Hotel ICON differentiates with “laboratory” approach and content
As hotels become more commoditised through price-led distribution, it is even more essential to differentiate and general manager of Hotel ICON, Richard Hatter, spoke about how the hotel’s positioning as a “laboratory” has stood it well in a competitive market like Hong Kong.Speaking at the WI [...]
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 [...]
6 reasons why hoteliers are “sitting ducks” for disruption
Veteran hotelier Giovanni Angelini, who’s been in the hospitality industry for more than five decades, listed five reasons why hoteliers were not responding fast enough to digital disruption.One, bureaucracy and silos. “We are a labour intensive industry and we have created too many departments [...]
Hoteliers must think “beyond real estate” and drive direct bookings
Hoteliers have to reboot their mindset and “think beyond real estate”, said Colman Ho, VP Group Marketing of Century City Holdings, in the opening session at WIT Hospitality held in Hong Kong yesterday.Ho said that as online travel brands such as Priceline and Expedia were making investments bey [...]
The Wrap: How airlines use email to sell you the extras after booking
In the news: IdeaWorksCompany’s report on airlines’ email marketing, Ascott’s JV with Tujia.com, Artyzen Hospitality Group’s new hotels in ShanghaiHow airlines use email to sell you the extras after bookingChecked bags, hotel and car hire bookings, and assigned seating are the most frequentl [...]
Marriott & Starwood union back on the cards
Starwood must feel like the most-wanted girl at a dance right now. First she was all ready to accept Marriott’s suit, then Anbang came along and made her a better offer. Then over the weekend, Marriott upped its offer and now, barring any further dramas, the two should walk down the aisle.Arne Sor [...]
Singapore startup Bolt aims to become Asia’s content marketplace
As more brands and companies lean towards content marketing as a way of customer acquisition, one Singapore-based startup is positioning itself to be “Asia’s Content Marketplace”.Bolt, founded by journalist Chan Yi Wen and launched in July 2015, aims to match companies with the right content c [...]
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 [...]
Hoshino’s mission – building ryokans everywhere and championing family businesses
Yoshiharu Hoshino, who owns and runs Hoshino Resorts in Japan, a fourth generation family business, has two dreams. One, to see a day when there’ll be Japanese-style hotels (ryokans) everywhere just as there are sushi bars and two, to write a book about family business management. In this intervie [...]
Tripfez wants to be a TripAdvisor-Viator for Muslim travellers
Lagisatu, which started life three years as a metasearch for Muslim-friendly hotels using MuslimStars rating, has relaunched as Tripfez.At ITB Berlin, co-founders, Malaysia-based Faeez Fadhlillah and Juergen Gallistl, introduced Tripfez which goes beyond metasearch to become a marketplace for hotels [...]
