Singaporeans paying less for hotel rooms across Asia
The strong Singapore dollar is responsible for Singaporeans enjoying good hotel bargains in cities across Asia for the first six months of 2011, according to the latest Hotel.com® Hotel Price Index™ (HPI®).Other factors contributing to the price falls in the region include natural disasters a [...]
Skyscanner moves into Asia, sets up Singapore base
UK-based flight search site Skyscanner, continuing on its growth path, is finally making its move into Asia – it will open a new regional operation in Singapore by September.The company has been setting up offices and recruiting key personnel over the last few months.“We’re very excited about [...]
Slower growth than expected, but ITB Asia on solid footing
While the growth of ITB Asia has been slower than expected, Dr Martin Buck, Director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), said he wasn’t displeased with the results achieved so far.The third ITB Asia closed in Singapore with 6,605 attendees, a 7.4% increase on last year.“We are seeing organic growth. It [...]
Social networks made deal sites soar but could consumer fatigue set in?
For Ram Badrinathan, general manager-Asia for PhoCusWright, the key question to ask about the Groupon phenomenon is, why is it taking off now when it could have done so 10 years ago with players like eBay?“What happened in the last two years that has made it so successful.”He said that the only [...]
SOTA eXchange, new online market place for the travel industry
Developed by Creative Advances Technology (CAT), a Kuala Lumpur based consultancy and technology services provider, SOTA eXchange is the latest B2B module in the suite of online solutions offered by SOTA (Standard Online Tourism Architecture) – a one-stop e-tourism platform for the travel indu [...]
Strong bounce back for leisure and corporate travel, says Pegasus
According to data released today in The Pegasus View by Pegasus Solutions, 2010 ended with strong growth for both leisure and corporate hotel bookings despite widespread weather disruption and holiday flight cancellations.The year, which was guided strongly by both Mother Nature and the global econo [...]
Open up your ‘Chinese Wallet’, here comes Kosmopolito
The name Kosmopolito Hotels International (KHI) may not be as familiar as Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, but this Hong Kong-based hotel chain is slowly but surely making an impact in the hotel scene with its interesting range of hotels and aggressive marketing.KHI currently owns and operates 17 hot [...]
Opening homes for heritage’s sake
When I was approached to be a judge for this year’s Melaka Tourism Awards and to choose the "Best Tourist Attraction - Traditional House", my first question was "What’s a traditional house? Aren’t all the houses in Malay kampungs (villages) traditional?" (Pictured above: Kampung Padang Seba [...]
OTA battle to hot up in S’pore, now comes Webjet
Online travel agencies have not been particularly active in Singapore despite the market being a solid adopter of the internet.The dominant player has been Zuji, the Travelocity-owned (once airline-owned group) website. Zuji operates in several markets in Asia as the local brand for the Sabre Holdi [...]
Love, sex and money, according to Oprah
Given that February 14 is just round the corner, I am going to talk about love for a while, then sex, followed by money.Oprah Winfrey says her brand is about love. This I heard in her interview with Piers Morgan (left) in his debut appearance on the CNN talk show, Piers Morgan Tonight.Morgan said he [...]
