Posts by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Korean alternative payments giant, GLN International out to power intra-regional travel in Asia
06/09/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
GLN International, the South-Korea based global alternative payments network, is setting its sights on the intra-regional travel market to drive the next phase of growth by leveraging on the national, proprietary QR payments and ATM networks established in Asia. Spun off from Hana Bank in July 20 [...]
Balancing the final frontier: Space tourism should have purpose and meaning, says Space Faculty’s Anna Garcia
03/09/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
“Lessons should be learnt from tourism on Earth” As curious as she is about space and having built her career in the sector, space scientist Anna Sabate Garcia of Singapore-based Space Faculty is in two minds about the prospect of space travel being accessible to the masses. “It is a t [...]
This Land Is Calling. Well, it called to me.
30/08/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
In my book, destination marketing should challenge perceptions, should reveal what is unexpected and Saudi Arabia’s new global campaign, "This Land is Calling", featuring a solo female traveller on an epic adventure through the kingdom, did it. Albeit she looked a bit like a female Timothy Chal [...]
It’s the golden age for product leaders in travel, says Trip.com’s Amy Wei
27/08/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Founder of TripGenie on what makes her AI travel assistant different from others   While it’s never been more exciting to be in product tech, with new tech such as Generative AI to spice things up even more, it’s also getting more challenging to fit a growing “multiverse” of pro [...]
With or without cookies, travel marketers must prioritise first party data
23/08/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Google’s reversal of cookie decision buys marketers time; reality is cookieless strategies should not be abandoned By now, Google’s reversal on its decision to remove third party cookies has had time to settle into the market and travel marketers in Asia Pacific and elsewhere have also had time [...]
Juspay brings its “payments orchestration” to South-east Asia, Middle East
21/08/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Softbank-backed Indian payments startup  expands on back of Indian outbound market The need for payments orchestration will become more and more acute in South-east Asia as fragmentation in payments grows with every country wanting to develop their own payment gateways and methods, observed Na [...]
Intriq Journey intent on blazing new trails, space travel included
14/08/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
“What could be more exotic and off the beaten path than space?” Bespoke luxury travel company Intriq Journey, formed by a team of the former Country Holidays, Singapore, is blazing new trails with space as its newest frontier. Founded in January 2020 and with offices in Singapore, Hong Kong [...]
Hopper doubles down on HTS to power banks and credit cards to “build new space in travel”
06/08/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
It’s the market few saw coming, says co-founder Dakota Smith With five partnerships with banks and credit cards in place in the US, Brazil, Australia, Japan and South Korea, Hopper is doubling down on growing HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions) as the next generation travel platform that will h [...]
The secret sauce of “char koay teow”, storytelling and indie travel businesses
02/08/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
AI, it seems, is creeping into everything. In a little eatery called Jiashi Cafe in a local neighbourhood in Penang, far from the madding tourist crowd, the young entrepreneurs running it offer “AI Fried Char Koay Teow”. For anyone who’s been to Penang, you’ll know that “Char Koay Teow� [...]
How Singapore’s Tribe Tours adds value to its tours with storytelling
31/07/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Using AI to illustrate the “big story book” for toddlers for a new tour   For Tribe Tours, Singapore, storytelling is an absolutely essential element to staying relevant as a tour operator in a destination where, let’s face it, visitors don’t face much trouble in getting around. [...]