Visitation to travel sites in India surges in past year
Top travel brands witness double and triple-digit growth as consumers take to the web in search of deals, says latest comScore report.Traffic to the Travel category in India grew to more than 14 million visitors in April, an increase of 50 percent from the previous year, as a growing number of India [...]
Road test: NileGuide makes for “simple and intuitive” travel planning
NileGuide’s tagline is ‘All You Need to Plan your Perfect Trip’. That’s quite a claim so it was with high expectations that I made my first visit to the website to see what was what.I used Amsterdam as my destination and began going about creating my own personal guide. NileGuide is essent [...]
Tough for independents to crack down on errant tour operators
With up to 60% of its business coming from tour operators, The Rembrandt Hotel in Bangkok is mindful that even as it works on its online distribution strategy to drive more direct business, it must continue to support “the genuine tour operators”.General manager Eric Hallin (left) said, “My go [...]
Web in Travel fuels innovation in digital travel space with bootcamp for entrepreneurs
The organiser of Web in Travel has put together a one-day bootcamp for entrepreneurs in the digital travel space to fuel innovation in the industry.Organised in conjunction with the WIT Conference this year, WITovation: The Entrepreneur Bootcamp will run on October 18, the day before the main Web in [...]
AirAsiaGo to take “online travel agents by storm”
AirAsia has launched its one-stop online travel portal which it says will revolutionise the way travel plans are made. Indeed, Kathleen Tan, regional head of commercial, said the launch of AirAsiaGo.com “charts another milestone for the online travel agent industry” and that the airline intends [...]
Connections, not costs, the driver behind “landmark” interline agreement
It’s being called a “landmark” interline agreement – the one signed between Air France KLM and the Jetstar Group yesterday in Singapore.Landmark because it’s the first for the European traditional full service carrier to sign such an agreement with Asia Pacific’s fastest growing low cost [...]
Poland to star at ITB Berlin 2011
Next year Poland will be the Partner Country of ITB Berlin. ITB Berlin asked Jan Wawrzyniak, director of the Polish Tourist Board, what we can expect in 2011.Next year Poland will be the Partner Country of ITB Berlin. What objectives are you pursuing through your collaboration with the fair?As th [...]
High-tech, high-touch works for Mercury Travels
As someone who’s worked in the travel industry for about three decades, Ashwini Kakkar, vice chairman of Mercury Travels, India and chairman of Via, has seen the industry through the ups and downs, and all the changes.Ashwini, who cut his teeth with Thomas Cook in India and expanded the network to [...]
Taiwan agents getting bolder with online play
Travel agents in Taiwan are feeling a heightened need to get online and there’s also a growing realization that that means more than just having a website, said Daver Lau, general manager, Amadeus Taiwan.“The entry barrier is still quite high though for new agents wanting to get online and do it [...]
There’s nothing like simplicity
Whether it was intentional or not, I heard the strains of “Don’t Dream It’s Over”, the song by Crowded House used in the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign in the background in the room where the press conference was being held.I suspect it was unintentional – after all, why on earth would Tou [...]
