Fortified by Tin Men, GlobalTix doubles down on tech roots
Fresh $3m funding is not survival money, it’s to go full force on digitisation mission
THE new funding round of S$3 million raised by GlobalTix from Tin Men Capital and SEEDS Capital is not “survival or rescue money” but fresh capital to build up its arsenal of tech tools and to fortify it [...]
Latest wave dampens Phuket’s hopes of reopening; Trisara stays on course of wellness and mindfulness
LIKE other hotels in Phuket, the award-winning luxury resort Trisara had been looking forward to closing April on a healthy note because domestic travel in Thailand had been gathering steam but then, came the third wave of infections, the largest outbreak in the country since last March.
Said Ki [...]
25 years on, Expedia flips “green screen” again to become the traveller’s companion
“It matters who you travel with” falls on shoulders of new brand custodian, Shiv Singh
SHIV Singh, the new senior vice president and general manager of Brand Expedia, was sitting in front of an impressively-stacked bookcase when I spoke to him on Zoom. I had to ask, “Is that fake or are th [...]
Covid has tested global-local models in travel, says KKday’s Liu
“Curated experiences” marketplace embeds deeper local roots, launches Fine Day for luxury and scales Rezio
WHEN Weichun Liu told her parents she was giving up investment banking to join KKday in 2016, they thought she was joining KKBox, the “Spotify of Taiwan”. “I didn’t want to tell [...]
Cleartrip sale to Flipkart inevitable, as Covid crushes travel and marketplaces seize moment to enter vertical
IN many ways, the proposed acquisition of Cleartrip by Flipkart, known as the “Amazon of India” was inevitable – inevitable because the pandemic has no doubt devastated the 15-year-old company’s India business, leaving it vulnerable, and inevitable because of the ambitions of e-commerce mar [...]
Webb: Recovery won’t be online vs offline, it will be driven by policy
Travelport doubles down on tech to simplify next gen retailing for recovery
FOR Greg Webb, CEO of Travelport, pushing ahead with its next generation platform – a commitment it made in 2019 when it went private – was absolutely necessary despite the pandemic crushing the travel industry and a [...]
How Phare survived a year of no tourism to Angkor Wat
From adapting shows to local tastes, to a 24-hour virtual performance Phare, The Cambodian Circus rode out 2020 and hopes for international tourism to return by year end
IF there is one destination that the pandemic has devastated, it’s Siem Reap, the home of Angkor Wat, where the only econom [...]
From dog cruises to creepy tours, Ice Cream and Slingshot, Singapore rides out Covid and prepares for the future
Technology and sustainability at the heart of change
THE Year of No Travel may well be “one of the most fertile periods” in the Singapore tourism sector, with new products, experiences and bundled packages being launched, said Keith Tan, chief executive of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), [...]
Hold your horses. Just because you have been vaccinated doesn’t mean you can suddenly travel again.
THAT wasn’t exactly how Singapore’s Minister For Trade and Industry, Chan Chun Sing, phrased it Wednesday morning (April 7) at the Tourism Industry Conference but that was what he meant when asked what vaccinations would mean for Singaporeans travelling out and visitors coming in.
“We shou [...]
While Beauty of Japan waits to “catch the wave”, it puts Amazon Explore to the test
FOR an inbound operator like Beauty of Japan that depended solely on international inbound travellers, the pandemic and the closing of borders almost sounded the death knell. But its CEO Takahiro Noguchi has found small pockets of business within his basket of products and services to keep the comp [...]
