The SPAC that didn’t happen – HotelPlanner focused on a future powered by “little guys”, gig economy and group bookings
On pace to double revenues second year running, says Tim Hentschel
ON February 11, a rocket mishap by a company named Astra Space led Astrea Acquisition Corp to issue a press statement clarifying that it wasn’t the same company when its stocks took a hit.
On February 14, the day before the thr [...]
Despite ideal reopening conditions, inbound to Cambodia “very slow”
Not seen as mono destination, its positioning as “extension” needs to be addressed, says All Dreams' Guichandut
IF there’s one lesson Cambodia has learnt from Covid, it’s that its travel fortunes should not be tethered to any other country’s or the “Indochina” region. Because it’s [...]
The race to reopen in APAC is on – who will emerge the winner?
“A disorderly restart with changing and confusing requirements” will have longterm negative impact, says IATA’s Vinoop Goel
IN the first year of the pandemic, it seemed that the Asia Pacific region, with its early success in managing the spread of infections, would be among the first to make [...]
See you next Lunar New Year in the metaverse
Three years on, The Great Digitisation of celebrations
AND so out goes the Ox, in comes the Tiger – and it seems the beautiful beast just slipped in on a whisper, rather than a roar, in real life. In the virtual world, well, that’s another story and I am convinced that by next year, with or [...]
Imagine new NFT world: How tech can bridge art, culture and travel to alter spaces and places
OVERHEARD while walking the dogs this week.
“I am an artist and now I can make my own
NFT.”
“So cool ya, can make our own art and
sell.”
Curious to find out the source of this
exchange, I turned around and saw two young boys – probably no more than 12
years old – striding alon [...]
Arrivals drop 80% in Singapore, inbound trade braces for gruelling 2022
IT’s a sign of how bruising it’s been for Singapore’s inbound industry that when news appeared in local media that visitor arrivals in 2021 had dropped more than 80% over 2020, one immediate comment was “it felt more than that”.
This week, the Singapore Tourism Board released prelimin [...]
Emulating Tesla, Yanolja wants to use tech to grow travel and hospitality market to $3,000 billion
Digitising and connecting spaces, rolling out Interpark, leveraging K-pop, testing NFT and metaverse, South Korea’s travel unicorn has a lot on its plate for 2022
JUST as Tesla has expanded the size of the car market from around $1,000-$2,000 billion to $5,000 billion, Yanolja believes that t [...]
Plight of Cathay Pacific and The Great Talent Crunch That Looms
Scoot, Accor speak of staffing challenges in ramp-up to recovery
WHEN I was a kid, I dreamt of travel and thought the best way to do this would either be a flight attendant or tour guide. In the end, I found another way – I’d have been a disaster as a cabin crew – but millions of kids had [...]
Travel is good for mental well-being, “vaccinations are a part of life”
“Not much space for the unvaccinated,” says Dr Walter Lim
IN Booking.com’s Travel Predictions 2022, which surveyed 24,000 travellers across 31 countries, one finding stands out – that “Vitamin Vacay” is the best thing for mental well-being.
Sharing the
highlights at its media brie [...]
From sake tourism to temple stays, ESG to metaverse, North Asia waits patiently for rebound
“KIKO No Ikioi” – Japanese saying for “no choice but to carry on” – and travel companies in North Asia have certainly carried on even though cross-border travel remains at a standstill, two years into the pandemic. Global to local OTAs have carried on investing in tech, team and product [...]
