Hail the future drone-based society – Kotaro Chiba bets big on drones and inbound tourism
Drones will be to society what the mobile phone is now – they will connect us, they will do all kinds of stuff for us, they will be everywhere and they will be invisible.
That’s the vision of Kotaro Chiba, founder of the newly set-up 1 billion yen (US$16m) DroneFund in Japan. The co-found [...]
Rebranded Vidi aims to capture bigger slice of tours & activities market
Malaysian online travel startup, Touristly, has rebranded as Vidi to reflect its “evolution from a traditional trip planner to a visual discovery platform.”
The rebranding is also part of the company’s strategy to get a slice of the rapidly growing tours and activities market in Asia Pacifi [...]
John W. Brown is new CEO of Agoda, Rosenstein moves up to chairman
Booking Holdings announced today that Agoda COO, John W. Brown has been appointed as the new company CEO, effective from June 1, 2018. Current CEO Rob Rosenstein will take on the role as Chairman of Agoda and Special Advisor to the CEO of Booking Holdings, Glenn Fogel.
Brown has served as COO sin [...]
AXUS adds destination content to digital itinerary platform in partnership with travel4
AXUS, the leading provider of itinerary management solutions for travel advisors and tour operators, has partnered with travel42 to integrate in-depth destination content into the itinerary planning app.
The collaboration makes available more than 6,000 detailed city and country guides through a [...]
Amadeus’ Smart Cities initiative rolls out with Asia as test bed
Amadeus is taking its technological capabilities and expertise beyond travel to tackle the challenges posed to societies by rapid urbanisation and the growth of mega cities, and Asia will be the test bed.
Its Smart Cities initiative, launched last week, is aimed at building a stronger understandi [...]
Raymond Blanc on how travel makes chefs greater and how old ways must change for new flavours to emerge
Raymond Blanc OBE may be French in his roots but it is his open-mindedness and curiosity that has made him the phenomenon he is today in the world of celebrity chefs.
Today one of Britain’s most respected chefs and chef-owner of Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Blanc, who was in Singapore [...]
The Wrap: Qantas’ redesigned booking platform aims to convert lookers to bookers
In the news: Qantas has a new redesigned booking platform; Frasers Hospitality partners with Duetto in managing revenue; Travelport and Sabre ink more agreements with airlines
Aviation: Qantas’ redesigned booking platform aims to convert lookers to bookers
Travellers searching for flight [...]
AccorHotels expands luxury portfolio with purchase of Mövenpick Hotels for US$567 million
In late 2016, AccorHotels increased its collection of luxury properties by buying Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI), owner of the luxury Raffles, Fairmont and Swissotel brands, for US$2.9 billion.
The French hotel giant is now expanding this luxury segment with the announcement on Apri [...]
At last, I am flavour of the month
I was having lunch with a friend in executive search recently when she told me that I am the new black – meaning someone with my profile is currently in fashion.
Having waited my whole life to hear this, my ears perked up over quinoa salad and chicken breast. This kind of food is also the new b [...]
Small in size, big in dreams: Three hoteliers carving a niche in the boutique space
They are small and they are unique. And they are finding their niche in an overcrowded space that sees new and perhaps more unique properties coming up every other month.
However, what makes the Ambong-Ambong Rainforest Retreat and Ambong Pool Villas in Langkawi, and Ren i Tang and SINKEH in Pena [...]
