Meet two women who want to change the way Asians travel
She took a leave of absence from her management consulting job at The Boston Consulting Group to learn Spanish in Argentina.It was one of her dreams. While there, she worked with a local entrepreneur– he ran a consumer packaged goods business and she thought she could help.She lived with locals, g [...]
From Adelaide to the road: The Asian travel story continued
And so begins our road trip for the WIT Hospitality Workshop, powered by INFOR EasyRMS … in the next five days, we will be covering Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Kuala Lumpur and Siem Reap.See, an itinerary like this would not have been possible up to three or even two years ago but low cost airlin [...]
Lin goes BIG and MyALN makes push for packages and outbound
As one of the founders of MyALN, the private luxury travel site in China, Frank Lin, I suppose, has got to walk the talk. He’s got to constantly be sourcing for new ideas and hotels for his members who he says are increasingly adventurous and seeking different experiences.And so when he was due [...]
Times may be changing but hotelscombined intends to keep B2B focus
With so much attention on meta-search lately, and talk of some players moving down the purchase path, one company intends to remain focused on what it does well – the B2B affiliate space and hotels. This despite it taking out ads in Australia to promote its consumer facing brand.I caught up with H [...]
HotelQuickly to launch Blackberry app, sees spike in weekend bookings
HotelQuickly, the last minute booking app for Asia, will launch a Blackberry 10 version tomorrow at the Echelon conference in Singapore.The company, which is listed among the top 50 start-ups at the annual technology conference, hopes this will enable it to crack the corporate market and specific [...]
Yatra claws out of ‘six months of shocks’ with new focus on hotels
For someone who says he’s been through “the toughest six months in our six-year history”, Dhruv Shringi, CEO & co-founder of Yatra, looked remarkably relaxed when I caught up with him in Shanghai.But then he is used to the hard knocks of life in an entrepreneur’s lane. And the last six [...]
Ah, for ‘no more walls’ between Japan and foreign travellers – the time has come
I am sitting in a ryokan (Japanese inn) by the Pacific Ocean as I write this. The sun is just rising, the birds are flitting about in the early light of dawn, the beach is deserted, a contrast from yesterday afternoon when surfers were out riding the waves.Last night, we had an amazing dinner. In Ja [...]
Letter from Tokyo: Start-ups shaking up travel scene amid new optimism
I am writing this as I am listening to the start-ups pitching at our first WIT Japan Bootcamp in Tokyo while facilitating discussions – yes, we all have to multi-task these days.And I am amazed at the energy and enthusiasm in the room and among the entrepreneurs vying for the judges’ attention.I [...]
Letter from Shanghai: Scent of a hotel, toasted loo and lobster in a jar
It being the first time I have stayed at a Waldorf Astoria, I figure I should write about it.Especially about that toilet seat that flips up automatically every time I open the door to the cubicle. Quite spooky at first encounter. I think I jumped. I developed a fear of self-opening toilet lids afte [...]
One day, vacation rentals will supplant hotels in leisure segment – that’s HomeAway’s ambition
HomeAway’s expansion has largely been driven by acquisitions. Yeoh Siew Hoon catches up with Carl Shepherd, co-founder & chief strategy and development officer of the world’s largest vacations rental site, to find out more about its plans for Asia.Q: What’s the state of the overall vacatio [...]
