Luxury Escapes to roll out flights and experiences as it scales up in Asia
Australian boutique travel brand, Luxury Escapes, has suddenly become very visible across Asia. In fact, it’s hard to escape its emails or its social ads if you’re living in Asia and that's because the company is ramping up its business in the region.
It appointed a head for Asia, Graham Hi [...]
The smart money is banking on new ways to pay, hands down
I was having coffee at the airport last
week and when I wanted to pay, the “Uncle” asked me, “Do you want to pay by
Alipay? Wave? Grab?”
At the
cashier, I was again asked the same question – only this time, I was offered
“Pay Lah” as well, one of the local bank wallets.
I got s [...]
Our time has come, says Splitty Travel, eyeing Asia and a new B2B split reservations offering
In many ways, Israeli-based startup Splitty Travel feels its time has finally come, both for its “split reservations” model to be accepted into the mainstream and for its entry into Asia. “It’s interesting that the big OTAs are now playing with some of the things we have been doing fo [...]
From “Yarikuri” to “Omoroi”: The Peach way of doing things, all in a book
Peach CEO Shinichi Inoue has the reputation of being different, doing things in a creative and smart way, yet always coming across as someone who just uses plain old common sense a lot. At least that's what I have gathered from the few interviews and interactions I've had with him over the years.
[...]
How Foo broke the glass ceiling by switching lanes, and how Luxe Nomad wants to be APAC’s largest villa management company
After 10 years working in private equity, Foo Lee Lian decided she needed a break. “PE’s an aspirational career when you’re starting out but it can be very stressful and intense. It’s also very male-dominated and as a woman, it’s hard to see your way to the top.”
Aware of the glass c [...]
Sustainable tourism gets royal stamp
Sustainable travel received a huge boost with the announcement that His Royal Highness, The Duke of Sussex has put his royal stamp on a new industry partnership that is “aimed at improving conservation, environmental protection and expanding local community economic development by encouraging sus [...]
From betel to kale, Oway founder Nay Aung on quest to build Next Gen “pagoda” in Myanmar
There we were in Parami Pizza, a popular pizza joint in Yangon. Nay Aung, CEO and founder of Oway, Myanmar’s first OTA, had ordered kale juice and I, a coffee. The impression wasn’t lost on me – kale in a country still known for its betel-chewing among the older generation – shows you how m [...]
Tern takeaways: Here’s what you need to know about building a successful career in travel
The fourth edition of Tern Travel Careers – an event designed to build awareness of the range of career opportunities available in travel and connect industry figures with future talent – featured a cast of speakers spanning hospitality, online travel agencies, corporate travel, tours and acti [...]
From Morse Code to 4G, from Yangon to Loikaw, welcome to a new yet old Myanmar
About 20 years ago, I crossed the Burmese border through the Chinese frontier town of Muse. At one of the checkpoints along the route, I heard the tap-tap-tap of a Morse code machine.
This
time, flying into a new and expanded Yangon International Airport that looks
like it could be anywhere, th [...]
After growing roots in Sri Lanka, Findmyfare wants to fan out to “similar” markets
Returning to Sri Lanka in
2012 after having studied and worked in London for most of their adult life,
university mates Thushan Shanmugarajah and Abishek Sithampalam looked around
for something to do.
Their time
working in London had planted in the 20-somethings the idea of doing a tech
startup. [...]
