How to fly high: Lessons from Tony Fernandes
It was fitting that I was flying high on a United Airlines flight to San Francisco when I read the new book by Tony Fernandes, group CEO of AirAsia, as he told his story from the low cost airline to QPR (Queen’s Park Rangers, for those who may not be familiar with soccer).
It’s a great inflig [...]
APAC has the most digitally dependent travellers, Travelport study reveals
India, China and Indonesia have the most digitally dependent travellers, according to a recently-released “Digital Traveller” report by Travelport.
The research, which identified trends and insights into how travellers use digital tools differently around the world, and what providers can do [...]
Letter from Fort Lauderdale: From storms to tech, global forces that bind us
Piles of seaweed lie strewn along the water’s edge along Hollywood Beach in Fort Lauderdale. I am told it’s the remnants of Hurricane Irma which crashed through the state of Florida last month.
From the other side of the world, I’ve been receiving updates of the floods that have devastated [...]
ANA XPRIZE competitors envision a future of travel through avatars
If two men from All Nippon Airways (ANA) have their way, villages across the world could in future host avatars that experts could “log in” to and help the village with healthcare, engineering, education.
The avatars will be a shared service — like an Uber, or an Airbnb — so no one owns t [...]
Introducing SITA’s Kate, Leo the Baggage Robot’s Self-Check In Sister
Inching ever closer to creating frictionless travel, communications and IT solutions provider SITA was present at the Future Travel Experience Asia 2017 (FTE) to exhibit their latest engineering developments in airport technology.
Last year, SITA introduced ‘Leo’, an autonomous, self-propelle [...]
Cebu Pacific’s Szucs on how social and mobile rule in the Philippines’ fast growing travel market
Airline veteran Michael Szucs confesses a love for working in emerging markets.
“Emerging markets open more opportunities,” he said at the WIT 2017 Conference in October, and clearly they feed his “pioneering spirit” which, after an early career at British Airways, has led him to stints a [...]
WIT 2017 Conference: Expedia’s Melissa Maher on beyond distribution, diversity and Asia
At WIT 2017, Melissa Maher (Senior Vice President, Global Partner Group, Expedia, Inc.) discussed how Expedia perpetuates a strong culture of diversity – from its suite of brands down to the people they hire.
As someone who has been with Expedia since 2001 and risen through the ranks, she remar [...]
Letter from Cempedak: Seven secrets to landing among the stars
It was exactly a year ago that I visited the private island of Cempedak in the Riau Archipelago of Indonesia and saw it in the making of stage. Piles of bamboo were strewn all over the white sand but there was a definite shape of a resort that resembled a sail unfurling out of the waters.
The isl [...]
WIT 2017 Conference: Self-driving cars are closer than we think, says CarTrawler’s Bobby Healy
In 2050, your self-driving car could go to the drive-through and pick up your coffee as you are just getting out of bed. It could then drive you to the office as you work in the car. You will get an accurate arrival time — because there will not be unpredictable driving with autonomous cars on the [...]
Letter from Singapore: 8 key takeaways on creating “Better Travel”
From opportunity markets to product innovations to new tech, a lot was discussed at this week’s WIT Conference in Singapore. Here are the eight key takeaways.
The Next Billion Users and it will all be mobile
Most of the major travel brands, from Facebook to Google to Airbnb, are eyei [...]
