Malaysia’s Tourism Tax: Finally enforced, but still faces long road to smooth implementation
On September 1 Malaysia implemented the controversial Tourism Tax (TTx) for foreign tourists, a RM10 (US$2.40) daily levy on hotel accommodation, much to the chagrin of the industry given that many questions remain unanswered.
There is no clarity yet on how the tax should be collected even though [...]
Why chatbots are transforming the travel Industry
This is a guest post by Bronwyn White, co-founder of MyTravelResearch.com, a market research and marketing firm specialising in the travel, tourism and aviation industries.
Chatbots can be simply defined as artificial intelligence programmes that conduct conversations with humans through chat [...]
Writing about failures taught him, “be a person of character, not a personality”
My first question to Vincent Ng, the co-author of “Why You Should Fail”, was, of course, “have you failed?” To which his eyes lit up with glee and he said, “Yes.”
“I’ve been doing entrepreneur things since I was 16,” he said proudly. “I sold candy to my schoolmates. The money [...]
Are these your ideal travel companions?
Who do you like to travel with? If you enjoy discovering the world with your family or friends then you are in good company, as a survey conducted by AccorHotels finds that the preferred travel companions are spouses (67%), children (44%) and friends (36%).
The survey was carried out in collabora [...]
Hatched in Antarctica, now a reality in Malaysia, BorderPass aims to cut immigration queues
It’s been a long journey but BorderPass, the brainchild of Faisal Ariff, aimed at easing immigration at airports with the use of technology has passed the final acceptance test with the Malaysian Immigration Department and on September 1, the first auto-gate will commence operations. Here’s the [...]
Technology boosts productivity of business travellers, study finds
Technology, especially smart devices, has changed the way we work and play and a common comment we hear often is, “I can’t live without my smartphone”.
This is the same sentiment shared by business travellers who, despite carrying carry different types of tech devices including tablet and lap [...]
The Wrap: Malaysia Airlines on track to become a digital airline, launches first Innovation Lab
In the news: Malaysia Airlines' new Innovation Lab, partnership between Travelport and MakeMyTrip, Expedia’s revenue management tool for hotels, Scoot’s new payment provider
AIRLINES: Malaysia Airlines on track to become a digital airline, launches first Innovation Lab
Most airlines ar [...]
How “Passion Made Possible” was made possible: The story of the new SG unified brand
A new unified brand for SG was rolled out this evening. “Passion Made Possible” is the combined rallying cry of the Singapore Tourism Board and the Economic Development Board. Here’s the story of how and why it became possible.
The new unified brand, “Passion Made Possible”, rolled [...]
Data the secret sauce behind destination marketing – then it’s what you do with it, just look at Hawaii and smile
For Andrew van der Feltz, a 21-year-veteran in destination marketing, his “aha” moment came when he joined Expedia Media Solutions two years ago and he saw the data, as it were.
“Getting access to the data, that was my moment,” said the senior director for EMEA and APAC, who previously wo [...]
People and culture, the one thing you can’t copy, and here’s how Sabine Hansen Peck intends that to be Amadeus’ competitive advantage
Yeoh Siew Hoon catches up with the power woman who runs people and culture at Amadeus IT Group, Sabine Hansen Peck, and talks Asia, diversity, gamification, and even animals and flying.
If she wasn’t yet convinced, her latest whirlwind trip through Asia Pacific, which covered Bangkok, Tokyo, th [...]
