Majority of air travellers don’t use mobile for check-in and related travel services
Three quarters of airline passengers carry a smartphone, and despite 90% of them saying technology helps them when travelling most have yet to make the transition to using their devices for their travel needs, reveals the annual SITA/Air Transport World Passenger IT Trends Survey.This year’s sur [...]
HotelQuickly gets HK$9mil in fresh funding
Same-day hotel booking mobile app, HotelQuickly, is set to expand further within the region and accelerate product development after closing series A round funding of HK$9 million (US$1.15 million).Financial backers consist of angel investors from three continents, including Boon Hwee Koh, former c [...]
To crack mobile in travel, loyalty and frequency are key, says Bubbly’s Clayton
Thomas Clayton, CEO and founder of Bubbly (pictured below left), was sceptical about travel apps in the beginning. “I used to think, every travel company is coming up with a mobile app but no one would use them.”Today, as a “passionate frequent traveler who lives on the road” who does abou [...]
Goodbye OTA, welcome MTA – mobile becomes biggest booking channel on Ctrip
Ctrip has become the first OTA in the world where mobile has surpassed the browser as a booking channel – making me wonder if perhaps a new term will soon enter our industry – MTA (Mobile Travel Agency).At this morning’s Travel Distribution Summit in Guangzhou, James Liang, chairman and CEO [...]
HotelTonight, The World Tomorrow: Focus key to success
Yeoh Siew Hoon interviews Sam Shank, CEO and founder of the same-day app that pioneered a completely new model in hotel bookings, and asks him about growth plans and the trends he’s seeing with his customers.Q: I see HotelTonight has launched in Europe. When will you enter Asia? And why Europe f [...]
Flocations releases iPhone app in Singapore
Singapore-based start-up Flocations, a searchengine/marketplace for travel packages, has launched an app for the iPhone, currently available only in the island republic.Touting the app as a first for Singapore, the company said it has over 5,000 travel packages in its inventory from more than 60 Si [...]
The mobile way to explore Malaysia Truly Asia
Tourism Malaysia has launched “Malaysia Trip Planner”, a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices that puts a complete travel guide into visitors’ hands.The NTO's director general, Datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, said the app was to meet the demands of today's travellers who want tourist info [...]
Same-day booking apps offer hotels another channel, ease of use critical
So will same-day booking apps disappear in three years? The statement made by HRS’ Tobias Ragge in this article has stirred a debate over the longterm viability of these models that allow travellers to book their accommodation within 24 hours.Douglas Quinby, senior director of research, PhoCusWr [...]
Same-day booking apps will disappear in 3 years, says HRS’ Ragge
After social, same-day booking apps are the most over-hyped subject in travel and Tobias Ragge, CEO of HRS, the hotel portal, believes most of them will not be around in three years.Here in Singapore to stake the claim of his company, founded by his father, to be the world’s number one in the man [...]
HotelQuickly to launch Blackberry app, sees spike in weekend bookings
HotelQuickly, the last minute booking app for Asia, will launch a Blackberry 10 version tomorrow at the Echelon conference in Singapore.The company, which is listed among the top 50 start-ups at the annual technology conference, hopes this will enable it to crack the corporate market and specific [...]
