US$30,000 seed funding awaits winner of WIT Startup Pitch Singapore; call for entries begins
After a successful run at the WIT Japan & North Asia 2017 conference held in Tokyo this June, the WIT Startup Pitch, powered by Travelport, is now on the road to WIT Singapore (Oct 23-25).
This October, another round of hopeful startups will pitch for the grand prize at the WIT Startup Pitch [...]
Guest blog: Through Personalisation, Hotels Have Many Opportunities to Win Guests’ Loyalty
While it seems personalisation has generated significant buzz for a long while already, it nonetheless is a strategy in the hospitality industry that still leaves a lot to be desired — especially in the hotel booking process.
Personalisation can begin along many of the touch points in a travell [...]
BeMyGuest raises Series A funding, plans to accelerate growth across Asia
BeMyGuest, one of the fastest growing tour and activities booking platforms in Asia, closed its Series A round of funding on July 13, led by Raffles Venture Partners and renowned technology investor, Koh Boon Hwee and his group of investors.
Also participating in the round are SPRING SEEDS Capita [...]
The Wrap: Sabre pilots an AI-powered chatbot for buying and selling travel
In the news: Sabre’s creation of an AI-powered chatbot for travel, Amadeus’ new market place for APAC agents, TripAdvisor’s partnership with Deliveroo, Air New Zealand’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ inspired safety video
ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE: Sabre pilots an AI-powered chatbot for selling [...]
Letter from Lisbon: From Konichiwa to Ni Hao and Sawasdee
It is funny how like with handbags, destinations too have their trends. For example, these days, you will see people everywhere carrying Anello backpacks – these bags aren’t particularly good to look at, they are unwieldy and cumbersome to use in my opinion but suddenly it seems everywhere you l [...]
How Tujia’s Hai Zhuang wants to be part of “greatest economic event of the century”
Like many entrepreneurially-minded individuals, Hai Zhuang, President, Tujia Holdings, was driven by the ambition to make an impact on the world through his work.
At the WIT Japan & North Asia 2017 Bootcamp, Zhuang recounted his eight years’ experience as a Microsoft engineer, and how his b [...]
Flight Centre moves into accommodation sector with purchase of BHMAsia
Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT) is making its first investment in the accommodation sector with the acquisition of Bangkok-based hotel management company, Bespoke Hospitality Management Asia (BHMAsia).
Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, but BHM said in a statement that “full det [...]
Letter from Madrid: Humans must do what technology cannot
We arrived in Madrid on a Sunday, the last day of the Gay Pride weekend in which we were told two million people descended on the city. Across from the Westin Palace, a protest was being staged.
The hotel doorman shrugged his shoulders when I asked what they were protesting about. “Happens all [...]
The Wrap: An innovative way to explore Amsterdam – with a luggage tag
In the news: KLM’s smart luggage tag guide, AirAsia's latest offering for corporate travellers, AAPA’s call for closer collaboration between governments and aviation industry, Sabre’s new shopping API
DESTINATION: An innovative way to explore Amsterdam - with a luggage tag
If you [...]
Why the European Commission’s fine on Google matters to hotels
Google has been hit with a hefty 2.42 billion euro fine by the European Commission after the regulator ruled that the search giant was employing unfair practices by promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top of search results. According to the Commission, "Google has abused its market [...]
