As 2016 dawns, may the force of women be with you
Warning: This post may contain a spoiler alert, but really it's quite obvious. Just as “Lara Croft” got a reboot under the masterful hand of Rhianna Pratchett, into a heroine with more than boobs, Star Wars has also been rebooted with the seventh sequel, “The Force Awakens”.And the force i [...]
May the Internet be with you – hark the forces at play at Expedia
As I write this at JFK airport, waiting for my Korean Airlines flight to Incheon, the Force has awakened. Yesterday – December 17 – was the premiere of the long-awaited and much-anticipated “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, which is getting smash reviews by the way. It was thus only natural t [...]
Travelstart makes inroads in Middle East
Depending on which part of the world you’re in, Travelstart is either a household name or an unknown entity. This is not unusual: most businesses begin by building a platform to cater to local markets and remain most recognisable within their native region.But things might be changing for one OTA. [...]
“The Boss’ Wife” Who’s Definitely Her Own Woman
One thing was clear from the moment Diane von Fusternberg (DVF) walked on stage at the Expedia Partners Conference – she may be married to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s boss Barry Diller but she is clearly her own boss, her own woman – indeed, the woman she wants to be.That’s the title of her new [...]
Letter from Las Vegas: In the land of giants, welcome to the growing world of Expedia
I am sitting in the front row, getting ready for the start of the Expedia Partner Conference 2015 at the Bellagio, Las Vegas.There couldn’t be a more appropriate place for a meeting by this giant of giants in travel. Las Vegas is a place where everything is bigger than big, and size is everything. [...]
We shouldn’t stop travelling but we should ask, what if something goes wrong?
I don’t know if it was this post about a writer whose father died in a house rented on Airbnb that moved me and got me thinking – or if it was the terrorist attacks in Paris, or that bomb that downed a Russian jet, or the terrorist alert in Bali, but there’s no denying we live in frightening t [...]
US$500m new wings to fly for Tuniu, Chinese outbound still powering on
The US$500 million investment to be made by HNA Tourism into Tuniu, the Chinese online leisure travel company, will give Tuniu wings to fly and, more importantly, “greatly help us when we are organising our own package tours”.Conor Yang, CFO of Tuniu, told WIT that HNA’s ownership of 12 differ [...]
The more travel consolidates, the more freedom for differentiation
No sooner had I uttered the word “consolidation” then another piece of news arrived in my inbox. This time, Sabre Hospitality Solutions buying the Trust Group of companies which include Trust International, Nexus and InnLink for US$154 million.The deal, to be finalised early next year, immediate [...]
Peach wants to be Muji or Uniqlo of airlines as it champions Japan inbound
Peach CEO Shinichi Inoue wants his airline to become the Muji or Uniqlo of aviation. Accepting the Low Cost Airline of the Year award at the CAPA Asian Aviation Summit on Monday night, Inoue said with those two brands, you don’t think of them as where they come from but as global household names.T [...]
LCCs in North Asia hampered by archaic airport regulations
Airport regulations are ‘archaic’ and ‘limiting’, said low-cost carrier (LCC) panelists at the CAPA Asia Aviation Summit 2015 in Singapore this week.Speakers at the North Asian LCC panel slammed over-regulation, although where safety was concerned, regulation is both adequate and needed.Part [...]
