Letter from Cape Town: Of luxury living, butts and dogs
“You stopping off in Johannesburg?” asked the Singapore Airlines stewardess. “No, I am getting off in Cape Town,” I replied. “Good,” she responded. “Better. Safer.”
Clearly a woman of few words, she captured the essence of what makes Africa travel so different from everywhere else [...]
Africa will chart its own course: AI, tech and local know-how will unlock potential
When Zachariah George, of Launch Africa Ventures, moved to Africa after 15 years ago, there were more mobile phones in Manhattan than the whole of Africa. Today there are more mobile phone lines in Africa than the whole of North America, including Mexico and Central America.
That phenomenal shift [...]
From redundancy to HeyMax: Plugging into the traveller’s economy to help people travel more, spend less
A fintech-loyalty play where it’s about the traveller, says Joe Lu
Joe Lu was on a swing with his newborn daughter in Kobe, Japan during a month-long sabbatical, when he got the news that the Facebook engineering office he had started in Singapore and headed since 2019 would be closed down and j [...]
Let’s think about the connected trip from the customer perspective, says OAG’s Filipov
Fresh from attending his first aviation conference, after four years away from travel, Filip Filipov, chief operating officer of OAG, is as excited as he was when he first got into the digital travel space in 2009 as “a bright-eyed kid from Bulgaria”.
“It’s wonderful to be back,” said F [...]
Klook’s $100M fund raise signals confidence in the travel experiences sector
Reactions from industry insiders were swift and varied when news broke that Klook had raised another $100 million, this time from Vitruvian Partners. Responses ranged from admiration – “Wow, they’re a fundraising machine” – to concern – “Oh dear” – to outright battle cries: “It� [...]
Klook secures $100m from Vitruvian Partners
Ethan Lin: “This raise isn't just about capital, it's about confidence”
Barely more than a year since it raised $210m in December 2023, Klook, the leading platform for experiences and travel services in Asia, has announced US$100 million in funding led by the global growth investment firm Vitru [...]
Belli takes a crack at disrupting the massive air cargo market
$6 trillion worth of goods a year flown by air, 35% of world trade
With global air cargo at a record high, it is no wonder that new tech startups are attempting to disrupt this sector that transports $6 trillion worth of goods annually, accounting for approximately 35% of world trade by value, acco [...]
Trends fuelling the Marriott “rocket ship” in APEC as group hails “record-breaking year”
Record year in deals; Bonvoy app downloads rise; digital direct grows
It was good news all around at the Marriott International media briefing this week as the hotel group announced a record-breaking year in 2024 in the Asia Pacific, excluding China (APEC), region.
The numbers speak for themsel [...]
Tourism spending in Singapore hits record high amid shift to attract premium travellers
Singapore had good reason for cheer this week as the Singapore Tourism Board announced that tourism spending in 2024 is on track to hit an all-time high, surpassing the pre-pandemic high of $27.7 billion in 2019.
International Visitor Arrivals (IVA) increased by 21% (compared to 2023) to 16.5 mil [...]
Chinese travel and spending surge during Lunar New Year holiday
Alipay reports rise in spending in cosmetic surgery, Fliggy sees growth in international cruises and car rentals
Both Alipay and Fliggy, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group, have recorded significant surges in Chinese travel spending, in both outbound and inbound, during the Lunar New Year [...]
