China Arising: Six trends to heed to capture the emerging Chinese traveller
Since the reopening of China on January 8, there have been numerous surveys published on what to expect from this most consequential of travel markets and how the world should prepare for it.
But nothing beats hearing first hand from those who are in-market or at the coal face of what is possibly [...]
From hanoks in South Korea to old homes in Japan, Airbnb expands “Historical Homes” listings in Asia
How an idea born in France spread to create a new category of rural heritage tourism; shophouse programme under study
It started out as an idea in France – to fund the renovation of heritage buildings to revitalise heritage tourism in rural areas – an idea that eventually led to the launch [...]
The Ranee’s Rosemarie Wong wants to do for Borneo what Jim Thompson did for Thailand
“You change what you can control, and go on,” says Kuching boutique hotelier
It was just slightly over 10 years ago when Rosemarie Wong burst onto the Sarawak hospitality scene with her boutique hotel, The Ranee. Brimming with enthusiasm and energy, she spoke of how she wanted to change the ima [...]
She asked for it and now Jessie Lim’s driving sustainability at Fairmont and Swissotel
How one woman is making a difference in plastics, food waste and community outreach
It’s probably the hottest and newest job title in the travel industry right now – that of chief or director of sustainability – with almost every major travel brand seeking expertise and chasing certificat [...]
China mis-step, Covid crash, Mystifly back on top to take stress out of air travel
US$8m fund raise to strengthen tech stack to bridge old and new world of airline retailing
Its attempt to enter China cost it dearly. Then Covid nearly crushed it, at a time when its financial reserves had been severely drained. But Mystifly’s co-founders Rajeev Kumar and Bharat Goyal are back on [...]
Letter from Kuching: Want to get uncomfortable? This is the place
From the unexpected to its crafts and cuisine, Sarawak is an undiscovered jewel
When I told an American friend I was in Kuching, Sarawak, last week, she asked me, what do you do in Kuching?
It was a question that made me pause. Instead of firing off the usual quick responses we do these days on [...]
I dream of Finland, happiness, “onnellisuus” and everything, everywhere all at once
I once had a penpal from Finland. His name was Jukka Touvinen. He wrote to me about snow and ice, I told him about sun and sand. That correspondence sustained me until I reached my teens when I overcame my shyness to communicate with real boys and I supposed the same thing happened to Jukka, when he [...]
Business travel leads the way in recovery in China
Leisure travel wave should follow in early summer, projects McKinsey’s Saxon
Other than VFR (visiting friends and relatives) and student travel, whose comeback was immediate, it is business travel that is leading the recovery in China, said Steve Saxon, who leads McKinsey’s Travel, Logistics & [...]
Excuse me, what’s your discomfort zone?
The seven desires of travellers in 2023, according to Booking.com
You couldn’t ask for a more comfortable start to the year than the one Booking.com just had – in January 2023, room nights booked hit 95 million, surpassing the previous record set in May by more than 10 million. The 95 million [...]
Gin, hidden gems and rewards – Singapore wants travellers to go off the beaten track
SingapoRewards platform, built by GlobalTix, simplifies redemption
While Hong Kong chose to give away 500,000 free air tickets and Taiwan opted for cash incentives of NT$5,000 ($165) each to 500,000 tourists to generate demand for their destinations, Singapore is choosing to reward them with “hid [...]
