As technology changes jobs in travel, critical thinking, empathy and stamina will prevail
At the fourth edition of Tern Travel Careers, Greg Schulze (Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy and Services, Expedia Group) and Jennifer Cronin (President, Wharf Hotels, Hong Kong) marked three skills as being fundamental to success.
It was agreed that no matter how much technology cha [...]
Focus and fearlessness pay off for RedDoorz as it badgers its way to becoming a unicorn
When you look at the investors who are involved in the latest Series C funding of $70m for “affordable accommodation provider” RedDoorz, you see a clear pattern – every single one brings a different skill set – and for the first time, CEO and founder Amit Saberwal said he “had to say no t [...]
Expedia joins forces with Tourism Malaysia in destination promotion and digital innovation
Malaysia has set the ambitious target of attracting 30 million foreign visitors and RM100 billion (US$24.3 billion) in tourist spending for Visit Malaysia 2020, although some quarters are sceptical that could be achieved due to the short time frame (campaign launched last month) and the departure l [...]
Armed with $2.5m, OpenSparkz goes from startup to scale to help consumers in Asia earn and burn in one step
The Australian fintech startup’s mission is to “make
every loyalty programme in the world a good experience for customers and
merchants, and to be the go-to global platform for loyalty and offers”. Here’s
how.
Terry McMullen has spent his entire career in loyalty and marketing, first wit [...]
Tink Labs and Honest Bee offer cautionary lessons to tech startups, even unicorns fall
I used to be a fan of the Handy smartphone service. Mainly I used it for its wifi hotspot, even though it meant carrying two phones around. I fiddled with the content but never found it compelling enough to get me to book anything through it.
In recent times, I have used it less and less as dat [...]
From the mouths of youths: We just Google everything and what, travel as a career? Never thought of it
In preparation for the fourth edition of Tern, Travel Careers this Saturday, August 17, I’ve been spending time with Singaporean schoolkids in their mid-teens to find out what they think of travel, firstly as travellers and secondly, as future talent for our industry.
It’s been interesting l [...]
Mark Okerstrom on who’s got the best moves in travel and why Expedia is ultimately the future
Before he put on a suit and ran a multi-billion dollar company, Mark Okerstrom was a backpacker, travelling through Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia, with his wife. Both spent six weeks each time exploring South-east Asia in two trips.
Today, the
closest the president and chief executive [...]
How Hank Marvin got Dylan out of the shadows to launch Split
As a kid growing up in Penang, Dylan Tan liked sitting next to his father as they listened to music. His father’s of course. Cliff Richard was a favourite and one day the tune “Apache” by the Shadows, Richard’s backing group, came on.
Now for
guitar aficiandos, “Apache” is the stuff [...]
Travellers flying out from Malaysia must pay departure tax when September comes
If you can afford to fly you can afford to pay. This seems to be the rationale behind the Malaysia's government move to impose the controversial departure levy for all travellers departing from the country’s airports from September 1 despite protests and calls to postpone its implementation.
T [...]
Yotel Singapore’s focus on Chinese travellers pays off – “it’s not rocket science”, says GM Brendan Daly
If there is one clear and present factor that is changing the way hotels market and operate, it is the Chinese travel market and their growing numbers and one hotel, Yotel Singapore, is certainly riding on and feeling the effects of that trend.
According to the China Outbound Tourism
Research In [...]
