MyRealTrip raises $56m in new fund raise to continue transformation to travel superapp
It’s good news for the tours and activities as well as APAC travel market as Korea-based MyRealTrip announced a raise of $56.7 million (75.6 billion KRW) in a Series F equity round of funding to accelerate its business and product innovation and ramp up its hiring.
This follows the $210m raise [...]
Tribe Tours Singapore goes all in on accessibility and automation
Pilot tours on Sentosa and automation to consolidate bookings from multiple sources to streamline operations.
With inbound travel expected to soften to Singapore this year, due to the strong currency, stiffer competition and higher costs of living, one of the city state’s leading tour companies, [...]
Forget FOMO, have COMO and JOMO will follow
I love this time of the year. It’s full of rain and wind in Singapore, and birdsong. Birds love the rain. Why, the other day on a Zoom call with a colleague in Kuala Lumpur, there was a constant squeaking noise in the background, and I asked him if his door hinge needed oiling? And he said, “It� [...]
No more pre-pandemic, no more looking back, 2024 is the year we move forward
If, like me, you’re winding down for the year and taking time out to reflect, well, do it. Power down the laptop, switch off the mobile, take a deep breath and slow down. Know you have deserved it. You helped build back travel in APAC.
For us in the region, it was just Year 1 of building back a [...]
Booking a flight direct is still not easy – is this why OTAs are winning?
Last week, I tried to book a one-way flight from Seletar, Singapore to Subang, Kuala Lumpur. How hard could it be after all? It’s really only one airline that plies this route and it’s a flight I’ve taken several times – in fact, a flight I always look forward to because it’s on a smaller [...]
Klook raises $210m during capital winter to grow and fortify
Ethan Lin: “When there is scarcity in capital, money is chasing only the best quality”
Klook, Asia’s leading platform for experiences and travel services, has raised an additional $210m in funding which will go towards “supporting business growth and fortifying financial stability”, and f [...]
On the Road: A journey through hotels, high lines and human interaction
I am back in Singapore after an epic month of travel which took me from Seoul to New York, Fort Lauderdale and Bangkok and this lull on the ground has given me a chance to reflect on the very different hotel experiences I had.
At a time when we in travel keep saying that travellers are extra dema [...]
First, space balloon, next, sub-orbital flights. Space tourism is closer than you think
Fancy floating in a capsule and looking down on Earth? You can do that by end 2024
Do you remember the moment when you first fell in love with space and the notion of space travel? Well, Tara Hyland, luxury travel advisor and one of the first to become a Virtuoso “Accredited Space Agent” for Vi [...]
Sustainable travel: Big gap in what consumers believe and what they actually do
Consumers do not often do what they say they want to do when it comes to sustainable travel. In fact, the average traveller has a poor understanding of what sustainable travel means, and a lot of education is needed to encourage better behaviour.
These were the key findings of a new piece of res [...]
Calling all digital nomads: Malaysia wants you
DE Rantau, a one-stop hub for immigration and accommodation
Malaysia wants to become a premier digital nomad hub, using Greece as a role model for the DE-Rantau programme rolled out by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
Arifah Sharifuddin, Head of Digital Tourism at MDEC, said that [...]
