The Flocations story and why the WIT Developer & Designer Challenge
The story of Singapore-based start-up Flocations and how it morphed from a graphical search interface into a marketplace for tour packages is a good example of how entrepreneurs with good ideas can often get lost or caught in the complex world that is travel.Let’s start at the beginning. I first [...]
The Wrap: AirAsia group carried 9.9mil passengers in Q2
In the news: Healthy Q2 for AirAsia group, surge in hotel bookings on SiteMinder's platform, APAC travellers most tech-savvyAirAsia Group carried 9.9mil passengers in Q2AirAsia Berhad reported a healthy showing for the airliines in the group for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013 (Q2), recordin [...]
Time for some home truths, Australia & ASEAN – we’re in this together
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in opening the CAPA Australian Pacific Aviation Summit in Sydney Tuesday, said Australia was at the doorstep of Asia.Peter Harbison, executive chairman of CAPA, titled his keynote talk, “Australia on the edge of Asia”.Which led Alan Khee [...]
A “positive and active” first half for Amadeus
Amadeus’ adjusted profit for the six months ended June 30, 2013 increased 5.2% to €349.6 million, backed by growth in revenue of 5.7% to €1,595.1 million and an EBITDA increase of 6.5% to €645.9 million.Describing the period reviewed as “positive and active" Amadeus, in announcing its yea [...]
South Sulawesi is Indonesia’s “hottest” destination
Burufly, Indonesia based social travel site, reveals the country's top 10 destinations based on its social engagement statistics, with South Sulawesi heading the list, followed by East Nusa Tenggare and Jakarta.Details in infographics below: INDON [...]
Tea & Horse Caravan Trail, Pt 2: History, art and pasta collide in Shaxi
I wake up to the pattering of rain on my bedroom window. I rise from my bed of roses (the most colourful bedsheets I’ve ever slept on) to face Day 3 of my Tea and Horse Caravan Trail.We decide to have breakfast at Bakery 88 (breakfast at Landscape leaves much to be desired) and there, we meet anot [...]
Bangkok, NYC get most searches, UK travellers procrastinate, and US has shortest trip durations
This is a blog by Nicolas Borel, COO Travel Intelligence, Amadeus IT GroupWe recently blogged about the cities that generated the most air traffic, and not surprisingly London, New York, and Tokyo came in as the top 3 cities.We also highlighted that the travel industry was changing at a really fa [...]
Asia’s growing for Rezgo but payments still tough nut to crack in tours and activities
Rezgo, the pioneer in cloud based software for tour and activity businesses and which recently crossed a million customers, is seeing 20% of its total bookings come from APAC operators.CEO Stephen Joyce, who told WIT that 22% of the tours offered in its system are based in the region, said that Asia [...]
The Wrap: World’s first Twentieth Century Fox theme park in Genting Highlands
In the news: New international theme park for Genting Highlands, The Miele Guide closes, Xtreme Booking in Japan, HotelQuickly launches in New ZealandWorld's first Twentieth Century Fox theme park in Genting Highlands Genting Malaysia Bhd, which owns and operates Resorts World Genting (RWG) in Gen [...]
Tea & Horse Caravan Trail, Pt 1: Kicking off in Dali
I’ve just returned from an amazing trip which took me on part of the ancient Tea and Horse Caravan Trail where merchants of old brought tea and horses on mules from southern Yunnan across the border to Tibet and India.In those days, it took them years to reach their destination. These days, where [...]
