5 tech trends business travel agents should heed to remain competitive
Business travel is fast growing. The sector is estimated to reach US$1.6 trillion by 2020 according to the Global Business Travel Association, and by 2025 business travel spend in Asia Pacific will double and account for half of the world’s total. (See infographic below)
The challenge for busi [...]
Pricing and distribution havoc hits in-destination with rise of OTAs: Klook’s Fan predicts shift to dynamic pricing
Tours, as a category in travel, have been around since the beginning of well, travel. Laurent Kuenzle, CEO of destination management company Asian Trails, subtly reminded delegates attending Arival last week in Bangkok, “We’ve been doing tours since the beginning, tours are our DNA, experiences [...]
Agoda sees Yanolja stake as opportunity to break “wall between booking and on-property experience”
Booking Holdings’ investment into South Korean accommodation startup, Yanolja, its first foray into that market, was motivated by two key factors – the market opportunity as well as Yanolja’s unique model “which includes tens of thousands of hotels installed on its PMS”, said Agoda’s vi [...]
Guest Blog: Does your website really sell as much as you would like?
If the average hotel website conversion rate is 2.2%, there’s a consequent gap between the top 20% of hotels that perform a 5.6% conversion rate and the bottom 20% that painfully reach a conversion rate of 0.3 %1. These figures raise two questions for your hotel’s website: where does it stand a [...]
The Wrap: Finnair flies into the tours and activities sector with new digital travel service
News Roundup: Finnair's newly-launched Here/now aims to attract international tourists to Finland and the Nordic, ATPCO signs new expansion deal with Google Flights, Ypsilon join forces with Amadeus to streamline payments to low cost carriers.
Travel: Finnair flies into the tours and activities [...]
Grab announces investment and partnership with Splyt, to let travellers book rides via Grab app worldwide
Self-acclaimed “every day super app”, Grab has deepened its partnership with and invested in Splyt Technologies – a London-based transportation solution.
Currently, Grab and Splyt already have an existing partnership that allows international travellers to book Grab rides across over 300 [...]
Boosted by General Atlantic deal, Kiwi.com wants to take virtual interlining to new highs
If Oliver Dlouhý, founder and chief executive officer of Kiwi.com, has his way, one day he will be able to fly on an unmanned civilian flight from Brno, the small town where he lives in Czech Republic, to any major European airport and connect to anywhere in the world.
Indeed, that was the reas [...]
How one Japanese genius detective boy whipped up a frenzy in Singapore
Yeoh Siew Hoon caught “Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire” in action at the Singapore premiere and goes behind the scenes to find out why this first-to-be-set-outside-Japan-in-24-years manga and anime movie matters so much to Singapore tourism and the future of Japanese outbound.
It [...]
BeMyGuest raises new funds for expansion in Asia
Singapore-based provider of travel activities and tours in Asia, BeMyGuest, has secured a new round of funding in Series B "largely from internal stakeholders" to drive continued development in its Asian home market.
The technology and distribution specialist did not disclose the amount of the n [...]
The Wrap: Air NZ, ST Engineering team up to trail drones for aircraft inspection
News Roundup: An update on airlines in the Asian region with Air New Zealand adopting drone technology to improve operations, Emirates helping to preserve the environment with removal of single-use plastic and AirAsia acquiring more new generation aircraft in response to ongoing strong demand for t [...]
