On the back of booming Internet economy in SEA, WiT takes bird’s eye view of travel 2020 and beyond
It’s been a momentous time for online travel and on the cusp of a new decade, the WiT Singapore 2019 conference – being held Oct 14-16 – will take a bird’s eye view of the industry and project into the future of what travel could look like in 2020 and beyond.
And it’s a promising futu [...]
Asia Partners’ Rippel on why SEA could produce up to 30 unicorns and how he doesn’t want to miss it this time
Oliver Rippel, co-founder and partner of Asia Partners, believes South-east Asia could yield between 20 and 30 tech unicorns. And he believes there are only certain sectors that can have global network effects, the rest, which includes online travel, is where local heroes can win over global player [...]
How Sojern’s Travel Advertising report unearthed a stark difference in Asia and why it’s taking a more localised approach
When Stephen Taylor, chief revenue officer, was going through the results of Sojern’s 2019 Report on Travel Advertising, one finding stood out for him. “Driving direct bookings” was the biggest challenge cited by travel marketers in APAC (Asia Pacific) while globally, the biggest challenge [...]
In The Big Chair – Keith Tan, CEO, Singapore Tourism Board
Keith Tan took over the reins of the Singapore Tourism Board just under a year ago. He joined STB from his role of deputy secretary of policy at the Ministry of Defence. Tan joined the Singapore Tourism Board midway through its 2016-2020 travel marketing strategy, which focuses on stories, fans and [...]
In bid to differentiate meta-search service, LINE Travel jp plays Loyalty and Pay card
A year after its rebranding into LINE Travel jp, following a 34% equity investment by the messaging giant, Japan’s travel meta-search service will offer its customers a LINE Point-back service when they book and pay for travel bookings through its website effective September 25.
At the same t [...]
New crop of startups reflects maturity of Asia’s travel market
Up to 10 travel companies will vie for the WiT Startup of the Year 2019 on October 14 following the completion of the first judging round of travel’s largest startup competition, powered by Amadeus.
The winner of the competition, run as part of the WiT
Singapore 2019 conference, stands to wal [...]
APAC key to driving pace of change and growth for Booking as it works on delivering “the connected trip”
The day I catch up with Angel Llull Mancas, the managing director for Booking.com, APAC, comes the news of the collapse of Thomas Cook Group, one of the most well-known brands in the history of travel. It is a shock yet not such a surprise, according to this analysis in Phocuswire.
“It shows
[...]
TripAdvisor takes fake reviews by the horns, urges others to do the same
TripAdvisor has taken the issue of fake reviews by the horns and is urging other platforms like Google and Facebook to do the same.
“We need other major platforms like Google and Facebook to step up and take the issue of fake reviews seriously. Right now, we are not seeing that,” said Bec [...]
Thomas Cook collapses after rescue plan fails
Thomas Cook, one of the most well-known brands in the history of the travel industry, has collapsed after a financial rescue failed to materialise.
The U.K. and Germany-listed public company needed a £200 million bailout to secure survival following a previous investment of £900 million in Jul [...]
Marriott, Expedia team up on wholesale rates, marking a big step in the OTA-hotel relationship
The deal between Marriott International and Expedia Group which makes the OTA the exclusive global optimised distributor of Marriott's wholesale rates, availability and content to a network of global travel providers is a clear move by the hotel chain to tighten the leakage of wholesale rates and r [...]
