A blockbuster eCommerce announcement and a strange travel signal with an Asia-Pacific twist
Amazon has just done something not quite so quietly disruptive: it has taken another piece of its logistics engine, put a price on it, and handed the market a benchmark. That matters far beyond e-commerce. Which is why we should all be paying attention.
For travel, the lesson is obvious. The indu [...]
Grab goes cross-border. Secondary cities get big. Dubai hotels eye rebound. Ferries adopt ChatGPT.
Secondary cities are in Asia's travel spotlight
Agoda data shows accommodation searches in secondary Asian cities have grown 15% faster than traditional hubs over the past two years, with destinations like Sapa, Okayama, and Bandung seeing the biggest jumps in international interest. To mark its 21 [...]
Ten years of Klook: Marcus Yong on growth, AI, and the responsibility of being pan-Asian
He started on Labour Day. May 1. “I still don't know how that happened,” says Marcus Yong, laughing. Ten years later, Klook’s vice president of global marketing is sitting across from me, and the irony of choosing to begin his startup journey on the one day the world takes a break hasn't been [...]
Booking Holdings’ play to keep travellers in ecosystem with AI
Booking Holdings is positioning its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts as a moat against general AI models. The company reported early testing showed lifts in user conversion, reduced customer service interaction and other positive metrics across brands.
CEO Glenn Fogel shared a [...]
Uber expands into travel with hotel bookings and new in-app features
Uber announced a new set of products and features at its annual GO–GET product event, including hotel bookings and new travel tools.
The updates reflect Uber’s continued platform strategy to bring more of everyday life into a single app.
“Uber is becoming an app for everything—helping [...]
Hyenas, hippos and the human experience: Beyond the room in Africa
What makes a hotel stay truly unforgettable?
For one panellist, it was waking to the sound of a baby wildebeest being hunted by hyenas and wild dogs just beyond the balcony railing. For another, it was the simple ritual of a cup of coffee delivered to bed at exactly the right moment, rugs laid out, [...]
Amadeus wants biometrics. Spotnana, Air Canada link up. PKFARE and AirAsia MOVE offer booking bundles.
Spotnana, Air Canada link up on NDC and flight pass integration
Spotnana has announced a partnership with Air Canada that includes two integrations: a direct NDC connection covering the full booking and servicing lifecycle (continuous pricing, negotiated fares, unused credit management, self-servic [...]
The aspiring traveller has spoken, now who will build for them?
MOVE’s Nadia Omer on unlocking ASEAN's next wave of travellers
The desire to travel has never been stronger in South-east Asia. The problem, says Nadia Omer, is that the industry hasn't caught up with the person doing the desiring.
Speaking at Travel Tech Thursdays Kuala Lumpur, themed “ [...]
ZUZU’s AI revenue co-pilot launches first partnership in Japan
SQUEEZE Inc. selects ZUZU's RevMate AI to power revenue management
The Japan-based smart hotel operator, running over 40 hotels and serviced apartments, adopts RevMate to enhance revenue intelligence alongside suitebook, its cloud-based hospitality operation platform
ZUZU Hospitality, [...]
Airbnb’s CORTIS stay. TAT and Dida launch ‘Trusted Thailand’. Ascott scales agentic AI commerce. More.
Airbnb partners with CORTIS to launch REDRED-themed stay
Airbnb and CORTIS have teamed up to open the POP-UP: Airbnb & CORTIS Seoul Hideout, a free immersive fan experience running May 1–7 in Seoul, celebrating the group's lead single REDRED from their upcoming 2nd EP GREENGREEN. The space is [...]
