Letter from Berlin: Same, same conversations but different
Arrived in Berlin yesterday, my annual pilgrimage to this city to attend the world’s largest travel trade fair and thinking, it’s amazing how everything’s changed yet nothing has.
As usual, I meet fellow travel colleagues on the flight. And as usual, the same conversations are struck up.
[...]
Musafir wants to become the MakeMyTrip of the Middle East
With its sights focused on becoming the “MakeMyTrip of the Middle East” by 2018, Musafir.com is charting ambitious plans to grow its presence in the region as well as India where it recently launched its portal.
Co-founder of the Sharjah-based OTA, Albert Dias (left), believes the Middle [...]
I’ve given UP my life
Vera Lye, writer and mom of two, has been amazed at how quickly technology (and data) can quickly alter one's life, since banding UP on her wrist a month ago.
Being raised in a country obsessed with statistics, numbers, competition and being one-up on your neighbor, I realise I am the perfect use [...]
Listen to what Emirates’ Tim Clark says about low cost airlines at the end
One of my favourite gigs, over the years, has been to host CAPA's Aviation Awards for Excellence. It's given each year with its World Aviation Summit.
As part of the awards night, I [...]
Letter from Jakarta: A city that’s all about the possible, however impossible it may be
One never zips around Jakarta – that is a fact – but I feel as if I have just zipped in and out of the city and in that short time, felt once again the pulse of a city that’s all about the possible, even though it may sometimes feel impossible.
For example, immigration was impossible on the [...]
In comes the horse and Tan’s off the block to build a stronger AirAsia Expedia
Well, the snake is about to slither away and the horse about to gallop in as Chinese all over the world celebrates the lunar new year this Friday and no one is more excited about the page-turner than Kathleen Tan, CEO of AirAsia Expedia (left).
On February 1, she will celebrate a year [...]
Mobile’s not big in Dubai, it’s HUGE and even babies do it
If there was one key message I took away from my three-day visit to Dubai, it’s how huge mobile is and how pervasive mobile adoption and usage is in the region. “Everyone has a smartphone here,” my friend told me, “and we do everything on it.”
And if I was already impressed in Shangha [...]
Letter from Dubai: Excitement is in the air as 2020 and online promise beckon
My first day in Dubai over and I can feel the excitement in the air – the reason, a four-digit number, 2020.
It may be six years away but that number is emblazoned everywhere I look and everyone I meet is citing that number – the year of the World Expo – as why this city is once again bulli [...]
The lessons GetYourGuide learnt along the way to becoming a marketplace
With all eyes on the tours and activities space this year, one company has certainly gathered a lot of attention and that’s the Europe-basedGetYourGuide which started life as a student project back in 2008.
“The basic idea we had was to create a P2P platform for tours and activities – we [...]
Letter from Shanghai: When you’re living on China speed, no time for slow TV
It’s a beautiful wintry morning. I am on the top floor of the Shangri-La Jing An overlooking an amazing city that never ceases to astound me.
Shanghai’s put on her best face for me these last three days – crisp air, blue skies – rare days, my Shanghainese friends tell me and so they [...]
