The Wrap: The Crest Collection from Ascott – luxury with a sense of home
In the news: Ascott’s new The Crest Collection, Lion Air flies with Sabre, Amadeus’ revenue management solution for SIA, GfK-ForwardKeys on inbound travel to IndiaThe Crest Collection from Ascott – luxury with a sense of homeAscott has added a touch of European elegance and grandeur to its col [...]
The Wrap: Carlson Rezidor brings Virtual Reality to Radisson Blue’s design programme
In the news: Virtual reality for Radisson Blue's design programme, CarTrawler and Shannon Airport collaborate, TripAdvisor’s report on best time to book hotels, Langham Hospitality Group’s new corporate websiteCarlson Rezidor brings Virtual Reality to Radisson Blue's design programme Carlson Rez [...]
Local gladiators gear up for battle in South Korea travel market
When asked to describe the state of the Korean online travel market in an image, Min Yoon, CEO of TideSquare, shared an image of a gladiator scene from ancient Rome much to the amusement of the audience gathered for the first WIT Seoul on March 25.He called it “super competitive” and that things [...]
Travelport expands Japan’s presence with acquisition of Galileo Japan
Leading travel commerce platform, Travelport, has acquired Galileo Japan, its third party distributor in the country.Galileo Japan was previously owned by a consortium of airline owners.With the acquisition Travelport will build a new, consolidated Travelport Japan entity that will continue to offer [...]
AccorHotels buys onefinestay, plans to add 40 new markets
Adding to its arsenal in private accommodation, Accor Hotels has acquired onefinestay, a high-end hospitality pioneer specialising in luxury serviced home rental in key worldwide gateways.The acquisition is for €148M (£117M) and AccorHotels has made a further commitment of €64m (£50m) to help [...]
KLM expands social media strategy with launch of Facebook Messenger service
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has partnered with Facebook Messenger to launch a service that allow travellers to check-in, access boarding pass and receive flight status updates through the app.This makes KLM the first global airline to provide these services on Messenger.The new partnership makes it eas [...]
The Wrap: Historic Central Market goes online to reach a wider audience
In the news: KL Central Market’s MoU with 11street, new baggage tracing solution from Lufthansa and SITA, Hop Inn and FASTBOOKING partnerHistoric Central Market goes online to reach a wider audienceCentral Market, one of the most popular attractions in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur, h [...]
By all means, pursue direct but learn to milk those distribution partnerships
No hotel is an island, especially in distribution, and once you accept that fact then the wisest approach to take is to then find the right distributors who can give you the most value.That was the general consensus of hoteliers speaking at WIT Hospitality. Puneet Mahindroo, corporate director of re [...]
Letter from Seoul: Deciphering the puzzle that is South Korea’s online travel
If there’s one country in Asia that has been successful in exporting its pop culture, it’s South Korea. Remember Psy and Gangnam Style that took the world by storm? Well, before and after him, there was and is K-pop.K-soaps are huge and getting huger. There are fans from Bhutan to New York. And [...]
6 reasons why hoteliers are “sitting ducks” for disruption
Veteran hotelier Giovanni Angelini, who’s been in the hospitality industry for more than five decades, listed five reasons why hoteliers were not responding fast enough to digital disruption.One, bureaucracy and silos. “We are a labour intensive industry and we have created too many departments [...]
