Gibergues’ view of online travel: New trends being set in Asia, Skyscanner & Ctrip will bring marketplace model to the world
Having just spent three months based in its Asia offices, Sebastien Gibergues, Head of Leisure and Online Travel at Amadeus, is better able to appreciate the different way the Asia online travel market is developing compared to Europe and the US.
“I also spent a lot of time in the US previously [...]
WIT Special: Do startups really need to be an ecosystem to thrive? Hark the rise of the middle kingdom in Asia
The recently-released Global Startup Ecosystem Report and Ranking 2017 by Startup Genome stirs up debate over the necessity of startups to thrive and if the startup world at large is overlooking the less obvious opportunities in a rising Asia, that is, its secondary cities.
The report, based on [...]
Northstar acquires conference series and publications from Schneider Publishing
Northstar Travel Group, parent of WIT, has expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of publications SportsTravel and Association News, as well as the conference series, TEAMS Conference + Expo and Meetings Quest from Schneider Publishing.
The purchase also includes the rights to the Shamro [...]
The Millennial Traveller: The secrets behind cultivating real talent in hospitality
The second WIT Hospitality conference took place at Hotel ICON this week, one of Hong Kong’s more forward-thinking teaching hotels. The day saw close on 200 delegates attending, ranging from the usual CEO figureheads from major hotel groups to characters from ambitious startups.
Among them too [...]
Letter from Hong Kong: Hard questions posed at WIT Hospitality, the answer lies in commitment to change
The sky was blue. The air was distinctly chilly. Hong Kong put on her best winter frock for us as we kicked off our first WIT event of the year, our conference dedicated to hospitality.
The day prior to the event, we had held a Think Tank gathering of about 20 industry leaders and we were gathere [...]
Special Report: No slowdown in Malaysia’s outbound travel despite weak ringgit
The Malaysian ringgit may be tumbling, prices of essentials in the country may be rising, and many in the country’s population of 31 million may be cutting down on spending, but one thing hasn’t changed – travel.
As one friend said: “I can reduce the number of dresses I buy or stop upgrad [...]
Confessions of an airline miles hunter: Building Mileslife is harder than a self-drive in Western Africa
He says his hardest trip ever was a self-drive in Western Africa. Over a month, he crossed three countries. Road conditions were terrible and he kept hitting police checkpoints everywhere and at each point, he never knew if he would be arrested or released.
“It was a very hard trip,” says Tro [...]
Letter from Delhi & Shanghai: Meet the two giants shaking up travel & Asia
As I stood at the immigration queue at Delhi airport, just two days after I had departed Shanghai, I was mindful that I had just gone from one mega city to another, two giants that are leading what experts are calling the Asia Decade, or maybe the next two Decades.
In terms of population, both ar [...]
Singapore’s Aviato wins AirAsia’s inaugural hackathon
Team Aviato from Singapore has taken the top prize in AIRVOLUTION 2017, AirAsia's first hackathon, which set the challenge of profiling the airline's fans based on their digital social footprint to improve customer experience.
The Singaporeans beat the other 19 teams at the end of the 18-hour eve [...]
Think cities in ASEAN and tech disruption will play out differently in region
While the world’s attention is focused on North Asia, spare a thought for South-east Asia whose potential is immense and is developing at a rapid pace fuelled by a growing middle class whose behavior will be shaped differently by technology.
Fraser Thompson, director, AlphaBeta, speaking at [...]
