Technology
Electric vehicle rentals surge 16x during Spring Festival in China
27/02/2024 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
Online travel platform Fliggy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group, has released an infographic highlighting the latest car rental trends and other travel insights in the Chinese tourism sector during the Spring Festival. Here are some key highlights: Stimulated by the increase in indep [...]
Excuse me, did you hear my clone speak Mandarin? A new cry in the age of AI
23/02/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
I was sitting at dinner to usher in the eighth day of Lunar New Year, an auspicious time in Penang, when immediately after the first course of tossing “yusheng” and shouting for prosperity, the conversation turned to AI. I mean, we had just witnessed the most elaborate and magnificent ceremon [...]
Trip.com Group sees significant bookings uplift across OTA platform
23/02/2024 by Linda Fox
Trip.com Group saw bookings increase more than 70% year over year across its online travel agency platform, the company said. Announcing its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 results, the company said net revenue was $1.5 billion for the quarter, up 105% year over year. Full-year net revenue was [...]
Taylor’s terabyte tsunami. AI sidekicks. AA offloads advisors. Yugo flies with Eve.
22/02/2024 by Ian Jarrett
Taylor Swift’s terabyte tsunami It wasn’t only the airlines and hotels which had a ball when Taylor Swift performed sell-out shows in Melbourne this week. Figures released by telco Telstra revealed that during the three nights of Swift’s Eras Tour concerts almost 300,000 people packed insi [...]
WiT Podcast: New Wave of Customer Love in Alternative Accommodation
22/02/2024 by WiT
How to stay green and growing, and not ripe and rotting Imagine. Fifteen years ago, there was no alternative accommodation category on Booking.com. Today, there are 7.2m short term rental listings and in its Q3 2023 earnings, this sector grew the fastest, 24% year over year, making it about 33% of [...]
How AI boosts digital advertising and direct bookings
22/02/2024 by D.J. Catron
Recent advances in artificial intelligence’s handling of digital advertising have increased the possibilities for hotels to grow direct bookings and compete with online travel agencies, a new study found. AI-powered ad campaigns, especially when managed alongside manual campaigns, increased the d [...]
Expedia appoints company veterans to lead newly formed operating divisions
22/02/2024 by WiT
Following the succession from Peter Kern to Ariane Gorin, Expedia Group appoints Alfonso Paredes as President of Private Label Solutions and Greg Schulze as President of Travel Partners and Media Expedia Group has announced the appointment of Alfonso Paredes as President of Private Label Solutions [...]
Japan’s proposed Digital Nomad Visa and what we know so far
16/02/2024 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
Want to work in Tokyo but can’t find a suitable visa? For remote workers, this might just be the ticket Japan recently unveiled its initial plans (keyword: initial) for a digital nomad visa, joining the ranks of 46 other nations offering similar arrangements for remote employees. This visa type a [...]
Swifties spike Airbnb prices. STB re-engages Traveloka. Penny for her thoughts. More.
16/02/2024 by Ian Jarrett
Airbnb hosts pull a Swiftie Pop icon Taylor Swift’s appearances in Melbourne and Sydney in coming days have seen hotels in the two cities booked out – even with room rates going through the roof – while some Airbnb customers feel they been left in the lurch by landlords. Swifties travellin [...]
Looking ahead in the Northeast Asia travel market
15/02/2024 by WiT
Northeast Asia is a mosaic of interconnected yet distinct travel markets, making it an incredibly dynamic region. Throughout the past year, airlines have worked to reestablish connections between Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, rejuvenating routes that had faltered during the pandemic. The Northe [...]