Boosted by General Atlantic deal, Kiwi.com wants to take virtual interlining to new highs
If Oliver Dlouhý, founder and chief executive officer of Kiwi.com, has his way, one day he will be able to fly on an unmanned civilian flight from Brno, the small town where he lives in Czech Republic, to any major European airport and connect to anywhere in the world.
Indeed, that was the reas [...]
How one Japanese genius detective boy whipped up a frenzy in Singapore
Yeoh Siew Hoon caught “Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire” in action at the Singapore premiere and goes behind the scenes to find out why this first-to-be-set-outside-Japan-in-24-years manga and anime movie matters so much to Singapore tourism and the future of Japanese outbound.
It [...]
Letter from Green Acres & The Habitat, Penang: Where the grass is indeed greener and nature richer
“I think something’s changed,” said Eric Chong, owner of Green Acres, an eco-resort built within a durian orchard in Penang. “Our occupancies have doubled since last year. I think travellers are really looking for different, authentic experiences.”
Where are they coming from, I asked.
[...]
Inside Inge De Lathauwer’s passion project: Changing lives in Sumba and proving a sustainable model in hospitality can pay off
Sumba Hospitality Foundation was one of the startups that qualified for a grant from Booking Booster, the Booking.com programme that supports social enterprises. With the 100,000 Euro funds, it hopes to boost profitability at its eco-resort so that eventually it can support the school that prepares [...]
Trip.com’s Lynn Qu on going global and building a super travel app
A year into her role as vice president, product and marketing for Trip.com, and Lynn Qu is taking her experience working for brands such as Microsoft, Expedia and HomeAway (now Vrbo) to take the Ctrip group brand global and using the Chinese edge in native app development to build a super travel ap [...]
Travelstart to acquire Club Travel Group in bid to create full-service African travel entity
Following its change in investor from MTN to HarbourVest in late May, Amadeus Capital Partners-backed Travelstart has made the first of an expected series of acquisitions in its bid to own Africa – this week, it announced it is buying 100% of the Club Travel Group.
Travelstart’s CEO Stephan [...]
To win in corporate travel today, you need a tech edge
FCM's chief for Asia Bertrand Saillet speaks to Yeoh Siew Hoon on how it is blending best of online and offline in Asia by investing in new tech to enhance the traveller experience and taking lessons from its parent company's retail model.
There was a time in corporate travel that when you asked [...]
BookMeBus wants to change the way locals and travellers explore Cambodia by digitising bus travel
A finalist at WiT Singapore 2018 and the winner of ‘Most Promising Travel Startup’ at the Echelon Asia Summit 2018, BookMeBus has big plans to shake up the transportation sector in Cambodia and beyond.
If BookMeBus has its way, people in
Cambodia and eventually across ASEAN, as well as trav [...]
Meet the man who wants to change the way governments look at tourism in Asia
Ang Choo Pin left the world of politics and diplomacy to join travel because he saw an opportunity to make an impact in an industry that he believes is truly a force for good. Yeoh Siew Hoon catches up with Expedia Group’s senior director for government and corporate affairs for Asia to find out [...]
VIDEOS: WiT Europe 2019 – Through the Looking Glass
This year’s WiT Europe @ Phocuswright Europe on May 16 in Amsterdam took a peek "Through The Looking Glass" at the key trends driving and influencing two of the world’s largest and fastest changing travel markets – Asia Pacific and the Middle East. The discussions went deep into the opportuni [...]
