Technology
Mini-apps, flagship stores, Rapid API: Travel tech brands build windmills for the future
20/06/2023 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Wego, Expedia, Alibaba Fliggy share product roadmap There is a Chinese saying, “When the wind of change blows, some build walls while others build windmills.” Well, travel tech brands around the world have certainly been busy building windmills when travel stopped for the time it did. During [...]
Coldplay, concerts, and chaos: Music tourism is ready to be unlocked
16/06/2023 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
Concerts are expected to drive tens of thousands of visitors to regional cities and inject millions into the state’s economy Back in 2020, economists from West Virginia University conducted a study called, “Why Go Home? Pearl Jam’s ‘Home Shows’ & Hotel Demand”, to quantify the impa [...]
Bye TikTok, Hello AI. Easier payments. Qatar’s try-before-fly.
15/06/2023 by Ian Jarrett
AI, it’s the only way to plan travel. A survey of US travellers has found more than one third — 36% —said they are likely to use AI to research or plan travel within the next 12 months. The survey was conducted by travel publisher Matador Network, which recently launched the personal AI tr [...]
Look out for the “Uber of generative AI” in travel
13/06/2023 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
“I hope to be around when the next big thing arrives,” says Chris Hemmeter Who will be the first travel startup to create the “Uber of generative AI”? That’s the challenge Chris Hemmeter, managing director of Thayer Ventures, issued at the Innovation Roundtable at Phocuswright Europe taki [...]
Lifestyle hotels show promising trends in post-COVID travel landscape
13/06/2023 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
As global occupancy rebounds, lifestyle hotels offer unique experiences that challenge traditional accommodations. The hospitality industry is witnessing a remarkable recovery as global occupancy rates in the first quarter of 2023 approach pre-pandemic levels. Fueling this resurgence are lifestyle [...]
Velocity Ventures launches “heartware” initiative targeting various sectors in travel
12/06/2023 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
Corporate Partners Program aims to support the ecosystem by helping startups access industry and innovation professionals. Velocity Ventures, a prominent investor in travel and hospitality tech in Southeast Asia, is spearheading an initiative to address the challenges faced by the various s [...]
Mapping cherry blossoms in Japan. Airbus helps elephants. Hopper’s risky business, more
08/06/2023 by Ian Jarrett
Flickr’s role in cherry blossom research Research by Monash University experts has tracked Japanese hanami (flower viewing) via social media images, producing a remarkable map of cherry blossoms across Japan to document their annual bloom and calculate its peak in major cities. The study gathe [...]
Go City and QPSOFTWARE are developing a WeChat mini program in China
12/06/2023 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
The partnership aims to enhance travel experiences in China's dynamic market Go City, a global attraction pass company, has announced its collaboration with QPSOFTWARE as the lead technical agency for the development of a WeChat mini program in China. This initiative aims to cater to the needs of C [...]
From baseball hotel stay to Suica integration, SQUEEZE hits home run with hospitality innovation
07/06/2023 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Fancy staying in the middle of a baseball stadium? Try tower eleven hotel Shinichi Tatebayashi, CEO and founder of SQUEEZE, is understandably very excited about his newest hotel, which he says is a world first. “tower eleven hotel” is a 12-room lifestyle accommodation, with a sauna and hotspr [...]
Listen: The golden age of travel disruption is here, says Wego chief
05/06/2023 by WiT
Last year at WiT Singapore, Ross Veitch, Chief Executive & Co-founder, Wego made a number of bold predictions about the future of travel, technology, and the Artificial Intelligence revolution. Trust us, you'll be surprised at how many he got right. He dishes out a few hot takes on the ways jobs [...]