How an island boy and his team grew Klook into a ‘fast fish’ which now wants to swim in world’s ocean
Eric Gnock Fah still remembers the day he presented at the WiT Startup Pitch in Tokyo in June 2015. It was barely a year after he and co-founder Ethan Lin had started Klook, their “discover and book fun-things-to-do at exclusive prices” business, in Hong Kong.
“We were nervous but we though [...]
Amadeus agrees to buy US-based TravelClick for US$1.52 billion
Travel technology giant Amadeus is buying TravelClick, which offers marketing and revenue generating solutions for hoteliers, from private equity firm Thoma Bravo for US1.52 billion.
Thoma Bravo acquired TravelClick in 2014 from venture capital firm Genstar for US$930 million.
The acquisition [...]
The Wrap: Swissôtel The Stamford gets ‘smart’ with new technology
In the news: Swissôtel The Stamford implements smart hotel management system, Sabre has four launch partners to its Beyond NDC programme, TripAdvisor launches new photo feature
Hotels: Swissôtel The Stamford gets 'smart' with new technology
Giving guests the ultimate in experience and ma [...]
South Korea’s MyRealTrip joins hands with Naver to launch “Naver Tour”
South Korea’s leading travel platform, MyRealTrip, has launched a new service called “Naver Tour” in partnership with Naver, the country’s largest Internet company.
Naver Tour was co-designed and developed by the two companies, said MyRealTrip’s CEO Donggun Lee. Naver offered the platfo [...]
Armed with $200m more, Klook eyes global domination as it steers course to hit $1b in bookings this year
It seems there is no stopping Klook which will go down in Asia’s travel history as the startup that has raised the most in the shortest time. Today, it announced it has closed $200m in Series D funding, bringing its total financing to date to US$300 million. This latest round makes the in-destinat [...]
BeMyGuest’s Hit List 2: Things You Ought To Know About Bali’s Tours & Activities
Tours & activities is an interesting space. Other than attracting a lot of attention from investors, it also provides insights into the destinations favoured by travellers, what they like to do while in a destination and how they book these activities and experiences. In this second column, Grah [...]
Letter from Sydney: Of food made for instagram and the journey towards NDC, diversity and chatbots
At the Two Sis café in Pyrmont where I had lunch my last day in Sydney, the place was packed with youngsters from Asia – there’s a local university nearby and so it’s popular with students. Let’s say my friends and I brought up the average age substantially.
The café, owned by a Cor [...]
The Wrap: CWT’s new analytics tool provides full visibility on travel spend
In the news: CWT launches new tool for travel managers, John Paul appoints CEO for Asia Pacific, Scoot and SITA extend technology agreement
Corporate Travel: CWT’s new analytics tool provides full visibility on travel spend
A survey by GBTA Foundation, sponsored by Carlson Wagonlit Tra [...]
Accor takes 85% stake in 21c Museum Hotels for US$51m
The buying spree of French group AccorHotels continues with its latest purchase - a 85% stake in 21c Museum Hotels headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.
The US$51 million deal will see the American hotel chain, which combines art museum with boutique accommodation and chef-driven restaurants, [...]
India-based ‘travel inspiration’ video platform, Trell, raises $1.25M in seed funding
India-based Trell – a millennial-targeted ‘local experience discovery platform’ that engages travellers through short video-based content – has just raised $1.25 million in seed funding, led by Singapore-based BeeNext and Mumbai-based WEH Ventures.
The startup also saw participation fro [...]
