The moment I transformed from monster to dreamer
It was on the buggy to my suite at Indigo Pearl, Phuket when I realised I was still on WIT mode. The first question I asked of the staff who was driving us was, do you have free Internet in the room?She said no but there’s free Internet in the lobby whereupon my fellow travellers and I (they too [...]
The New World of Google’s New Brave Ali Yilmaz
When I met Ali Yilmaz, the new Head of Travel for Google in South-east Asia, he had just been in his new role five and a half weeks. “That’s four weeks short of the movie,” I said. “So if you were making a movie about those five and a half weeks, what would it be called?”Pausing a moment [...]
Hotels, ‘last milking cow’, grappling with rising customer acquisition costs
With customer acquisition costs escalating in an increasingly intermediated distribution environment, hoteliers need to re-think their sales and distribution strategy and regain control of their inventory.Bob Gilbert, CEO of HSMAI (Hotel Sales & Marketing Associates International), visiting Sing [...]
Mygola launches Perfect Day in Singapore
Itinerary-planning platform, Mygola, is using Singapore as its first base to launch its trip planning Perfect Day app. Founder and CEO, Anshuman Bapna, said the app fills a gap in the market. “There are apps that show what’s going on, where to eat, what to see. However, the moment you come down [...]
Meet the man who changed Singapore’s nightlife
I’ve been meeting a lot of entrepreneurs of late and one of them is Dennis Foo, who was recently given the award for Lifetime Achievement for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism by the Singapore Tourism Board.His journalist friend Ken Jalleh Jr said in the personal tribute he read out on awards ni [...]
Mobile shopping on the rise, sales volume to reach US$9bil in 2011
Mobile Internet users are shunning laptop and personal computer in favour of a mobile device when shopping online, reveals a new study from global mobile advertising network, InMobi.The survey of 15,000 mobile users in 14 countries on their shopping habits revealed mobile shopping is especially pop [...]
Modern days, ancient ways – romance in Mexico’s Yucatan
At first glance this may lead you to think this is about falling in love in Mexico. It’s not. It’s about the romance of travel returning – the ability for people to engage the human appetite for exploration, discovery and reflection. Okay, yes – beach time and cocktails too.My recent holiday [...]
More master classes planned, new management centre launched at TripAdvisor
More than 800 hospitality business owners in Indonesia and Thailand attended the first TripAdvisor Master Classes to be conducted in Asia Pacific. “We were pleased with the response in every destination we went to - from Jakarta to Bali and Bangkok and Phuket,” said Alvin Ch’ng, commercial di [...]
mTrip Travelguide review – Augmented Singapore on the iPhone
This morning I read about the mTrip travel guides – Android and Apple application guides to about 20 destinations. So I downloaded the app from the Apple App store – GBP3.99 (approx US$7 or so). Each city is one app (as with the LP guides) and the Singapore version is not small – pack as muc [...]
News briefs: Expedia Malaysia adds AirAsia, Frankfurt Airport app
Expedia adds AirAsia flights on Malaysian websiteExpedia announced the introduction of AirAsia flights and packages on its Malaysian website, offering bookings for flights, hotels and holiday packages all on one platform. ‘Expedia.com.my’ has been designed for Malaysian travellers and offers a p [...]
