Events
Smart city projects like OceanMedallion not for faint of heart, human transformation is harder: Padgett
13/10/2020 by WiT
Implementing “smart city” projects such as its guest experience platform and OceanMedallion wearable onboard Princess Cruises ships is not for the faint of heart, said John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer for Carnival Corporation, during WiT Experience Week Hybrid Day 4. Dur [...]
WiT Experience Week, Rewrite: The start of something new as events take on hybrid life and travel faces life-or-death moments
05/10/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
“I didn’t know how much I had missed this.” “I didn’t think I’d be able to sit through seven hours straight.” “I wouldn’t usually have stayed for dinner.” “We didn’t want to leave.” These were some of the comments expressed by those who were physically present at WiT Ex [...]
Dream Drive claims top prize at WiT Startup of the Year 2020 in Singapore
02/10/2020 by WiT
Japan’s Dream Drive has claimed the top prize in this year’s WiT Singapore Startup Pitch, after it made its final pitch with two others at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre as part of WiT Experience Week, its first-ever hybrid event. It also nabbed the People’s Choice Award, voted [...]
Expedia, Agoda say ‘sacred cows’ of rate parity and last room availability killed by COVID
02/10/2020 by Martin Kelly
The adversarial relationship between hoteliers and the OTAs has changed to an “all hands on deck mentality” during COVID with operators no longer insisting on rate parity and last room availability – once major sticking points – as they scramble to put heads on beds, according to Expedia an [...]
Travel’s Oracle Speaks: KP Ho on Digital Decoupling and a Return to Meaning
02/10/2020 by Luke Clark
He has seen his share of crises and survived to tell the tale, and Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings, assured the WiT Experience Week audience yesterday that despite an unprecedented 2020 for global travel, the group was still in shape to weather the storm. “Thankfully [...]
WiT Experience Week, Rebuild: Wego builds new e-commerce brand outside travel as product chiefs innovate their way out of Covid
01/10/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
The future of product will be codeless, commoditised, accelerated but ultimately human? To ride out the long winter that’s coming, Wego is launching a brand new e-commerce business outside travel, Ross Veitch, CEO and co-founder disclosed yesterday at Day 3: Rebuild of the WiT Experience Week. [...]
WiT Experience Week, Reboot: Build something for the future, investors hungry for products that will last the test of time
30/09/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
While most investors are staying away from travel due to the uncertainty of recovery, Amit Anand, founding partner of Jungle Ventures, remains excited about the space which he said has been kind to him. He’s made two exits – Voyagin to Rakuten and Travelmob to HomeAway – and while he said [...]
WiT Experience Week, Rewind: We’re doing everything we can but it’s messy, “governments must act”
29/09/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
If there is one clear message I took away from hosting Day 1 of WiT Experience Week today, September 28, it is that every one of us is doing all we can to survive this Covid-19 storm but our fortunes (or misfortunes) lie in the hands of governments. When asked the question in our audience pollin [...]
Key takeaways from Google Think Travel APAC to be shared at WiT this week
28/09/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Last week saw the launch of Think Travel APAC 2020, Google’s flagship innovation and marketing event for the travel industry. Over two days 250 travel executives from over 20 countries tuned in to hear from CEOs, Google product teams and top industry players on what they are doing to pivot and su [...]
How to stitch an events quilt for the hybrid world
24/09/2020 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
I don’t know much about quilting but at times, I have felt like we are stitching together a new kind of events quilt for the coronavirus age. I know, everybody says this is the new thing, that virtual’s the state to be in for now because we have no choice and hybrid’s the way forward even [...]