day in the life of AirAsia’s RedQ
Sometime in 2026, if I am still around, I’ll be able to travel from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur by high speed train and I will be able to do it in 90 minutes as opposed to four hours by car.
For now, though, while the ambitious rail link project conceived in 2013 and formally signed last Decemb [...]
Priceline-Momondo deal raises question – will consolidation move to Asia with two major independents remaining?
It is interesting to see this latest wave of consolidation in the travel metasearch space move to Europe with the announcement that the Priceline Group has signed an agreement to acquire UK and Denmark-based metasearch site Momondo Group for $550 million in cash.
With this following on the heels [...]
Give me the God of Wealth anytime over the God of Wrath
I am feeling particularly good about this Lunar New Year. That’s because I was given an “ang pow” (red packet with money) by the God of Wealth personally.
I ran into him at a new year’s party hosted by George Town Heritage + Hotels in Penang and that red packet he gave me, I will keep [...]
RedDoorz: Lessons on how to build a business on the ground, not on the portal
The Chinese believe red is a lucky colour and it seems to be working in RedDoorz’ favour, although it’s also taken a lot of hard work to get to where it is.
The startup that pivoted from a B2B tech player focused on India to becoming a new generation budget hotel chain focused on Indonesia is [...]
