Letter from Bhutan: Happiness is a place, Part 1
Call it premonition but somehow I knew that my baggage would not arrive with me on the flight from Punta Cana via Paris. And so I wasn’t too flustered when I was proven right.In fact, in some ways it felt good to leave the airport so light – and it made me aware that too often we carry way more [...]
Emerging markets grabbing bigger piece of online travel pie
Asia Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LATAM), Eastern Europe and the Middle East are eroding Europe’s and the US’ share in online travel transactions, according to Global Online Travel Overview Third Edition, a new report by travel industry research authority PhoCusWright.After years of controlli [...]
Letter from Punta Cana: First feel of the Caribbean
“What are the three things I must do while I am here?” I asked the woman sitting next to me on the Air France flight bound for Punta Cana from Paris.Despite my exhaustion, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation for what awaited me in the Dominican Republic, a place I had long wanted [...]
Inside the world of ‘ichige’ and its possible travel applications
If there is one market where location-based services have had a huge impact on customer behaviour, it’s Japan. And mobile gaming is one of the biggest and fastest growing sectors.The mobile content and gaming market is estimated to be worth over US$6 billion and growing at 15%. Profit margin tends [...]
Indians and Brazilians most eager to travel next year
Indians and Brazilians are planning more holiday trips, German travel plans remain stable in 2011, while Americans are exercising extreme caution. These travel trends for 2011 are revealed in a representative survey commissioned by ITB Berlin and compiled by the consultancy IPK International.With ec [...]
India, Malaysia, HK set to be S’pore’s top markets
India, Malaysia and Hong Kong will be the top source markets for tourists to Singapore in the next two years, according to the Asia Pacific Travel Intentions Survey 2010, conducted by PATA and Visa.The survey, which covered more than 6,700 respondents in 13 markets in Asia Pacific, found one in thre [...]
In 2011 we need Revolution not Evolution
In 2011 we need Revolution not Evolution As we move into 2011, the Internet is awash with articles from people looking back on 2010 forward to 2011. There are some great summaries of what happened last year and hundreds of predictions for the coming year. I just had a lo [...]
ImpulseFlyer launches with WSJ Asia partnership
Most travel start-ups struggle with distribution but it appears thatImpulseFlyer, the private sale site for boutique and luxury hotels, which officially launches this morning, October 18, has managed to crack that nut at the starting gate.It launches with a full-scale distribution partnership with [...]
Imagine, travel as therapy and travel agents as therapists
So it feels kind of surreal. I have just flown 13 hours from Singapore to Frankfurt, fought my way through transfer – which by the way is good training for a marathon except you don’t get friendly people handing you water and cheering you on; here, you get surly officials trying to make you feel [...]
If you’re doing mobile, ‘do a little and do it bloody well’
Once upon a time, in the dark days before the iPhone changed everything, circa 2004, Gerry Samuels decided to set up a company specializing in mobile travel technologies.He called the company, yes, MTT, Mobile Travel Technologies Ltd, and he based it in Dublin. You don’t need to drink a lot of Gu [...]
