Hoteliers must prepare for new wave of challenges in increasingly dynamic marketplace
Hotels must find ways to optimise their pricing and distribution in a marketplace that is continually under pressure from new entrants and new technology.
One of the industry’s front runner in revenue management is organising its third presentation of a revenue strategy forum, this year in Hong [...]
Letter from Sydney: Winter’s coming, a battle of Amazonic proportions is looming
Winter in Sydney is very different from the winter portrayed in the Game of Thrones television series but I get the feeling that the competition for online consumers is going to get as brutal and bloody in the next year or so, and travel will be caught up in the quest for the Iron Throne.
The [...]
Jetstar’s bets on digital, data 4 years ago paying off
Jayne Hrdlicka, CEO of Jetstar Group, painted a picture as sunny as the weather outside for her airline at this week’s CAPA Aviation Summit in Sydney.
Opening the two-day conference, she said, “The global economy is in its best shape since the GFC. We are carrying 37 million passengers now, t [...]
Startups in ASEAN: Time to look to China, not US, for lessons
If there was one clear message coming out from investors in the tech space at the Techsauce Global Summit in Bangkok last week, it was – it’s time for startups in Southeast Asia to stop looking to the US for role models; instead they should look to China.
A panel of investors, specialising in [...]
Letter from Kuching: Lessons for small earthlings in second cities
Just returned from Kuching and on the AirAsia flight to Singapore, I was reflecting on how the combination of low cost airlines and the web, specifically social media, has changed the fortunes and aspirations of folks living in second cities in Asia.
I hail from a secondary city myself, Penang, a [...]
Letter from Sydney: Chatbots are hot but they are no silver bullet
Travelport Live in Sydney kicked off with two female “robot” dancers wearing suits that were more lit up than a Christmas tree, their robot-like movements a hint of where the discussions at the one-and-a-half day conference would be heading.
Futurist Ross Dawson opened with a br [...]
How Katsumi Sakakura conquered himself to bring Japanese cool to the world
It was two days before Katsumi Sakakura was due to perform at the opening of WIT Japan & North Asia 2017 in Tokyo and I was curious to meet the artist who had captured my imagination with his performances which blend, as he calls it, “screen power with human power”.
In dress and look, h [...]
Letter from Karuizawa: Of domestic sausages, chowa and online battles
Karuizawa is an hour’s train ride from Tokyo. The hill resort is a popular summer retreat for Tokyo folks looking to escape the heat and stress of city life. At WIT Japan & North Asia, there was a lot of talk about the need to disperse tourism beyond the main centres of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto [...]
Letter from Tokyo: Why did you come to Japan? A tale of Japanese influence on youthful dreams
On the Japan Airlines flight over from Singapore, I caught a television programme made by Tokyo TV called “Why did you come to Japan?”
Clearly launched on the back of the inbound boom to Japan, it basically catches visitors at Narita airport unawares, asks them their reason for coming to the [...]
Letter from Amsterdam Part 2: Fear of ghosts and bikes, and trends that rock in Asia
In Amsterdam, I stayed at the Grand Amrath Hotel. It’s reputed to be haunted. I didn’t know it because unlike 80% of travellers who read reviews before they book a hotel, I didn’t do any research.
I stayed there because it was the hotel of choice for the Phocuswright team. It’s a very [...]
