Silent revolution taking place as villa bookings become more accessible to travel agents
Private accommodation has become the norm in travel, catering to travellers who demand a personalised service. One might even argue that in some respects, villas surpass hotels in comfort and in privacy. But there is one gaping difference between the hotel industry and villas: its technology.This is [...]
Local gladiators gear up for battle in South Korea travel market
When asked to describe the state of the Korean online travel market in an image, Min Yoon, CEO of TideSquare, shared an image of a gladiator scene from ancient Rome much to the amusement of the audience gathered for the first WIT Seoul on March 25.He called it “super competitive” and that things [...]
AccorHotels buys onefinestay, plans to add 40 new markets
Adding to its arsenal in private accommodation, Accor Hotels has acquired onefinestay, a high-end hospitality pioneer specialising in luxury serviced home rental in key worldwide gateways.The acquisition is for €148M (£117M) and AccorHotels has made a further commitment of €64m (£50m) to help [...]
How Contiki keeps itself fresh for today’s millennials
Contiki has been specialising in the business of group travel for 18 to 35 year olds since 1962, well before the advent of the current generation of young travellers. This travel company may be 54 years old, but it still knows how to get down with the kids.The firm does more than dabble in social me [...]
3 key lessons tech startups can teach hoteliers
The need for hotels to develop more innovative solutions to drive more direct business in the digital age (especially given the rise and consolidation of OTAs and meta-search engines) was a long-running and dominant theme at the WIT Hospitality conference in Hong Kong.Leading tech entrepreneurs Frit [...]
Singapore startup Bolt aims to become Asia’s content marketplace
As more brands and companies lean towards content marketing as a way of customer acquisition, one Singapore-based startup is positioning itself to be “Asia’s Content Marketplace”.Bolt, founded by journalist Chan Yi Wen and launched in July 2015, aims to match companies with the right content c [...]
Addicted to change, the stuff of startups who can also stuff it up
This is the longest stint I’ve not been travelling since I started WIT 12 years ago. Two solid months on the ground – and it’s been wonderful, I feel like I’ve kinda settled into myself .Travel is not necessarily about movement, it can be mental. And my mind has certainly done a lot of trave [...]
Tripfez wants to be a TripAdvisor-Viator for Muslim travellers
Lagisatu, which started life three years as a metasearch for Muslim-friendly hotels using MuslimStars rating, has relaunched as Tripfez.At ITB Berlin, co-founders, Malaysia-based Faeez Fadhlillah and Juergen Gallistl, introduced Tripfez which goes beyond metasearch to become a marketplace for hotels [...]
Keen on Korea? Come learn about local market tactics at WIT Seoul
If there’s one market that’s managed to export its pop and fashion culture better than Hollywood in Asia, it’s South Korea.K-pop stars pack concert halls faster and quicker than Western acts. When Exo Planet #2 staged its concert in Singapore late last year, hordes of teen girls started queuin [...]
My four lessons learnt from watching CODE
Last night, I caught a private screening of CODE: Debugging The Gender Code, at The Projector, a cool new movie space booked by Expedia to mark a week of activities around International Women’s Day. It was hosted by Britta Wilson, vice president global diversity and inclusion.The documentary, made [...]
