Letter from Karuizawa: Of domestic sausages, chowa and online battles
Karuizawa is an hour’s train ride from Tokyo. The hill resort is a popular summer retreat for Tokyo folks looking to escape the heat and stress of city life. At WIT Japan & North Asia, there was a lot of talk about the need to disperse tourism beyond the main centres of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto [...]
Letter from Tokyo: Why did you come to Japan? A tale of Japanese influence on youthful dreams
On the Japan Airlines flight over from Singapore, I caught a television programme made by Tokyo TV called “Why did you come to Japan?”
Clearly launched on the back of the inbound boom to Japan, it basically catches visitors at Narita airport unawares, asks them their reason for coming to the [...]
JTB buys Kuoni, the Samurais fight back, get set for a fiery WIT Japan
The news of JTB Corporation acquiring all shares of Kuoni Global Travel Services, making it the world’s largest DMC, is yet another sign of the emergence of Asia travel brands on the global scene.
As the Asia market grows in importance and scale, and their customers fan out across the world in [...]
Letter from Amsterdam: Fretting over Google, obsessing about data and customers and lessons from Lola
At Schiphol these days, they still give you free WiFi for an hour, but on the condition that you have to complete a survey. If you don’t wish to do that, then you can pay for premium access.
It’s a fair exchange, I reckon. You shouldn’t get something for nothing and it is clear that travel [...]
Letter from Seoul: Tensions there may be but in travel, it’s business unusual as competition heats up and mobile rules
Over Korean barbecue with real beef (my Korean hosts insist on using the adjective, which makes me wonder if there’s a lot of fake beef going round like news), I asked my friends, “How do you think living in a place that’s always in the middle of tensions and threats of nuclear bombs shape you [...]
Northstar Travel Group acquires the leading group of hotel investment events from Burba Hotel Network
Northstar Travel Group announced it has acquired the hotel investment event portfolio from Burba Hotel Network (“BHN”), the American Hotel & Lodging Association (“AHLA”), and their other partners. BHN produces 10 hospitality investment events and conferences around the world, including [...]
AirAsia: The journey to becoming a digital airline has begun
AirAsia always has big ambitions, evident from its growth from a two aircraft airline in 1993 flying to a handful of destinations to currently the biggest low cost carrier in Asia with 165 destinations in 25 countries.
Now its group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has another visio [...]
Letter from Penang: Beyond food to tech, heritage and startups
I have in my Dropbox a food guide to Penang. It saves me time whenever a friend tells me, “Hey I am going to Penang, what shall I eat and where?”
The problem with Penang is the good food is found in places which I don’t even know the name of, just the location – for example, right across [...]
Letter from Hong Kong: Hard questions posed at WIT Hospitality, the answer lies in commitment to change
The sky was blue. The air was distinctly chilly. Hong Kong put on her best winter frock for us as we kicked off our first WIT event of the year, our conference dedicated to hospitality.
The day prior to the event, we had held a Think Tank gathering of about 20 industry leaders and we were gathere [...]
WIT Hospitality dives deep into the new hospitality environment
The new, reimagined environment that hotels and hotel-related suppliers are operating within can be tricky to navigate. Artificial intelligence, augmented reality, chats, disruption, alternative accommodation, are some words and concepts hotels have been having to confront these days.
T [...]
