Lessons from Aliens on the Galactic Silk Road: Space tourism, creating experiences and dreaming of AI with empathy
Science fiction has always informed the future and it was interesting to hear speakers at Melon, the sci-fi and fantasy conference address themes such as space travel, consumers wanting experiences, versus static content, the rise of China and the role of AI and machine learning to create stories a [...]
African expertise puts Travelstart in good stead to tap Middle East growth
With South Africa as its home base and its businesses spread across the African continent, Travelstart believes its roots and experience make it well suited to take on the emerging and fragmented markets of the Middle East. Paulina Klotzbucher, managing director, Travelstart, who has overview of th [...]
Cracking local payments is key to unlocking potential of Middle East
When you combine three forces – a young demographic, an aspirational market of travellers and strong mobile adoption – it stands to reason that the future for online and mobile payments is bright in the Middle East.
Spending is on the rise, said Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, VP of Business Dev [...]
WeChat Pay gathers global and local merchants, announces five key areas of focus
When WeChat Pay organises a conference for global service providers and merchants on how to engage Chinese travellers through their ecosystem, you can’t really afford not to be there.
“In the past five years, the progress of mobile payment technology development in China has received g [...]
Letter from Penang: Why indies who pursue love matter in the big money world of travel
Each time I return to Penang, I discover
a new and interesting business set up by yet another entrepreneur out to make a
difference on the island. This island, after all, was built by traders,
merchants and immigrants, much like my father.
Hikayat is a new creative and arts space founded by [...]
Wego soars to profitability and $1b gross bookings on back of Middle East success
Six years after Singapore-based travel metasearch site Wego entered the Middle East, the region now accounts for half of its total business and is the key reason why the company achieved profitability 18 months ago on $1 billion worth of gross travel bookings across the entire business.
Said Ro [...]
Al Tayyar Travel on the move as Saudi Arabia prepares to transform
Exciting changes are afoot in the Saudi Arabian online
travel market with the government’s Vision 2030 plan which sets ambitious
targets to diversify sources of income and reduce reliance on oil in the
kingdom.
There are plans to open up inbound tourism to foreign travellers and boost domestic [...]
South Korea’s Tidesquare receives $44m investment to fend off global OTAs in home market
In a strategic play that will give it access to new technologies and fresh funding to compete against global OTAs in its home market, leading South Korean online travel agency Tidesquare has taken in an investment of 50 billion won (US$44.3m) from Kakao, the operator of Korea's dominant messaging a [...]
David Kong on the transformation of Best Western through quality, talent and technology
Ever since he took over as CEO of Best Western Hotels & Resorts in 2004, David Kong has been a man on a mission to transform the company, and the process continues with the recent acquisition of WorldHotels, which added 300 hotels to its global portfolio. In Singapore for the first time, the so [...]
Alternative accommodation soars at Booking.com as it continues its push into Asia
You wouldn’t blame Olivier Grémillon, vice president of Booking.com’s home division, for celebrating just a little bit this week – after all, the group has just disclosed the revenue of Booking.com’s alternative accommodation business for the first time, and the results are stellar.
In [...]
