Smart Hotel Online takes on the big boys
11-Infotech System Co. Ltd, a Thai company based in Bangkok, has launched a new booking engine for hotels that will take on the big boys offering the same service but at a much lower price. WIT meets up with its CEO Business Development, Chartchai Pothong (pictured left), to find out more.Despite f [...]
How Asia’s travel start-ups got their names
Ahead of the WIT Bootcamp: Entrepreneurship & Innovation on Oct 17, we thought it'd be interesting to find out the history behind some of the names of Asia’s travel start-ups. “Many years ago, like many search engine focused marketers, we marketed our hotel product t [...]
GetFlight offers Australians one site for sale airfares
Airfare search in Australia just got more competitive with the launch of GetFlight.com.au, claiming to be “the first and only site dedicated to sale airfares for Australians” and allowing Australians to search for and subscribe to direct-from-airline sale airfares on just one site.GetFlight.com. [...]
Starwood’s chief leads team to live in China for a month
It was a question that had been raised at the WIT Conference last year – when will any of the American and European-based “global” brands which are doing business in Asia move its headquarters to the region, specifically China?So my ears perked up recently in Las Vegas at the Global Travel &am [...]
Stellar year for Phuket as records smashed
Thailand’s popular resort island of Phuket had its best year in 2010 with tourist arrivals topping 3.5 million, smashing all previous records. Representing a 22% hike over the previous year, the growth was mostly driven by new markets such as Russia and China.Consultancy firm C9 Hotelworks' latest [...]
3 Jamaicans in Geneva
I had been craving a Frappuccino all morning. Walking around Geneva Lake, past the beautiful Parc du Chateau Banquet and La Perle du Lac, passing several small cafes that served wonderful European cappuccinos, and all I could think of was the Starbucks I had passed earlier on, and my Frappuccino.� [...]
Stories in the air, Bali on the ground and hey presto, I am in Scandinavia
I landed at Frankfurt airport last night, after a 12-hour flight in which I watched three movies, a television drama, two episodes of British nursing comedy “Getting On” and still managed to get some work done.
Amazing what you can squeeze into a tube of time when you are stuck with nowhe [...]
Survey tips big hunger for travel in new year
One in four consumers across Asia Pacific are looking to get their passports stamped to leave for a vacation in the coming six months, according to the findings from a recent MasterCard survey.The survey, conducted from 13 September to 11 November, covered 10,502 consumers from 24 markets across Asi [...]
The angry customer wins?
As the plane landed, a ball of fire lit the sky. Paris on an early summer morning. Glorious. The promise of a beautiful day ahead in the French capital.Unfortunately, I won’t be enjoying it because I am in transit at Charles de Gaulle to Rabat, Morocco, for a couple of days.Getting here wasn’t e [...]
The “Hand” opens on a new Singapore
Thursday evening, standing out on Marina Bay, waiting for the Wonder Full sound-and-light show that would herald the grand opening of Marina Bay Sands, a thought struck me – I will have to get used to a new Singapore.A new Singapore where people can come and go and gamble anytime they want, just l [...]
