Spoiler alert. GOT Season 8: No one dies – yet, just like online travel
War chests have been
replenished, battle moves have been made, welcome to travel’s own GOT (Game of
Online Travel) Season 2019
If you are a Game of Thrones fan, you will know the first two episodes have largely been helping us to catch up on the story, and none of the main characters has died [...]
Grab adds four new services in quest to become “everyday super app”
In a bid to evolve from ride-hailing app to super app, Grab
announced four new services to its platform – trip planning, hotel booking,
on-demand video streaming and movie tickets.
To deliver these services, Grab is
partnering with Booking.com and Agoda for its hotel bookings (no surprises he [...]
How to thrive amid disruption in a globalised world: Lessons from tech and travel giants
At
the STB Tourism Industry Conference earlier this week, a cast of tech giants
from Expedia, Alibaba and Google, moderated by WiT’s Yeoh Siew Hoon, discussed
a burning topic in travel and beyond: how to thrive in the face of disruption.
Arguably each of the companies present on
stage has bee [...]
STB joins forces with Traveloka, Alibaba in move to deepen its digital strategy
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has announced two strategic partnerships with Alibaba Group and Traveloka in a move that signals its intent to develop a more comprehensive digital strategy as more travellers move online.
Announcing the two agreements at Tourism
Industry Conference 2019, CEO K [...]
Will Malaysia’s departure levy hurt the country’s tourism industry? Opinions divided
Is paying RM20 to RM40 as departure levy flying out of Malaysian airports a deterrent to your travel? A question I put to a few friends who fly frequently for both work and play. All answered in the negative, as the amount is too small to affect their travel budget or stop them from taking holiday [...]
From Ain Dubai to the Red Sea, travel brands jostle to find their groove in a booming market
On the morning after WiT Middle East ended, I went for a walk across from Jumeirah Beach to Bluewaters Island, a new development that boasts 132 shops and restaurants, Caesars Palace Hotel and the 210m Ain Dubai, touted as the world’s largest observation wheel. For those of you familiar with Duba [...]
Online payment solutions crucial to travel, as Middle East travellers book later and more often
At
WiT Middle East this week, Checkout.com’s Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo (VP Business
Development, MENA) presented a comprehensive report on the state of online
payments in the Middle East travel industry.
During his exclusive presentation,
Abbondandolo gave an in-depth view on the purchasing b [...]
The Middle East is “golden goose” of travel: Opportunities revealed at WiT ME
Movers and shakers of the Middle East online travel industry gathered at WiT Middle East 2019 in Dubai on April 9 to share their plans to unlock the potential of a fast-changing market being driven by youths – 60% of consumers are Millennials and Gen Z, strong spending power and technology develo [...]
Letter from UAE: Excuse me, have you got my reservation yet? The art of dealing with the last minute
The last time I was in Abu Dhabi four years ago, there was a lot of talk about the development to come that would transform this emirati of 214 islands into a tourism destination – among them, the Saadiyat Cultural District that would comprise the Louvre, Guggenheim and Zayed National Museum.
[...]
Cleartrip lays down solid road map to become “OTA to the emerging world”
At the last WiT Middle East in Dubai in 2015, Stuart Crighton, CEO of Cleartrip, made it very clear the OTA would bet big on mobile given the high mobile penetration in the region, a trend markedly similar to its home market in India.
Articulating his vision then, he said Cleartrip did not wish [...]
