Transformation of a sacred cow: The flight path of SIA into a digital enterprise, beyond airline seats
Singapore Airlines (SIA) started its digital transformation in 2016. Since then, hundreds of millions have been invested in IT capex with the vision of creating a “future where SIA remains a prestigious proposition but becomes a smaller part of the whole entity, and the other seeds would have bec [...]
Navigating the pitfalls for travel startups: A “safety” guide
“My goal is to highlight some of the most common place calamities to befall travel startups,” was how Rod Cuthbert, board member of Veltra Corp and former chairman & CEO of Viator & Rome2rio, started his presentation at WiT Innovation Stage held last week in conjunction with WiT S [...]
Letter from the South China Sea: Time for unusual thinking, unorthodox partnerships and old-fashioned making money
Yeoh Siew Hoon gets stranded on a coral
reef off Cempedak and ponders the secrets of the travel universe as they were revealed
at last week’s WiT Singapore 2019.
The sun was about to call it a day when we set out on a boat from Cempedak Island off Bintan, Indonesia. Our destination was a coral [...]
The Wrap: Tencent, YesMilano collaborate in enticing more Chinese tourists to Milan
News Roundup: Tencent-YesMilano partnership to boost Milan tourism from China, Singapore Airlines’ new NDC aggregator, Amadeus NDC-enhanced booking platform, more flexibility flying with Cebu Pacific
Destination: Tencent, YesMilano collaborate in enticing more Chinese tourists to Milan
Gall [...]
WiT Innovation Stage: Why a seamless online experience is key to building customer loyalty
Here’s a little-known fact: The ubiquitous QR code that we use today was actually invented in 1994 in Japan. Yet, according to Ory Rusli, head of South-east Asia, Japan Foodie – a restaurant search app for visitors to Japan – when it came to introducing this mode of payment to Japanese mercha [...]
Sabre buys airline retailing software provider Radixx for US$110 million
Leading technology travel provider, Sabre Corporation , has purchased airline retail platform, Radixx, for US$110 million in cash, including payments to debtholders.
Founded in 1993, Orlando-based Radixx is a
passenger service system (PSS) with Internet booking engine (IBE) specialising
in low [...]
WiT Singapore 2019: Agoda’s CEO talks Asia, moving beyond accommodation, partnerships
Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” could be the theme song of Singapore-based travel platform Agoda as it focuses on finding the "best inventory" for its customers, operating with the "best tech" and fending off the intense competition in Asia armed with the "best weapons”. In a wide-ranging [...]
IDEM Hospitality takes top prize of WiT Startup of the Year 2019 in Singapore
IDEM Hospitality has taken the top prize in this year’s WiT Singapore Startup Pitch, powered by Amadeus, after the finals were held earlier this week at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre.
IDEM Hospitality beat two
other finalists – eRoam and Travenues – with its solution to he [...]
WiT Singapore 2019: Why the future of brand loyalty lies in personalisation
Today’s millennial travellers are spoilt for choice. Thanks to OTAs and other bespoke travel services, there is a multitude of different travel activities that can cater to their individual tastes that can be purchased at their fingertips. According to a report by Skift, 81% of consumers are will [...]
WiT Singapore 2019: Alipay and Fliggy collaborate to provide seamless travel experience for tourists
A year on since she last spoke on the WiT Singapore stage in October 2018, much has changed in Cherry Huang’s life – from looking after Alipay cross-border payments for South-east Asia, she’s now the Head of Global Travel at Alibaba Group for the region, in charge of the development of both A [...]
