What’s really at stake in the American Airlines’ spat with Orbitz, Expedia?
What's going on behind the scenes of the spat between American Airlines and first, Orbitz and now, Expedia? Douglas Quinby, travel analyst at PhoCusWright, digs into the issues to share what's really at stake.Every three to five years, the civilized travel distribution world seems on the brink of [...]
Whether powered by Weibo or NVG, we are all on a treadmill
Today is 11-1-11. I am sure there is something very significant about this date. And I wish I could say I wrote this at 11.11am but at that time, I should be, all forces permitting, be on a flight winging back to Singapore.This morning, too, a family is scattering the ashes of their mother into the [...]
Who’s doing your Social Media?
Yesterday I attended an HSMAI South East Asia event. It was a breakfast session entitled: Social Media – A Distribution Channel?Hosting was Andrew Chan, President HSMAI SEA Chapter. Mario Jobbe of Brand Karma delivered the Keynote. On the panel along with Mario were: Anil Damodaran from [...]
Why deals are seductive, and why travel agents in Taiwan don’t like them
I was having coffee with a 20-something the other day when she started talking excitedly about her upcoming holiday in Phuket. “I’ve just bought a deal – 3 days, 2 nights for $300, air and hotel included,” she boasted.“You know, it’s the low season and you could have gotten good rates yo [...]
Winner selected for TravelRave Talent Challenge
Singapore Management University student, Mabel Fu Meibao, has won the TravelRave Talent Challenge, a competition run by the Singapore Tourism Board and WITNext to raise the awareness of travel and tourism careers among young talent in Asia.The Challenge, launched in August, asked 18-25 year olds acr [...]
WIT Day One – Airlines: Can they escape the dangerous middle ground?
Nothing like ending the first WIT day with some turbulence from the airline industry. The opening question posed by Timothy O'Neil-Dunne, Managing Partner of T2 Impact was the million dollar question: Is the airline industry in recovery? It's actually hard to know. Indicators say yes, but overal [...]
WIT Day One – And the winner is … Eco Travel
They are young, intelligent, ambitious and brave. They are Singaporeans with bright, big ideas for the online travel space. And they came to pitch to cynical men who named one of them, Eco Tours, a winner.They are the teams who participated in the inaugural WITovation Entrepreneur Bootcamp and dared [...]
Funds raised for Phare going towards scholarships and a permanent home for artists
It was good to learn that the Phare Cambodia Circus for which we raised fund last year was performing at the PATA Travel Mart in Phnom Penh recently.Director Dara Huot told us that the estimated S$100,000 raised during last year’s WIT Charity Auction, co-hosted with Dorsett Hospitality Internation [...]
Travellers want unique, enriching experiences on their vacations, reveals TripAdvisor
The majority of travellers, both global and from Asia Pacific (APAC), say that “enhancing perspective” and “liberation” are the main motivation for travel, according to the latest TripBarometer from TripAdvisor.The TripBarometer: Psychology of Travel report, conducted by independent research [...]
Spring Airlines wants 100% online direct sales
China’s only low cost airline, Spring Airlines, has its eye on one key target – to achieve 100% online direct sales.Lfan Yang, sales and marketing director (left), said that currently it was achieving 75% direct sales.As the only low cost airline in China, Yang said Spring Airlines’ main missi [...]
