Airports of tomorrow – how will they solve our travel frustrations?
What is the most annoying part of going to the airport: Checking-in? Lost luggage? Delays? Not enough shopping options? No automated kiosks? Frustrating security checks?A new report by Norm Rose of Travel Tech Consulting Inc titled Navigating the Airport of Tomorrow looks at what the m [...]
Almost half of buyers to ITB Asia 2010 are new
Messe Berlin (Singapore) has announced that 47% of hosted buyers at ITB Asia 2010 will be new buyers. The majority of them have been recommended by exhibitors.Some 62% of all hosted buyers scheduled to attend will represent travel markets in Asia Pacific. ITB Asia organizer, Messe Berlin (Singapore) [...]
Amadeus sells Opodo
Amadeus IT Holding, S.A., through its subsidiary Amadeus IT Group S.A., has reached an agreement with AXA Private Equity and Permira Funds, for the sale of 100% of the capital of its subsidiary OPODO LIMITED ("Opodo").The enterprise value agreed by the parties reaches approximately 450 million Euros [...]
AirAsia on the move – to Jakarta and Singapore
So AirAsia has finally decided to move its regional head office out of Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta and set up a base in Singapore. Surprised? I asked a few travel industry friends when we heard the news.Response? Not really. “It’s just a question of where and when,” they said, “though Jakarta [...]
APAC online travel has arrived, says PhoCusWright’s new study
Scrap the word “emerging” when describing the Asia Pacific online travel market from now on. It’s arrived.PhoCusWright’s Asia Pacific Online Travel Overview Fourth Edition, due out this week, values the size of the market at US$53 billion or 21% of the total travel market.“That’s half t [...]
Apps or Browsers, Mobile is it
During WIT, Siew Hoon asked numerous times the following quick fire question of panelists – Browser or App?The panelists' answers tended to favour Apps over Browsers and this might well reflect the Asian audience profile. However I like to see if there is real data – so I have been digging aroun [...]
As Groupon expands in Asia, what are the bigger implications for travel?
Groupon was a hot topic at the WIT Conference last October with many speakers making references to it and news that it’s expanding in Asia – carried in this post in e27 – did not come as a surprise.In December, the company that offers online coupons for discounts at restaurants, shops and o [...]
Asia rules supreme in broadband and mobile connectivity
In today's communication world, speed is king! We are getting accustomed to ever faster broadband speeds and mobile connectivity, and are always impatiently tapping our fingers if a too large photo file doesn't download instantaneously. How did we survive in 2008?Fortunately, or unfortunately, w [...]
Asian consumers taking to online shopping in big way, says Visa survey
Consumers in six rapidly growing eCommerce markets are taking to online shopping in a big way, according to the 2010 Visa eCommerce Consumer Monitor. Almost nine in 10 (87%) of the survey respondents across the six markets polled said they had purchased products and services online in the past year. [...]
Who’s not happy with their office technology?
If you think the young are a demanding lot, and Baby Boomers are just happy in a familiar space, the latest Carlson Wagonlit Travel Australian Business Traveller Insight pretty much bears this out.In a study of the growth of social media and the impact on business travel, CWT said that younger, sa [...]
