The Wrap: Plaza Premium Group commits US$55m to expand footprint globally
News Roundup: Plaza Premium Group adding new lounges and in-terminal hotels in more international airports, FCM Travel’s ‘minority’ investment in Shep, a US patent for Sydney-based Troovo Technologies
Hospitality: Plaza Premium Group commits $55m to expand footprint globally
Aerotel at [...]
Startup Spotlight: ExploreMaps helps travellers share itineraries and travel trails
Meet ExploreMaps, a Singapore-based travel startup that wants to take the pain out of travel planning by letting users create and share mapped out itineraries that are easy to follow.
Describe the business, core products and services in one paragraph .
ExploreMaps is building a social netwo [...]
Questo wants to make every city a game and invites tour operators to come and play
Coupling the booming mobile gaming market and travellers’ quest for local experiences, Questo has designed a ‘real-world exploration game’ to help travellers explore destinations in unique ways.
As CEO Alex Govoreanu sees it, the platform
allows consumers to explore cities without a guide [...]
Letter from Fort Lauderdale: Time shifting as search chokes, funds bloat and brands battle for supremacy in next age of tech
As I wait for the first of three flights that will bring me home from Fort Lauderdale to Singapore via Houston and San Francisco, I have downloaded the Timeshifter jetlag app, one of the startups that presented at the Phocuswright conference. It’s relatively easy to set up, I just hope it works b [...]
Exosonic wants the airline industry to boom through supersonic travel
It’s hard to catch the attention of an audience confronted with 24 back-to-back startup and product pitches, but Exosonic managed to do just that. At The Phocuswright Conference Summit, Norris Tie, CEO of Exosonic wowed attendees with his vision of developing a fleet of supersonic passenger aircr [...]
Four startups nab top prizes at The Phocuswright Conference Summit
Over 20 startups pitched live at The Phocuswright Conference Summit, spanning travel categories that included hotel technology, corporate travel, chat and voice, SaaS/PaaS, luggage storage, air, in-destination services, and booking, vying for a range of prizes.
Of them included the Phocuswright [...]
Amadeus gives travel startups in Asia investment boost
Amadeus Ventures, an innovation vehicle to drive collaboration with the startup ecosystem, will launch in APAC in Q1 2020, investing in early-stage startups sitting at the crossroads of technology and travel, giving travel startups in Asia a shot in the arm.
According to Google’s e-Conomy SEA [...]
APAC villa rental market continues to grow despite falling occupancy rates
According to the Asia Pacific Villa Rental Market Research 2019 report by Villa Finder, the total private accommodation market has increased by 12% in the past two years, reaching a value of US$441m.
Bali remains the top villa market (>4000 villas), having grown 18% since 2017. Despite being ov [...]
In The Big Chair – Ross Veitch of Wego
Ross Veitch and Craig Hewett founded flight and hotel marketplace Wego in 2005 in Singapore. It has raised about $59 million and expanded beyond Southeast Asia into the Middle East, North Africa and India.
The company crossed $1 billion in gross merchandise volume in December 2018, and an IPO is [...]
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 [...]
