GetYourGuide gets into pole position to win in $250b experiences market
The biggest risk is cultural risk, says CEO Johannes Reck
Racing between meetings, and fresh from watching his first Singapore Grand Prix, you could say that Johannes Reck, CEO and co-founder of GetYourGuide, is as on top of the world as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who won the Singapore race.
Afte [...]
Growth of OTAs, superapps: Trends low-cost airlines have to watch, says Ashmore Butler
After having spent 20 years of his career on the airline side of the fence, with carriers such as Jetstar, Qantas and Scandinavian Airlines, Clive Ashmore Butler felt it was time to see airline distribution from another perspective. He joined Atlas, the technology platform that connects travel selle [...]
Accor to double down on digital marketing with learnings from pandemic
Lessons learnt are “valuable long-term gains”, says Ollie Ansell
Bar tending requires pretty similar skills to revenue management, when you think about it. Both require you to be good at reading signals, except with the former, it’s reading human cues on the spot and with the latter, it’s a [...]
Flightroutes24 adds hotels as it continues global expansion
Back in the hands of its original founders, Flightroutes24, the global B2B marketplace for flight content, is ready to expand not only geographically but also across verticals – it is adding hotel content, launched in 2023, according to Nancy Zhou, co-founder and vice president, business developme [...]
Wego acquires Travelstop in bid to build first corporate travel unicorn in Asia, Middle East
The first thing Prashant Kirtane, CEO and co-founder of Travelstop, did when he and his team of 26 moved into the Wego office in Singapore was to buy his own coffee machine, even though there were already two coffee machines, laughed Ross Veitch, CEO and co-founder of Wego. “I am used to my own br [...]
Green Rooms, farm-to-table, glamping take spotlight at PHIST
From rooms that “love and protect the earth” to rewards for good behaviour, Thai hoteliers take steps to balance sustainability and profitability
From having “Green Rooms” to rewarding guests with f&b vouchers for good environmental behaviour, hoteliers in Thailand are taking steps to � [...]
Singapore to unleash arts everywhere by taking it to the people
Catch-all platform, Singaporean music movement, buskers, lively precincts – NAC unveils five-year roadmap to create city with soul
The link between arts and tourism is well-proven. Cities like New York and London, beyond Broadway and West End respectively, have an always-on arts scene, where a [...]
Bill Bensley on working with nature, gorillas, garbage and boxes
“Once you respect Mother Nature, everything falls in place”
For Bill Bensley, renowned hotel architect, designer and landscape artist, starting any new project in a virgin site is all about risk mitigation and learning to work with Mother Nature.
“We can only make it worse,” said the Ame [...]
Banyan Tree’s KP Ho on the rainbow revolution and the “long burn” of sustainability
“Sustainability is not just about carbon emissions but the difference you make in people’s lives”
South-east Asia’s hospitality industry is in the midst of a “rainbow revolution” driven by new demographics of customers, said Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings, wh [...]
From mooncakes to hungry ghosts: The things AI and tech have not replaced
I received my first gift of mooncake last week, from the Pan Pacific Hotels Group. The white leather case it came in was truly gorgeous, probably cost more than the mooncakes in it. I will have to think of another use for the case after I devour the four round-shaped delicacies of lotus paste, ginge [...]
