Letter from Green Acres & The Habitat, Penang: Where the grass is indeed greener and nature richer
“I think something’s changed,” said Eric Chong, owner of Green Acres, an eco-resort built within a durian orchard in Penang. “Our occupancies have doubled since last year. I think travellers are really looking for different, authentic experiences.”
Where are they coming from, I asked.
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The Wrap: Air NZ, ST Engineering team up to trail drones for aircraft inspection
News Roundup: An update on airlines in the Asian region with Air New Zealand adopting drone technology to improve operations, Emirates helping to preserve the environment with removal of single-use plastic and AirAsia acquiring more new generation aircraft in response to ongoing strong demand for t [...]
More funds in pocket, GuestReady Group set for Asia expansion
Short-term rental management company GuestReady Group, with the latest round of Series A funding of US$6 million, is now set to “fuel growth across Asia and Europe”.
This latest round was co-led by Dubai-based VentureSouq and Abramovich-backed Impulse VC, which led GuestReady’s Seed round [...]
New research says to companies, travel more to get ahead
New research from Harvard Business Review Analytic Services in association with Egencia® claims a well-managed travel programme can deliver a tangible competitive advantage.
The report, “Travel Culture: Your Competitive Advantage in a Global Market”, shows 58 per cent of business lead [...]
Inside Inge De Lathauwer’s passion project: Changing lives in Sumba and proving a sustainable model in hospitality can pay off
Sumba Hospitality Foundation was one of the startups that qualified for a grant from Booking Booster, the Booking.com programme that supports social enterprises. With the 100,000 Euro funds, it hopes to boost profitability at its eco-resort so that eventually it can support the school that prepares [...]
Trip.com’s Lynn Qu on going global and building a super travel app
A year into her role as vice president, product and marketing for Trip.com, and Lynn Qu is taking her experience working for brands such as Microsoft, Expedia and HomeAway (now Vrbo) to take the Ctrip group brand global and using the Chinese edge in native app development to build a super travel ap [...]
Cruise industry gets boost
The cruise industry has received a boost with a cruise-specific mobile solution designed to assess the English language skills of applicants looking to work in the cruise industry.
Singapore-based Boost, a mobile training solutions provider for the hospitality industry, and CTI Group [...]
Startup Spotlight: Travelcheck.co.za wants to help South African travellers build their own dynamic travel packages
Meet Travelcheck.co.za – a new breed of OTA based out of South Africa. We caught up with CEO, Odette Faling on how this new online travel startup is helping South African travellers save through dynamic packages and bundled trips.
Describe the business, core products and services in one paragr [...]
The Wrap: Sabre and INFINI team up to boost tourism in run-up to Tokyo 2020
News Roundup: Of partnership and expanding footprint to capture more markets as Sabre links up with INFINI to develop Japan's tourism industry, Adara expanding presence in India, Amex GBT’s joining the Qantas Channel, Singapore-based Naumi Hotels acquiring another property in New Zealand,
Tra [...]
Travelstart to acquire Club Travel Group in bid to create full-service African travel entity
Following its change in investor from MTN to HarbourVest in late May, Amadeus Capital Partners-backed Travelstart has made the first of an expected series of acquisitions in its bid to own Africa – this week, it announced it is buying 100% of the Club Travel Group.
Travelstart’s CEO Stephan [...]
