Hello monopolies, goodbye independents – it’s getting hard to stand alone in a world of giants
I was at a blockchain event last night when a Beijing-based investor let loose a rant on how this Internet world of centralisation was creating monopolies especially in travel where OTAs were completely dominating the market and there was now no room for new startups in travel that could scale well [...]
John Brown on succession, startup culture and how AI is part of everything Agoda does
Some might argue that John Brown, the new CEO of Agoda, has a harder job today than Rob Rosenstein, the man whom he recently succeeded and who founded the Thailand-based hotel portal with Michael Kenny in 1998.
After all, back then, it was the early heady days of the Internet, there wasn’t [...]
Game on as LINE enters travel: Key lessons from WIT Japan & North Asia
There we were at WiT Japan & North Asia speaking of the disruption taking place in travel and the day after we wrap up our two-day event comes the news that LINE, Japan’s main messaging app, is getting into travel.
The news release said that LINE Travel “would be a comprehensive travel se [...]
Razzle. Dazzle. Frazzle. A robot’s welcome to Tokyo
It’s probably not what the doctor would have ordered – catching the Robot Show in Tokyo right after two days of intense conferencing and sleep deprivation. But maybe it was exactly what I needed to take me completely over the adrenalin meter.
After all, we had spent two days at WIT Japan & [...]
As funding consolidates and channels fragment, small startups will face challenges
One message was clear at the WIT Japan & North Asia Bootcamp which took place in Tokyo today – small startups, especially in the B2C space, will face massive challenges going forward in the battle for user acquisition and funding.
Masahiko Honma, general partner of Incubate Fund, was first [...]
Letter from Tokyo: So who wants to be a Disaster Chef or a Super Chicken?
Last night, I was having dinner at one of the many hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurants in Tokyo that every traveller likes to boast about discovering when I had a culinary epiphany of sorts.
Based on a recommendation from a local (the best kind there is), this one was called Hanawasabi, serving [...]
Peach and Vanilla merger will create Japan’s largest low cost airline, says Inoue
What do you get when you merge peach and vanilla? If you know your desserts, you know you’d get a Peach Melba. Merge two airlines called Peach and Vanilla though and you will get Japan’s largest low cost airline and the country’s third biggest carrier.
Speaking at the CAPA North Asia LC [...]
Through The Looking Glass: How travel and home helped Hugh Oliveiro find his voice as an artist
In this first series of articles around our WIT Singapore Conference theme of “Through The Looking Glass”, where we look outside travel in search of different stories and lessons, we feature Singapore-Australian artist Hugh Oliveiro and how his journey, from Singapore to Australia, has influence [...]
Letter from Seoul: Fasten your seatbelts and brace yourself for another golden era in low cost travel
I know it sounds like I am starved for recognition but it always gives me a small buzz when I hand over my Malaysian passport to the immigration officer at Incheon, Seoul and the little machine in front of her greets me in my native language – definitely warmer than the welcomes you get from human [...]
I can see clearly now, but the future is still blurred
As I go through my life without glasses, for the first time in a long, long, long time, I find myself feeling liberated, yet strangely vulnerable.
For the most part of my considerable adult life, I have been shielded by a visible barrier which helped me see the world better yet protected me from [...]
