Letter from 5lasserre: Where time is as fluid as the wine and as silent as the cats
I AM writing this as I overlook the vineyards of St Emilion, a French medieval village in the heart of Bordeaux. Since I’ve been in France the past week, I’ve experienced a heatwave – two days of temperatures that made me think I was in Oman, instead of Brittany – and a hailstorm, with stone [...]
WebBeds’ Sun on rate parity, credit and distribution shifts
Bedbank sees strong recovery in both traditional and online channels
Just as its hotel partners had to pivot to domestic during the pandemic, so did WebBeds as it re-deployed resources towards domestic content, closed its Taiwan office and ramped up its domestic distribution network, working with l [...]
How Thailand’s “Elephant Whisperer” made it through the pandemic
When voluntourism disppeared, Elephant Nature Park got creative
SOCIAL media and a caring, connected community have largely been responsible for the smooth running of the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand, since it was established in 1996. So when Covid came along and broke the connectiv [...]
Letter from 30,000 feet: Why worry, be happy, and dreaming of digital twins
I AM writing this on a flight bound for Amsterdam where I will connect to Nantes, France. I am a tad anxious because everyone is warning me what a mess travelling in Europe is these days – harrowing stories of delays in even Schiphol, in my book, one of the best airports in the world.
It seems [...]
Sequoia launches $850m SEA fund, Trip picks CHOOOSE
SEQUOIA Capital, marking its 50th anniversary, has raised $2.85 billion to fund Indian and South-east Asian startups. The fundraising is its largest so far for India and Southeast Asia.
A total of $850 million will go towards Sequoia's first fund dedicated to South-east Asia, Sequoia SEA Fund I.
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YouTrip firing on all cylinders as it launches YouBiz – next, travel insurance
How the pandemic crystallised its mission to be “borderless banking platform” for travellers in South-east Asia
HAVING raised a total of $56m since its founding in 2017 – the last round of $35m happened last year, YouTrip, which wants to be a borderless banking platform serving the needs of [...]
With $70m and fourth acquisition in hand, Bookaway set to take next leap forward
How a honeymoon idea started in Asia, and grew during the pandemic
HAVING raised a total of $70 million in the last 12 months, and finalised a fourth acquisition, Bookaway Group, which wants to be the Booking.com of buses, rail and ferries, is ready to scale its business for the next leap forward. [...]
Letter from Northumberland: Hello, New World
“WHAT’s life like in Singapore? Is it expensive?” asked my Albanian driver on the way from Manchester to Newcastle, roughly a three-hour car ride. He was complaining about the high costs of living, and rising fuel prices, in this land which he moved to almost 15 years ago.
I told him Singap [...]
As global wellness booms, real estate pivots to hospitality-meets-hospital
MK Real Estate makes wellness play with RAKxa, and more to come
AT a recent WiT event, when Chris Hemmeter, managing partner of Thayer Ventures, a travel and hospitality-focused fund was asked what he believed the biggest change Covid would bring to hospitality, he said, “I think the whole world [...]
Traveller confidence is high, so is interest in sustainability
But industry must give right information, otherwise “it’s disingenuous or meaningless”
THE three markets that are most interested in travelling are also the ones most interested in travelling sustainably, according to Booking.com’s inaugural APAC Traveler Confidence Index, shared at the OTA [...]
