“Boring is good”, says Traveloka’s strategy chief
Ex-banker Joydeep recounts the “emotional” days of Covid, looks forward to “steady and stable” future
Joydeep Chakraborty describes himself as a traveller who loves serendipity. “I never book in advance. I like to walk around, find a nice hidden hole in the wall place. The joy I get from [...]
KabuK Style wants to create diverse culture with its blockchain-powered travel subscription service
Japanese fintech startup with fixed price model expands to South Korea
In terms of timing, Kenji Sunada, founder and CEO of KabuK Style, couldn’t have picked a worse moment to launch his online subscription travel service in 2019. “It was very disappointing,” he laughed. “We didn’t expe [...]
GT Pay: From Covid baby to Finalist in Business Innovation awards
GlobalTix’s new payments product allows merchants to accept different digital wallets across Asia
You could call it a Covid baby but GlobalTix’s latest product, GT Pay, which allows merchants to accept up to more than 30 digital wallets across Asia, took a while to grow into its own.
Said CE [...]
Digital wallets continue to rule in APAC, taking lead in Europe and North America
Digital wallets were the leading payment method globally, accounting for 49% of transaction value in e-commerce and 32% at the POS in 2022, and are projected to remain the leading payment method across e-commerce (54%) and POS (43%) in 2026, with fintechs, banks, neobanks, super apps, Big Tech and d [...]
Travelport secures $200 million investment, plans to enhance tech innovation and boost momentum
After strong Q1 results, restructuring of debt and strengthening of company’s balance sheet in the pipeline
Travelport has been on a bit of a hot streak lately. For context, Travelport is a technology company that powers travel bookings for hundreds of thousands of travel suppliers worldwide. Th [...]
Top of the WiT 21: The meaning of travel tech, virtual reality vs travel, more ITB Berlin talk
Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.
In this episode, we continue our discussion of ITB Berlin with special guest Timothy O'Neil-Dunne (Principal, T2Impact). Tim goes over the me [...]
Brex leverages Spotnana to launch integrated travel solution that isn’t impacted by commissions
New app builds on the momentum of the company's rapidly expanding Empower platform
With business travel picking up all over the world now that most borders have reopened, fintech company Brex has officially entered the travel space with the announcement of Brex Travel. The new app includes booking [...]
Budgets and options: Could “Save Now Buy Later” take off in travel?
Buy now, pay later - a form of credit that allows a consumer to pay off a purchase over time in smaller installments - has taken off in the travel industry in recent years.
From 2019 to 2021, the number of BNPL loans originated in the United States by five lenders grew by 970%, to 180 million loan [...]
Rhinos, unicorns, and fragmented markets: 3 investment trends that will shape travel and hospitality this year
IT has been a turbulent time for tech investments and particularly tough for travel. But then amid the dark clouds, there’s always the silver lining and investors are hard wired to seek out the bright spots. What do they see beyond the horizon, into the new world of travel and tech investments? Wh [...]
RateGain rounds out offering with acquisition of Adara
Travel solutions provider RateGain has acquired travel intelligence and intent company Adara through an asset purchase agreement.
The deal includes an upfront payment of $14.6 million as well as a deferred payment of $1.5 million to be paid in a year.
California-based Adara, which was foun [...]
