Getting uncomfortable with the comfortable – how Maria Trujillo used Tern as her stage debut
Everyone can admit that taking your first step into the modern workforce is not a particularly pleasant experience. Building up the courage to introduce yourself to a company executive isn’t easy and even a simple hello can be intimidating.
That is why career events like Tern – a travel caree [...]
Skyscanner’s Gareth Williams on how its bet on Asia led to its big win, being a CEO and the future of apps
The first thing Gareth Williams, CEO & co-founder of Skyscanner, says to me with a grin when I caught up with him yesterday evening was, “I deny all rumours that I was offered the Uber job.”
Wishing Dara Khosrowshahi well (the Expedia Inc CEO has indicated he will accept the job as Uber C [...]
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 [...]
Beyond Pricing acquires Smart Host, offering revenue management tools for vacation rentals
Vacation rental revenue management firm, Beyond Pricing has acquired Smart Host – another travel technology startup, focused on introducing flexible pricing strategies to vacation rentals – for an undisclosed amount.
Beyond Pricing grants its users with free and open access to data of nearby [...]
Letter from Sydney: Winter’s coming, a battle of Amazonic proportions is looming
Winter in Sydney is very different from the winter portrayed in the Game of Thrones television series but I get the feeling that the competition for online consumers is going to get as brutal and bloody in the next year or so, and travel will be caught up in the quest for the Iron Throne.
The [...]
WeWork buys Spacemob to spearhead expansion into South-east Asia
WeWork has just announced its plans of a US$500 million investment towards a new entity, in a move focused on expansion and growth in Asia, more specifically in South-east Asia.
WeWork’s investment has manifested through the acquisition of Spacemob – a co-working space that grants its members [...]
Startups in ASEAN: Time to look to China, not US, for lessons
If there was one clear message coming out from investors in the tech space at the Techsauce Global Summit in Bangkok last week, it was – it’s time for startups in Southeast Asia to stop looking to the US for role models; instead they should look to China.
A panel of investors, specialising in [...]
Expedia’s US$350m investment in Traveloka: ASEAN’s first travel unicorn set to fly higher
It’s finally happened – Traveloka, the Indonesian online travel agency, that’s been streaking ahead in the world’s fifth largest domestic market, has received a US$350 million minority investment from Expedia, with analysts saying this values it around US$2 billion, making it Southeast Asia� [...]
Letter from Kuching: Lessons for small earthlings in second cities
Just returned from Kuching and on the AirAsia flight to Singapore, I was reflecting on how the combination of low cost airlines and the web, specifically social media, has changed the fortunes and aspirations of folks living in second cities in Asia.
I hail from a secondary city myself, Penang, a [...]
Letter from Sydney: Chatbots are hot but they are no silver bullet
Travelport Live in Sydney kicked off with two female “robot” dancers wearing suits that were more lit up than a Christmas tree, their robot-like movements a hint of where the discussions at the one-and-a-half day conference would be heading.
Futurist Ross Dawson opened with a br [...]
