After a 5-year turnaround, Hedlund gets set to take Etraveli into next phase of growth
Mathias Hedlund strikes one as the kind of executive who’d do what it takes to get what he wants done. Since 2014, when he took on the reins of Etraveli Group, he has transformed the company, which had a complex, complicated history, into a major global player, powering meta and flights, and that [...]
Questo wants to make every city a game and invites tour operators to come and play
Coupling the booming mobile gaming market and travellers’ quest for local experiences, Questo has designed a ‘real-world exploration game’ to help travellers explore destinations in unique ways.
As CEO Alex Govoreanu sees it, the platform
allows consumers to explore cities without a guide [...]
Are you happy and dissatisfied? If so, Steve Hafner wants you and it’s why he’s still there
If there’s one question Steve Hafner, co-founder and CEO of KAYAK, gets asked a lot, it is “Why are you still here?”
After all, he and co-founder Paul English founded their meta-search business in 2004 and sold it for $1.8 billion in 2012. And on the surface, Hafner doesn't seem to be the [...]
Letter from Fort Lauderdale: Time shifting as search chokes, funds bloat and brands battle for supremacy in next age of tech
As I wait for the first of three flights that will bring me home from Fort Lauderdale to Singapore via Houston and San Francisco, I have downloaded the Timeshifter jetlag app, one of the startups that presented at the Phocuswright conference. It’s relatively easy to set up, I just hope it works b [...]
Exosonic wants the airline industry to boom through supersonic travel
It’s hard to catch the attention of an audience confronted with 24 back-to-back startup and product pitches, but Exosonic managed to do just that. At The Phocuswright Conference Summit, Norris Tie, CEO of Exosonic wowed attendees with his vision of developing a fleet of supersonic passenger aircr [...]
How Trip.com intends to execute its way to becoming the top travel brand in Asia in three years
The message is loud and clear – Trip.com Group wants to have the leading international travel brand in Asia in three years and to be the leading international travel brand in the world by 2025.
Those ambitions were declared by chairman James Liang at its 20th anniversary celebrations and the [...]
Four startups nab top prizes at The Phocuswright Conference Summit
Over 20 startups pitched live at The Phocuswright Conference Summit, spanning travel categories that included hotel technology, corporate travel, chat and voice, SaaS/PaaS, luggage storage, air, in-destination services, and booking, vying for a range of prizes.
Of them included the Phocuswright [...]
Immigration, inequality, inclusion – the themes occupying America
It is interesting the amount of soul-searching that’s going on in North America, both on the political and corporate front, as I discovered on this recent trip which started in Las Vegas, continued to New York and now headed for Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Phocuswright, which begins tomorrow. & [...]
“Airlines must overhaul practices at every level to become more sustainable”
At the Sustainology Summit held in New York last week, Max Knagge (General Manager Americas, Scandinavian Airlines – SAS) spoke of how the onus of improving the sustainability of air travel lies with individual airlines, before highlighting SAS’ efforts in the space.
Taking a bird’s eye vi [...]
Letter from Explore ’19: Persevere, respect, be mindful – and oh, get more sleep
If I had to sum up the first day of Expedia Group’s Explore ’19 conference in Las Vegas today in three words, they’d be “perseverance, respect and mindfulness”.
The morning opened with a talk by Colin O’Brady who, after nine years of having his legs burnt at a beach party in Thailand [...]
