Having survived, Blue Mansion on mission to build a business that matches the brand
Venture capitalist-turned-hotelier Shen on “hospitality with a conscience”
HAVING been involved with the family business since 2015, Loh-Lim Shen Yi decided to return to Penang to lead the heritage Cheong Fatt Tze/The Blue Mansion fulltime in January 2020 “when I felt it could pay me a salary [...]
Airlines – the end of golden days or “the beginning of our third epoch”?
“Traumatised, shocked and stunned, but we will get over it,” says Emirates’ Sir Tim Clark
SO on the one hand, you have Peter Harbison, chairman emeritus, CAPA (Centre of Aviation) painting a rather grim picture for the future of aviation – he believes the golden days may be over – and on [...]
Letter from Manchester: At the end of the tunnel, this is what awaits
Singapore rolls out plans to recover, airline chiefs gather in Chester to talk about the future of flight
THE day Singapore Tourism Board (STB) rolled out its plans to bring back the destination with a vengeance, only better and reimagined, I was on a flight from Singapore to the UK which might her [...]
Ekert on how Sabre will disrupt itself to win in the market
TMCs in tech arms race – scale and capabilities to invest will win, says ex-CWT chief, now Sabre president
LIKE almost everyone who’s asked themselves hard questions during the pandemic, Kurt Ekert also took time out after he left his CEO role at CWT. “I was doing a bit of board work, I neede [...]
“Celebrate the difference” as a different VELTRA emerges from the pandemic
World home cuisine, crowd funding, B2B ticketing solution – all part of moves to go beyond travel
VELTRA, Japan’s leading tours and activities player, rolled out a new brand and corporate identity this week to mark its 10th anniversary and although it says the timing had nothing to do with the [...]
Letter from a “near normal” Singapore: Queues are back, travel is taking off
I never thought I’d say this but when I saw queues at immigration at Changi airport last night, my heart leapt with joy. It felt almost back to near normal.
Firstly, the Singapore Airlines’ VTL flight from Penang was pretty full – the crew told me 90%. Everyone just seemed so cheerful infli [...]
Reopening “exciting but terrifying” – Penang’s indie tourism businesses asking hard questions
“I HEARD some Singaporeans on the hill yesterday. I can’t tell you how happy I was.” “We had our first visitors from Singapore last weekend, they asked if we had durians.” “We are getting bookings from Singapore, we are so thrilled.” “The floodgates are opening, a bit overwhelming.� [...]
Rethink of hospitality/real estate and the rise of digital nomads – two big changes driven by the pandemic
“The total restructuring and rethink of accommodation real estate” and “the rise of digital nomads” will be two of the biggest changes coming out of the pandemic, according to two leading investors who spoke at The Bridge Series, Episode 1, organised by WiT and Phocuswright.
When asked by [...]
Letter from Penang: Once you get there, it’s all worth it
It’s about the destination, not the journey – for now
YOU know the old adage we love in travel, about how “it’s about the journey, not the destination”? Well, in these days of Covid travel, when the journey has become so fraught with red tape, tests and protocols, it has definitely become [...]
10 years and counting, Traveloka “firing on all cylinders” to ride on recovery
From meta-search to lifestyle superapp as it adds services from food delivery to Buy Now Pay Later
THERE'S no disputing the fact that Traveloka, Indonesia’s homegrown travel unicorn, has come a long way in the 10 years it’s been around.
What started out as a flight meta-search in CEO and co- [...]
