The Wrap: New Covid travel restrictions tool for the travel trade, reduced operations by Malaysia Airlines due to lockdown, and more …
THE
Wrap is a round-up of news in the travel and technology industries, and an
update on how businesses in these sectors are adapting and resetting as they prepare
for post-pandemic travel.
New tool for travel trade to monitor Covid restrictions launched
The tool displays both international a [...]
Massive opportunity in alternative payments as e-wallets soar in Asia and BNPL gains ground
Multi-currency payments; fraud; how many payment methods should you offer – key headaches addressed
WITH 1.7b unbanked adults in the world, according to Findex Database,
Worldbank, the opportunities to address this market with alternative payment
methods are immense. The potential is biggest i [...]
The 7 Stages to the New Normal, revisited
WHEN I wrote the original post, 7 Stages to the New Normal, revisited – “the lack of progress haunts my thinking”, much of it was based on conjecture and crystal ball gazing – admittedly guided by decades of observation of our industry.
It has been nearly 18 months since the first effec [...]
Overtourism, pollution of beaches, deforestation: Top concerns of environmental impact on tourism
TRAVELLERS globally have listed overtourism, pollution of beaches/waterways, deforestation and energy inefficiencies as their main concerns of the impact of tourism on the environment, according to Agoda’s Sustainable Travel Trends Survey.
The findings from the online survey, which polled 18,3 [...]
Travel product chiefs on tech that works, those that didn’t and those that should
IN the last year, tech teams have built platforms that went unused and scrapped projects only to repurpose them later in new incarnations; as Thomas Edison said once upon a time, “Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.”
Tech and product c [...]
The chase for tech talent – go to where they are and hire ‘A’ players to attract others
IT is
ironic that even as the travel industry has shed millions upon millions of
jobs, one sector that has expanded and remains voracious for talent is on the
tech side.
Almost all
travel businesses have used the down-time of Covid to invest in their tech
stack, whether consumer-facing or back- [...]
Ahead of G7 Summit, IATA urges governments to use data to liberate travel
Cites medical findings, Airbus, Boeing modelling of risks
THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged governments to make data-driven decisions to manage the risks of COVID-19 when reopening borders to international travel. Strategies without quarantine measures can enable internati [...]
Adopt digital Covid-19 checks or face “airport chaos”, warns IATA
THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has issued a warning that there could be chaos at airport if governments do not adopt digital processes to manage travel health credentials (Covid-19 testing and vaccine certificates).
According to IATA, pre-Covid passengers
spent an avera [...]
The OTA which applies AI skilfully wins: Agoda’s John Brown on the tech that differentiates
THE one piece of tech that could be a true differentiator for an OTA is “the skilful application of AI (artificial intelligence) that could make all the difference to really understanding your customer”.
Speaking at the WiT Travel Roadshow, Episode 3, John Brown, CEO, Agoda said, “AI is so [...]
The rise of social chat apps in Asia: Consumers showing preference for virtual agents
SOCIAL chat apps have developed faster in Asia than in any other part of the world, and “in Asia you can't talk about social chat apps without going into super apps and how they are essentially like remote controls for our lives,” said Shyn Yee Ho-Strangas, director, global product management a [...]
