OTAs in Asia, Think Borderless
This is a guest blog by Ming Foong, director of Online Travel Agencies – APAC, TravelportThe OTA segment is developing into an exciting and dynamic growth driver in the Asia Pacific region. It can get a lot more exciting if all players and aspirants in this space discard the old mindset that still [...]
Alitrip wants to innovate and disrupt travel – here’s how
What do a discounted hotel room, a tube of lipstick and a frying pan have in common? They’re all available for purchase on the Alibaba platform, the Chinese e-commerce site that’s bigger than Amazon and eBay combined.Alitrip, formerly Taobao Travel, was established as an independent, one-stop on [...]
The Wrap: New hospitality standard for hotels to make Muslim travellers feel at home
In the news: A new hotel reference tool for Muslim travellers, 7-day booking calendar for HotelQuickly, Etihad and Adobe team up New hospitality standard for hotels to make Muslim travellers feel at home A research by Thomson Reuters revealed that Muslim travellers are big spenders on tourism pr [...]
For Asia, the real story is only just beginning
Richie is a 27-year-old orang utan living in the Semenggoh Wildlife Reserve of Sarawak. Philip Yong, CEO of Borneo Adventure, found him living in a cage as a baby, paid to free him and now he’s hanging out at the sanctuary, which rehabilitates apes and returns them to the wild.Obviously Richie is [...]
Travelport reboots for success
Travelport went through a reboot last September when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange last year, expanding its role from being just a GDS to become a global commerce platform.Martin Herbert, Travelport’s general manager for Asia, said it brought in airlines to sell products, started offeri [...]
An airport start-up and incubator: YVR’s scaling BorderXPress
Ever heard of an airport that’s acting like a start-up and incubator? Well, meet Vancouver International Airport (YVR), which invented BorderXpress, described by its CEO Craig Richmond as “the iPad of the airport world”.BorderXPress is the world’s first self-service border control solution t [...]
Klook Travel secures US$5 million funding, plans to expand business globally
Hong Kong-based travel activities booking start-up, Klook Travel (Klook), has secured US$5 million in Series A funding led by Matrix Partners, along with China Growth Capital and Francis Leung Pak To. Matrix Partners is a venture capital firm with offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, Beijing and Shang [...]
Free business solution for SMEs and SMIs from AccorHotels
AccorHotels has launched a free solution, AccorHotels Business Solution, for SMEs and SMIs, which will allow them to manage online their travel policy and bookings in 2,800 hotels around the world.To access this service customers just have to create an online account in the Pro Solutions section of [...]
Best of TW Asia Global Wrap: Travel agents have major role to play in China cruise market
Featured stories from TravelWeekly Asia: Travel Weekly China’s inaugural CruiseWorld China conference, visa-free entry to Indonesia for more countries, Bollywood tourism ambassador for New ZealandTravel agents have major role to play in China cruise marketThe huge growth of the cruise market in Ch [...]
Blood moons, baristas and rebooting your world
The idea of “Reboot” came to me while I was on Samui island, relaxing in a private villa by the beach. It was the weekend after WIT 2014 had just ended and this was my annual retreat to unwind.We had just marked “Little Big 10”, the first WIT after the acquisition by Northstar Travel Media. [...]
