3 challenges and opportunities online hotel booking sites face
The online hotel booking industry is booming, but service providers still have to watch out for some challenges.In 1997, two men — Michael Kenny and Robert Rosenstein – co-founded a company with a website named PlanetHoliday.com, which aimed to disrupt the hotel booking space. In Phuket, Thaila [...]
The Wrap: Visas top list of information provided to business travellers
In the news: Travelport and ACTE mobile study, Wego and the Middle East, Singapore’s New Park Property soldVisas top the list of information provided to business travellersTravelport and ACTE (Association of Corporate Travel Executives) have released a global research paper on the impact of mo [...]
The future is price differentiation – do you agree?
During the panel I ran at the China Travel Distribution Summit in Guangzhou, I asked a final question of my panelists, “What’s the one trend they’ll be watching in the next 12 months?”Most cited was China outbound and regionalization of online travel; however the answer was Stan van Roij, ma [...]
Groupon makes comeback with travel, mobile push and a new ‘pull’ model
One of the most frequent questions I’m asked these days – after Groupon set up its Travel vertical group in Asia Pacific earlier this year – is “how long do you think they will last?”In the rapid-fire world of online, it seemed only yesterday when Groupon, the daily deals monster, was ha [...]
ITB Asia is moving to Marina Bay Sands
ITB Asia has signed a three-year partnership with Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, starting in 2014, which will see the next three editions of the annual show taking place at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.Marina Bay Sands will also be ITB Asia's official hotel partner for the event, which will [...]
Armed with new funds, Traveloka looks to build on OTA offering
Traveloka, which recently raised Series-A funding with Global Founders Capital, a new VC set up by Rocket Internet, is looking to cement its position to become the leading online flight booking in Indonesia.Co-founder, Ferry Unardi (pictured left) said with the funds (he declined to disclose the a [...]
Content is King, Context is Queen: Introducing the Next Generation of Review Search
We are swimming in an ocean of online reviews. However, when you look at individual sites, whether it be Travelocity, Orbitz or the like, you have more of a lake of reviews, a much smaller pool. There’s a lack of content.Then you go to the larger sites, like TripAdvisor or Booking.com, where the c [...]
New deal with AXESS puts Travelport ahead of the game in Japan, says Ekert
The new agreement with AXESS, the Japan Airlines-owned GDS, to roll out a new travel agents solution by early October will put Travelport in a leading position “with the best platform for quite a long time” in Japan, said Kurt Ekert, Travelport chief commercial officer.He, however, could not [...]
Letter from Guangzhou: Mobile rules, outbound’s the new black
Alipay has 700 million customers. There were 83.2 million outbound trips in 2012 and Chinese travellers spent US$102 billion overseas. 98% of Chinese travellers, totaling 295 million, own a smartphone.At every conference, staggering numbers about the Chinese market are thrown at you. On their own, [...]
The Wrap: Asia’s only region to record fall in room rates
In the news: Asia’s falling hotel prices, Etihad Airways’ Flying Nanny. Tigerair’s four new destination, SITA’s and Thales’ partnership in new technologyAsia's only region to record fall in room rates Rapid expansion in the hotel sector in Asia, coupled with unstable currencies have led to [...]
