To API or not? Travel agents face dilemma as cruising distribution undergoes shift
New players like Klook, Lazada swooping into vacuum created by pandemic – sales went from zero to “couple of million dollars”
HARRY Sommer, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, told a good story during last week’s CruiseWorld Asia. He spoke of how he started a travel agency right [...]
The Year In Review And Looking Forward to 2022: In a Playlist
THIS contribution to our year in review and 2022 outlook series comes from Stephan Ekbergh, CEO, Travelstart whose answers came to him in songs and so, here's his playlist for your listening pleasure. Enjoy (definitely a word to embrace in 2022).
Stephan Ekbergh, CEO, Travelstart
Q: Looki [...]
The Year In Review And Looking Forward to 2022, Part 4
ACCELERATE, unity, hope – among words being used to describe 2022 in this list of contributions from our community – Part 4 of looking back at 2021 (oh, what a year) and forward to 2022 (please, let it be good). And, again from the answers in this batch, there's cautious optimism for the year a [...]
The Year in Review and Looking Forward to 2022, Part 3
CONTINUING our series of contributions from our community – Part 3 of looking back at 2021 (oh, what a year) and forward to 2022 (please, let it be good). And, again from the answers in this batch, there's cautious optimism for the year ahead, even as the Omricon variant continues to spread alarm [...]
WiT Japan & North Asia 2022 – time to rebuild bridge and “open eyes to the world again”
Hybrid event returns to Tokyo on Jan 14-15
WiT will kick off its first event of 2022 with a “Homecoming” to Tokyo for its ninth edition of WiT Japan & North Asia. The hybrid event, on January 14-15, is expected to be attended by up to 150 on-site delegates, complemented with a virtual au [...]
Here’s to more jetlag and more “defiant soldiers” in 2022
THIS is the longest jetlag I've ever had, and I am enjoying every moment of it.
In my youth, or as we would say in Singlish “when young time”, I reveled in my jetlag. Those sleepless hours in the night, when everyone was sleeping, were the best time for writing – no interruptions bar the o [...]
Yanolja Cloud acquires Dable to beef up AI and big data in hotel solutions
CONTINUING with its ambition to be “number one travel company in the world” and to grow Yanolja from unicorn to decacorn, Yanolja Cloud has acquired South Korea-based ad tech company Dable to strengthen its AI technology in the global market.
Dable, started in 2015 in Seoul by four entrepren [...]
The Year In Review and Looking Forward to 2022, Part 2
OKAY we hit another bump on the road to a fragile recovery but that’s no reason to despair. If there’s one thing this pandemic has taught us, it’s not to take anything for granted but to take each punch as it lands and get up again. So here’s Part 2 of looking back at 2021 (oh, what a year) [...]
Pandemic boom in fitness gives RunGo wings to fly
WiT Startup Pitch 2021 finalist RunGo, described as the “#1 running app for discovering the best routes in the world”, is hoping to tap into the pandemic-induced craze of running, walking and general wellness and fitness trends to fuel the next lap in its startup journey.
Noah Bloom was [...]
How TMCs are facing pandemic’s challenges and strategising for growth
TRAVEL Management Companies (TMCs) are reinventing themselves and strategising to not only recover, but also to rebuild and grow in a new world of business travel.
In its latest e-book, “Rebuilding Business Travel”, Amadeus highlights the challenges facing TMCs, the new opportunities emergin [...]
