#wit2013: Connecting the dots with The Asia Factor
For the most part of this year – OMG, is it already mid-July – I’ve been travelling places and speaking about Asia, how the region’s changing, how travel’s moving and, most crucially, how we as folks in Asia are evolving as citizens, consumers and travellers.It started with the AIME even [...]
Old world and very new one collide on Yunnan’s tea and horse trail
Today is the first day of my tea and horse trail adventure in Yunnan. Over the next seven days, I will cover by four wheel drive the same trail that ancient tea and horse traders traversed on their way from Dali through Lijiang and up to Zhongdian (Shangri-La), on the Tibetan-China border.It’s a t [...]
Destiny brought HomeAway and travelmob together – well, maybe a bit of that
Caught up this morning with John Weimer, vice president APAC and corporate development of HomeAway and Turochas Fuad, CEO & co-founder of travemob, fresh from announcing their “marriage” and both showed all the signs of a couple newly-consummated in love.Said Weimer, “It’s all about [...]
Postcard from Taiwan: Taipei 101 flashmob captures the Heart of Asia
I’m Taiwanese and proud of it; for anyone who knows me, it’s no secret that I love Taiwan. That’s why when this flash mob video hit YouTube a week ago, featuring classic songs that stir all Taiwanese people, my pride for the country swelled to the heights of the Taipei 101. I’m pleased to [...]
#wit2013: Checking out our new improved home this October, yay, wifi included
Spent about two hours checking out the newly-renovated Suntec Convention Centre (which re-opened June 3), home of the WIT Conference this October 22-23, this evening and have to say, I am impressed with the improvements.So first and most important piece of news – wifi’s free within the conventio [...]
Offline drives online – how Asiarooms creates brand experiences
Last weekend (July 5-7), Singaporeans gathering at popular youth hangout Orchard Cineleisure had the chance to experience Singapore’s first mobile pop-up hotel, created by Asiarooms.In the weeks prior, the mobile pop-up hotel had appeared in Raffles Place and Raffles City as part of Asiarooms’ [...]
SOTA.travel expands in bid to build marketplace for packages
Malaysia-based SOTA.travel is scaling its content to cover more countries in the region – namely Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar – as it continues on its mission to become the marketplace for travel packages across Asia.The company acts as a trading platform where travel agents can l [...]
The changing nature of work and the critical role of mentors
I feel like I’ve won the jackpot. This week, I was told I was randomly picked out of 13,000 people in Singapore to be interviewed for a new survey the government is doing on job skills.So feeling lucky – actually I felt sorry for the student who showed up at my door, he had this air of being use [...]
US$17m richer, Wego aims to become top online travel brand
Timing was in Wego’s favour with the last round of fund raising – Priceline had bought Kayak for US$1.8 billion and Expedia had acquired a 61.6% stake in Trivago for 434 million Euros – and suddenly, meta search became the flavor of the month.
“It definitely helped,” said [...]
#wit2013 social enterprise: Phare turns Cambodian street kids into artists
I met Dara Huot the weekend I was in Siem Reap, right after I had watched Phare, The Cambodian Circus. I was curious to find out the background of the circus as well as the man who'e been charged with turning the circus into a self-sustainable social enterprise. After hearing his story, I invited h [...]
