Letter from Penang: The artists who call it home and the making of a festival
It was a wonderful coincidence that on the Sunday I was in Penang to mark the Ching Ming (All Soul’s Day) festival, it happened to be the night for “Whispers of George Town Festival”.It was a sneak preview for media as well as the local artist community to get an idea of what’s in store for [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
The “brutally simple” world of Mandarin Oriental and Hobson’s views on digital
In a world of constant, rapid change, Hong Kong-based Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has managed to stay on course with a quality and consistent approach to brand building, product, service delivery and guest experience.The consistency in messaging is clearly helped by the fact that the chief marketi [...]
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 [...]
3 key lessons tech startups can teach hoteliers
The need for hotels to develop more innovative solutions to drive more direct business in the digital age (especially given the rise and consolidation of OTAs and meta-search engines) was a long-running and dominant theme at the WIT Hospitality conference in Hong Kong.Leading tech entrepreneurs Frit [...]
Addicted to change, the stuff of startups who can also stuff it up
This is the longest stint I’ve not been travelling since I started WIT 12 years ago. Two solid months on the ground – and it’s been wonderful, I feel like I’ve kinda settled into myself .Travel is not necessarily about movement, it can be mental. And my mind has certainly done a lot of trave [...]
Keen on Korea? Come learn about local market tactics at WIT Seoul
If there’s one market that’s managed to export its pop and fashion culture better than Hollywood in Asia, it’s South Korea.K-pop stars pack concert halls faster and quicker than Western acts. When Exo Planet #2 staged its concert in Singapore late last year, hordes of teen girls started queuin [...]
Don’t be a sitting duck, join us in a deep dive into hospitality
In between evening walks, painting and writing, I’ve been preparing the content for our first WIT Hospitality conference in Hong Kong on March 22.It’s our first hospitality-focused event and we really want to do a deep dive into the issues that are holding back hoteliers from fully embracing dig [...]
Letter from Phoukhuone, Laos: At last, a chance at a future for girls
If you google “Phoukhuone Laos”, not much information appears. There are a couple of posts by intrepid travellers who have to cross the town on their way somewhere in this landlocked country, bordered by Myanmar and China (north), Vietnam (east), Cambodia (south) and Thailand (west). One post ta [...]
