£128 million in new investment for Skyscanner
Five new partners of Skyscanner are collectively investing £128 million (US$192 million) in the global search engine.The investment from Artemis (global fund manager), Baillie Gifford (independent investment manager based in Edinburg), Khazanah Nasional Berhad (sovereign wealth fund of the Malaysia [...]
Happy 2016: What was over-hyped and what’s coming, Part 3
With the dawn of a new year, we ask a few of our industry leaders for what they felt was most over-hyped in the year that was, their prediction for 2016 and for good measure, we asked them their one wish for WIT. Tao Tao, CMO, GetYourGuide1. Most over-hyped trend of 2015 Apps. Acquiring customers on [...]
Fresh funding for online hotel booking start-up, SavvyMob
Bengaluru-based SavvyMob, an on-demand mobile marketplace for last minute hotel rooms in India, has closed a seed investment to further expand its product and to strengthen its technology team.The investment is led by Mohandas Pai’s Aarin Capital and includes members of prominent business houses i [...]
Ctrip & MakeMyTrip: A union that sets tone for Fiery Monkey year
Some liken it to fulfilling what Admiral Zheng He, the great Chinese explorer, started in the 14th century when the eunuch mounted expeditionary voyages across the world, from Asia to Africa.Some see it as the awakening of Asia, a time when Asian giants have the ambition, appetite and, most importan [...]
The Wrap: Ascott expands reach in China through global portfolio listing on Alitrip
In the news: Ascott’s strategic partnership with Alitrip, Chinese airlines end ties with Qunar, strong passenger growth for APAC carriers Ascott expands reach in China through global portfolio listing on AlitripThe Ascott Ltd, wholly owned serviced residence business unit of Singapore based Capit [...]
WIT Hospitality makes its debut in Hong Kong this March
WIT will launch its first hospitality-focused conference in Hong Kong on March 22, 2016. The one-day event, themed “Reboot”, will be held at Hotel ICON.“With all the changes taking place in hotel distribution, marketing and technology, it is time for us to run an event that’s focused on this [...]
Reboot of HK Express proves residents are hungry for low cost air travel and booking online
If there is one thing HK Express has proven, it’s that Hong Kong folks have an appetite for low cost air travel – that plus the fact that with the right incentive and marketing, residents of this densely populated city will also book online and direct.I caught up with CEO Andrew Cowen (below) on [...]
Happy 2016: What was over-hyped and what’s coming, Part 2
With the dawn of a new year, we ask a few of our industry leaders for what they felt was most over-hyped in the year that was, their prediction for 2016 and for good measure, we asked them their one wish for WIT. Timothy Hughes, Vice President Marketing, Agoda1. Most over-hyped trend of 2015Upper Fu [...]
Happy 2016: What was over-hyped and what’s coming, Part 1
As 2015 draws to a close, we ask a few of our industry leaders for what they felt was most over-hyped in the year that was, their prediction for 2016 and for good measure, we asked them their one wish for WIT. John Kim, Chief Product Officer, Expedia Inc1. Most over-hyped trend in 2015Self driving c [...]
Google launches APAC Travel Dashboard
Google has launched its APAC Travel Dashboard which tracks travel search queries on Google.com.Said Simon Fiquet, head of global travel accounts at Google APAC, said, “We thought it would be great to share these insights with travel industry so we worked with our creative agency to build an interf [...]
