Letter from Los Angeles: Of last mile mobility, teenage dreams and Chinese ambitions
The day I landed in Los Angeles, there was a heavy smell of smoke in the air. The California wildfires were raging and the winds were blowing smoke towards the city.
It didn’t stop the city’s residents from getting out and about. The LA Live area was teeming with crowds. A Lakers game was on, [...]
Uncovering stories of startups in Asia Part 2: Of size, investments and restrictive policies
Startups from China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Nepal and Israel took to the stage at the WiT Bootcamp held in conjunction with WiT Singapore 2018 conference last month to share their stories and the state of the startup ecosystem in their countries.
In the second part of the report we h [...]
Northstar Travel Group accelerates digital transformation with launch of Northstar Studio 90
Northstar Travel Group (Northstar) has launched Northstar Studio 90, a digital strategy and content marketing team focused on delivering business performance for their clients' marketing investments.
The new team will tap directly into Northstar’s proprietary audience data and content expertise [...]
From Singapore to Shenzhen, from Youbibi to Skyscanner, Steven Pang makes seamless transition from startup to global play
While others were still dreaming about the China travel opportunity, Steven Pang, a Singaporean living in Hong Kong, took the plunge back in 2010 to start a travel search business specialising in comparing flights, hotels and package holidays. He chose the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen as his s [...]
Study: India, Indonesia have the most digitally-advanced travellers
India and Indonesia with their large young populations of 'digital natives' are, unsurprisingly, the top two countries with the most digitally-advanced travellers, with India holding the top spot for the second year in a row (2017 & 2018).
Brazil (up one spot to third), China (slipped to fou [...]
Hotelbeds widens reach into ancillary space with acquisition of UK-based HolidayTaxis
Hotelbeds has acquired HolidayTaxis Group (HolidayTaxis) to reinforce its "commitment to growth in the rapidly the rapidly expanding ancillary distribution space."
The bedbank said this latest acquisition was a "strategic fit" following its recent decision to rename its ancillary product line as [...]
Sojern to expand into new markets with US$120m fresh funding
Travel tech firm Sojern has raised US$120 million Series D led by growth equity firm TCV, raising its total funding to US$162.5 million over five rounds.
TCV has also invested in companies including Airbnb, Expedia, HomeAway, TripAdvisor, SiteMinder, ExactTarget, Act-On and Ariba.
Sojern, the [...]
Uncovering stories of startups in Asia Part 1: Of challenges, funding and going global
Startups from China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Nepal and Israel took to the stage at the WiT Bootcmap held in conjunction with WiT Singapore 2018 conference last month to share their stories and the state of the startup ecosystem in their countries.
In this first part of the report we f [...]
Tushar Khandelwal: An entrepreneur’s Interstellar-inspired voyage into tours & activities
We remember Tushar Khandelwal, COO & co-founder, when he first pitched the idea of Voyagin at a WiTNext event aimed at future leaders. Since then, the tours & activities startup has gone places, been acquired by Rakuten and claims a solid footing in the most exciting space in online travel. [...]
TripAdvisor launches redesigned website as “go-to resource for travel”
TripAdvisor, the largest travel website in the world “with nearly half a billion unique visitors every month”, has launched its new homepage worldwide.
The idea behind the redesign is to give travellers searching for places to go or where to stay to discover recommendations from friends, fami [...]
