Expedia sets as its “Everest” – a frictionless travel experience
He got burnt badly at a beach party in Koh Tao, Thailand, was told he’d never walk again and ended up climbing several mountains including Everest and walking across the Antarctica. Colin O’Brady opened Expedia Group’s Explore ’19 conference in Las Vegas this morning by asking delegates, � [...]
US aviation authority downgrades Malaysia’s status for air travel to Category 2
US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has downgraded Malaysia’s air safety rating from Category 1 to Category 2, which will not allow the country’s airlines to add new flights to the United States.
In a press statement issued on 11 November, the FAA said it “has found the Civil Aviation [...]
Travel giants Trip and TripAdvisor extend global reach through partnership
Trip.com Group Limited and TripAdvisor, Inc. have formed a strategic partnership to expand global cooperation, including a joint venture, global content agreements and a governance agreement.
Ctrip
Investment Holding Ltd., a subsidiary of Trip.com Group has entered into
[...]
A tale of three places: Bamboo, Bali and never-ending neon
Travelling straight from the private
island of Cempedak to the mass tourism island of Bali is one thing, but going
on from Bali to Shanghai the day after, well, that’s another. The contrasts are
marked but there’s a common thread that weaves through them – the story of
travel – as Yeoh Siew [...]
Experiential travel from Asia will fuel Africa’s rise, sustainability and conservation paramount
As consumers become more conscientious about the sustainability of their travel practices, some are actively seeking out brands better aligned with their values. And Singita, which runs high end lodges alongside wildlife protection programmes in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Rwanda believes [...]
Transformation of a sacred cow: The flight path of SIA into a digital enterprise, beyond airline seats
Singapore Airlines (SIA) started its digital transformation in 2016. Since then, hundreds of millions have been invested in IT capex with the vision of creating a “future where SIA remains a prestigious proposition but becomes a smaller part of the whole entity, and the other seeds would have bec [...]
Navigating the pitfalls for travel startups: A “safety” guide
“My goal is to highlight some of the most common place calamities to befall travel startups,” was how Rod Cuthbert, board member of Veltra Corp and former chairman & CEO of Viator & Rome2rio, started his presentation at WiT Innovation Stage held last week in conjunction with WiT S [...]
Letter from the South China Sea: Time for unusual thinking, unorthodox partnerships and old-fashioned making money
Yeoh Siew Hoon gets stranded on a coral
reef off Cempedak and ponders the secrets of the travel universe as they were revealed
at last week’s WiT Singapore 2019.
The sun was about to call it a day when we set out on a boat from Cempedak Island off Bintan, Indonesia. Our destination was a coral [...]
WiT Innovation Stage: Why a seamless online experience is key to building customer loyalty
Here’s a little-known fact: The ubiquitous QR code that we use today was actually invented in 1994 in Japan. Yet, according to Ory Rusli, head of South-east Asia, Japan Foodie – a restaurant search app for visitors to Japan – when it came to introducing this mode of payment to Japanese mercha [...]
WiT Singapore 2019: Agoda’s CEO talks Asia, moving beyond accommodation, partnerships
Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” could be the theme song of Singapore-based travel platform Agoda as it focuses on finding the "best inventory" for its customers, operating with the "best tech" and fending off the intense competition in Asia armed with the "best weapons”. In a wide-ranging [...]
