Marketing
More funds in pocket, GuestReady Group set for Asia expansion
19/06/2019 by WiT
Short-term rental management company GuestReady Group, with the latest round of Series A funding of US$6 million, is now set to “fuel growth across Asia and Europe”. This latest round was co-led by Dubai-based VentureSouq and Abramovich-backed Impulse VC, which led GuestReady’s Seed round [...]
New research says to companies, travel more to get ahead
19/06/2019 by WiT
New research from Harvard Business Review Analytic Services in association with Egencia® claims a well-managed travel programme can deliver a tangible competitive advantage.  The report, “Travel Culture: Your Competitive Advantage in a Global Market”, shows 58 per cent of business lead [...]
Inside Inge De Lathauwer’s passion project: Changing lives in Sumba and proving a sustainable model in hospitality can pay off
17/06/2019 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Sumba Hospitality Foundation was one of the startups that qualified for a grant from Booking Booster, the Booking.com programme that supports social enterprises. With the 100,000 Euro funds, it hopes to boost profitability at its eco-resort so that eventually it can support the school that prepares [...]
Trip.com’s Lynn Qu on going global and building a super travel app
13/06/2019 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
A year into her role as vice president, product and marketing for Trip.com, and Lynn Qu is taking her experience working for brands such as Microsoft, Expedia and HomeAway (now Vrbo) to take the Ctrip group brand global and using the Chinese edge in native app development to build a super travel ap [...]
The Wrap: Sabre and INFINI team up to boost tourism in run-up to Tokyo 2020
12/06/2019 by WiT
News Roundup: Of partnership and expanding footprint to capture more markets as Sabre links up with INFINI to develop Japan's tourism industry, Adara expanding presence in India, Amex GBT’s joining the Qantas Channel, Singapore-based Naumi Hotels acquiring another property in New Zealand, Tra [...]
Travelstart to acquire Club Travel Group in bid to create full-service African travel entity
12/06/2019 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Following its change in investor from MTN to HarbourVest in late May, Amadeus Capital Partners-backed Travelstart has made the first of an expected series of acquisitions in its bid to own Africa – this week, it announced it is buying 100% of the Club Travel Group. Travelstart’s CEO Stephan [...]
Customisation and education needed to drive traveller adoption of online booking tool
10/06/2019 by WiT
The rise in the adoption of online booking shows a growing trend among many business travellers to book flights, accommodations, transfers and other travel services through an easy-to-use online portal, with online booking tools (OBTs), phone and email as the most widely used methods. While 92% [...]
Amadeus invests in tech startup Volantio, forms partnership to help airlines optimise capacity
06/06/2019 by WiT
Volantio, a technology services company focused on increasing asset utilisation and optimise bookings for airlines and their customers, has secured an investment and a partnership from travel technology giant, Amadeus. The Atlanta-based startup will receive funding from Amadeus’ startup invest [...]
To win in corporate travel today, you need a tech edge
06/06/2019 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
FCM's chief for Asia Bertrand Saillet speaks to Yeoh Siew Hoon on how it is blending best of online and offline in Asia by investing in new tech to enhance the traveller experience and taking lessons from its parent company's retail model. There was a time in corporate travel that when you asked [...]
Ctrip’s Instagram-like platform attracts more than 1M daily users
04/06/2019 by Mitra Sorrells
Ctrip is finding success with its strategy to create an Instagram-style content platform within its mobile app.Since its launch in December, the new “Trip Moments” product has exceeded one million daily active users, and 70% of those users are under 30 years old. In a call last week w [...]