Anatomy of a half-baked social media disaster – or was it the best publicity ever?
Perhaps you’ve heard of Amy’s Baking Company Baking Boutique & Bistro – and not just because the name is a mouthful. In recent hours, the company has quickly escalated its reputation from being a feature on Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares to being the social media crisis that launch [...]
One day, vacation rentals will supplant hotels in leisure segment – that’s HomeAway’s ambition
HomeAway’s expansion has largely been driven by acquisitions. Yeoh Siew Hoon catches up with Carl Shepherd, co-founder & chief strategy and development officer of the world’s largest vacations rental site, to find out more about its plans for Asia.Q: What’s the state of the overall vacatio [...]
‘Challenger’ Andres brings customer focus to Travelport, eyes OTAs and hotels
Six months into his new role as vice president Asia and regional managing director Asia Pacific for Travelport, and Patrick Andres is digging into what he learnt on his first job to grow the travel distribution company’s business in the region.“As a young boy working at the Westin Toronto, I re [...]
WIT to hit the road with digital marketing and revenue management workshop
Web In Travel is going on the road to take a “Digital Marketing & Revenue Management: How To Grow Your Direct Business & Optimise Yields” workshop to Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur and Siem Reap in June.Sponsored by Infor EasyRMS, the half-day workshop will give an overview on h [...]
Expedia revs it up with clear goal in sight – to build first pan-Asian OTA brand
He may be the President and Chief Executive Officer, Expedia, Inc. and President, Expedia Worldwide, but at heart Dara Khosrowshahi remains a product guy. I know this because he became truly animated when he showed me the Expedia Hotels & Flights app on his iPhone.“It’s so tactile. We take [...]
Travellers in Asia lead surge to online bookings
The second AsiaRooms.com Traveller Confidence Index, which surveyed 25 countries, revealed the following global travel trends.Travel and spending patterns – Singapore and other Asian travellers lead in online accommodation bookingsIn the past 12 months, travellers in Asia proved most inclined to [...]
From no choice to tough choices: Singapore tourism at watershed moment
I think sometimes we are spoilt for choice. You go into a restaurant and they pile you with choices. You go online and you’re inundated with choice. Which app? Who do I read? What do I want to buy?Well, the good news is for those who attended the recent Singapore Tourism Industry Conference, the c [...]
In The Company of Women: Don’t Flip The Bozo Bit
At Microsoft, there’s a saying ‘flipping the bozo bit’. Bits are binary – they can either be on or off. So the saying describes the moment when a person loses credibility completely… and with it, their career.In my first few months at Microsoft, I was useless. The product I was supposed [...]
Talk about robot kisses and it doesn’t have to be pink
There’s this ad that’s intriguing me right now. It appears on my Kindle, because I bought the cheaper version that comes with the ads. I have so far resisted paying for games online on my iPad and instead I put up with ads.This makes me wonder of course what kind of signals this is giving us con [...]
The Wrap: HomeAway, Tripvillas join forces to bring more holiday rental options for vacationers
In the news: HomeAway and TripVillas partner, BTSocial’s first travel app, AirAsia X’s strong Q1HomeAway, Tripvillas join forces to bring more holiday rental options for vacationersHoliday accommodation website, Tripvillas, and leading online marketplace for holiday rentals, HomeAway, Inc., ha [...]
