“It’s no secret B2B sales are often relationship-based,” says Vouch’s Ling on first business trip since pandemic
Expansion in Europe on back of $1.1m raise
IT is fitting that Joseph Ling’s first trip abroad in the last 20 months was to London where the Singapore-based founder and CEO of Vouch is not only marking his US$1.1 million seed round but also the expansion of his chatbot-based concierge solution [...]
New VTLs welcomed, but hopes are for “achingly slow” reopening to be speeded up and simplified
Time for Singapore to scrap quarantine for all vaccinated travellers, says Wego's Veitch
FOR travel executives based in Singapore, the first significant reopening of its borders announced over the weekend couldn’t have come sooner and while they welcomed it, the general sentiment is it needs t [...]
Covid has enabled more interesting conversations with hotel owners, says IHG’s Serena Lim
FOR Serena Lim, who’s been involved in hotel development work for the past two decades – indeed it was her first job in hospitality – one of the biggest pleasures of her work is going into uncharted territory and scoping out feasibility and development opportunities for new builds in remote d [...]
“A roller coaster ride in which we puked couple of times”
Otherwise, Tribe’s Jason Loe on silver linings to pandemic
SINGAPORE experience curator, Tribe, has stood out amid the pandemic as being creative and resourceful. Its Chinatown Murders tour won it Outstanding Tour Experience 2021. At times though, we are sure the pandemic must have brought its [...]
TechSembly now wants to focus on hospitality. Here’s why.
BUOYED by the success it’s seen with its first hotel client, The Peninsula Hotels, TechSembly, an e-commerce platform that builds local storefronts for businesses, is taking the plunge to focus on the hospitality sector.
CEO and co-founder, Amy Read, first met executives from the Hong Kong-ba [...]
In marriage of two giants, Marriott and Rakuten take vow on loyalty
Part of a broader hyper-local strategy, says Toomey
MARRIOTT International and Rakuten Group have signed a partnership that will allow their customers to dip into each other’s loyalty programmes, in a landmark deal that plays to two trends accelerated by Covid.
For Marriott, it’s about go [...]
Six more airlines implement Air Travel Pass, survey shows travellers’ increasing frustration with restrictions
EVEN as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released a study showing that air travellers are increasingly frustrated with the Covid-19 travel restrictions, it also announced that Etihad Airways, Jazeera Airways, Jetstar, Qantas, Qatar Airways and Royal Jordanian, will implement IATA [...]
The Wrap: Korean Air transfers all IT systems to Amazon Web Services, Emirates and Qantas extend joint business partnership, and more …
THE Wrap is a round-up of news in the travel and technology industries, and updates on how businesses in these sectors are resetting as they prepare for post-pandemic travel.
Korean Air transfers all IT systems to Amazon Web Services
Fist bump to seal a migration deal: Jang Sung-hyun (right [...]
Past the deepest point, but serious issues remain: Airlines face cumulative $201b losses for 2020-2022
THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced its latest outlook for airline industry financial performance showing improved results amid the continuing COVID-19 crisis.
Net industry losses are expected to reduce to $11.6 billion in 2022
after a $51.8 billion loss in 2021 (worsene [...]
The Chinaman returns to Chinatown
Arthur Kiong comes full circle to showcase “Singapore-inspired hospitality” at The Clan Hotel
ONE of the very first interviews I did with Arthur Kiong, CEO of Far East Hospitality, was headlined “Chinaman in New York”.
Kiong, then working for Ritz-Carlton,
had been posted to New York [...]
