News
Accor launches biggest ever domestic campaign in Indonesia
25/05/2021 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Ties up with small and micro enterprises to support local businesses SPURRED by Covid and how it’s forced travel to go domestic, ALL – Accor Live Limitless has launched its biggest domestic campaign in Indonesia, Rediscover Indonesia, bringing together its 130 hotels in over 30 destinations. [...]
The marathon to open borders – starting well doesn’t guarantee success
21/05/2021 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Asia falls behind, Middle East pushes ahead, EU and US open up, Australia urged to have “courage” IT truly is a marathon race. Just because you started off well doesn’t mean you’ll stay ahead at whichever stage of the race and at this juncture, countries such as Singapore and Taiwan, wh [...]
Middle East trade heralds return of physical Arabian Travel Market as the push needed in recovery
21/05/2021 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
'Let's get back to business' sentiment prevails THE physical return of the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai has been heralded as a signal of positive things to come for the travel and tourism industry in the Middle East. And while it wasn’t as busy compared to previous years, the overall sentime [...]
Tightened Covid restrictions dampen use of SingapoRediscovers Vouchers
21/05/2021 by Tabbi Maitland
Remaining at home. Rescheduling tours. Regrouping to (hopefully) come back stronger. For now, Rediscovering Singapore is on hold. SINGAPORE’S first confirmed Covid-19 case was on January 23, 2020, and it took 10 weeks from that day before the Circuit Breaker was announced. This year, by contr [...]
IATA supports unrestricted access to travel for vaccinated travellers
21/05/2021 by WiT
ACCEPTING vaccinated travellers should be best practice to reopen borders, said the International Air Transport Association. In cases where vaccination was not possible access to quarantine-free travel should be provided through Covid-19 testing strategies based on widely available, free-of-char [...]
Sustainability starts from the get-go, it’s not a switch you turn on: Dixon
20/05/2021 by Tabbi Maitland
Lessons in balancing tech solutions with people approaches from Nikoi and Cempedak “NET Zero” may be all the rage right now in discussions around sustainability but for Andrew Dixon, founder and director of Nikoi and Cempedak islands, its journey started in 2004 because, if you’re running [...]
From workations to wellness and antiques: How three hoteliers are facing the future
20/05/2021 by WiT
“OUT of adversity comes opportunity”, so said Benjamin Franklin. This quote best personifies three Asian hoteliers who, through their resourcefulness and creativity, have not only survived the past year of almost no inbound business but placed them in good footing for post-pandemic times. A [...]
The curious case of how the Missing Peranakan Treasure at the Raffles came about
19/05/2021 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Digital interactive play fuses theatre, tech and hospitality in a whodunit mystery ON August 10, 2020, Singapore actor and comedian Hossan Leong woke up in a state of panic. The night before, he had performed at a for-the-first-time-ever virtual Singapore National Day Parade. “I thought, this [...]
The Wrap: Seera Group and Klook partner to transform Saudi tourism, Etihad launches ‘Verified to Fly’ initiative, and more …
19/05/2021 by WiT
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. Seera Group, Klook team up to drive digital transformation of Saudi tourism   Seera Group’s Majed Al [...]
Putting Mixed Reality to the road test
18/05/2021 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
How WiT and Marina Bay Sands teamed up to co-create a story IN the absence of real travel, one has to use the powers of imagination, aided by technology, to travel with the mind. I recently had the opportunity to put to the road-test the new Mixed Reality capability at the Marina Bay Sands� [...]