‘Shame on you’, Vocanic chief tells hoteliers
For a moment there, I thought I was back in my classroom during my primary school days. We had a mathematics teacher, Mr Ong, whose favourite words were “Shame on you.”He said that a lot because I was terrible at math – still am. I was terrified out of my wits everytime he looked at me and he [...]
Online travel leaders set tone for the future
At the WIT conference, we sat down with online travel leaders from Agoda, Hotels.com, Yatra and Elong to discuss OTAs and what the future holds for them. Times are good now but competition is increasing and the challenges are mounting. Are they ready? The discussion touched on what role would m [...]
A beautifully designed Application highlights shortcomings of the ‘old’ web
The first thing I noticed about the Kayak iPhone application is the nice big button approach. When I used to develop software applications for board level blue chip executives we used to call this the ‘Fisher Price’ approach – large and obvious buttons ‘Press Here’ – nothing too comp [...]
Agents cite Internet’s impact, fiercer competition and lower prices a consequence
Today the Asia travel industry leads worldwide growth and travel agents are faced with travellers who want the best deal, and the latest information at their fingertips. Throughout this ever-evolving industry one core element has remained constant and critical - Technology.“Since air travel began, [...]
Air Asia exceeds expectations with Q3 results
On Nov 25, we listened into AirAsia's press conference where they released their latest group wise figures and as expected, the results were all-around impressive. The 3rd quarter results were the best ever, as were the first 9 months of 2010, greatly exceeding expectations. The group wise reve [...]
Air New Zealand introduces Sabre Branded Fares
Air New Zealand and Sabre Travel Network have introduced Sabre Branded Fares to Sabre Connected travel agents who can now shop and book the airline’s branded fares.This enables the airline to market its products consistently with its own website, while ensuring Sabre Connected customers have effic [...]
TravelClick acquires channel management provider, EZYield
TravelClick’s recent acquisition of EZYield enables it to improve hotels’ ability to grow its distribution reach and manage reservations electronically.EZYield’s integrated solutions suite allows hotels to send and update availability, rates and inventory on more than 650 travel websites vi [...]
Video debate continues: Get brainy and look to movies for inspiration
Morris Sim, CEO of Circos Brand Karma, who was on the Glee team of the WIT Cross-fire, believes that when it comes to videos, we should take cues from the movie industry.There's an exciting new field that's opened up called neurocinematics with groundbreaking work done out of Princeton and Cornell t [...]
Webjet takes a swipe at Expedia
Webjet Australia has issued a press statement (reproduced below), responding to the joint venture partnership between Expedia and AirAsia, questioning “does the world's largest online travel company sell AIR or only AirAsia? Has selling flights gotten too hard?” With yesterday's announcement of [...]
Survey shows importance of hotel commissions to travel agents
Just over half of hotels (51%) admit they would overlook some of the commission they pay to travel agents if it were not for the hotel commission recovery service Net Trans. That is one of the key findings of a survey of more than 1,000 hotels and hotel chains carried out for Net Trans, which handle [...]
