WiT Singapore 2019: Allen Law, the good son steering Park Hotel Group into the digital future
How many of us can
say “well, my dad bought a hotel and asked me if I would run it”. Not many, I guess, but
that’s how Allen Law, CEO of Park Hotel Group, got his start in hospitality.
He was 24, studying mathematics in London, when his father, Law
Kar Po, called him, announcing the family [...]
The smart money is banking on new ways to pay, hands down
I was having coffee at the airport last
week and when I wanted to pay, the “Uncle” asked me, “Do you want to pay by
Alipay? Wave? Grab?”
At the
cashier, I was again asked the same question – only this time, I was offered
“Pay Lah” as well, one of the local bank wallets.
I got s [...]
From “Yarikuri” to “Omoroi”: The Peach way of doing things, all in a book
Peach CEO Shinichi Inoue has the reputation of being different, doing things in a creative and smart way, yet always coming across as someone who just uses plain old common sense a lot. At least that's what I have gathered from the few interviews and interactions I've had with him over the years.
[...]
Tern takeaways: Here’s what you need to know about building a successful career in travel
The fourth edition of Tern Travel Careers – an event designed to build awareness of the range of career opportunities available in travel and connect industry figures with future talent – featured a cast of speakers spanning hospitality, online travel agencies, corporate travel, tours and acti [...]
From Morse Code to 4G, from Yangon to Loikaw, welcome to a new yet old Myanmar
About 20 years ago, I crossed the Burmese border through the Chinese frontier town of Muse. At one of the checkpoints along the route, I heard the tap-tap-tap of a Morse code machine.
This
time, flying into a new and expanded Yangon International Airport that looks
like it could be anywhere, th [...]
As technology changes jobs in travel, critical thinking, empathy and stamina will prevail
At the fourth edition of Tern Travel Careers, Greg Schulze (Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy and Services, Expedia Group) and Jennifer Cronin (President, Wharf Hotels, Hong Kong) marked three skills as being fundamental to success.
It was agreed that no matter how much technology cha [...]
Tink Labs and Honest Bee offer cautionary lessons to tech startups, even unicorns fall
I used to be a fan of the Handy smartphone service. Mainly I used it for its wifi hotspot, even though it meant carrying two phones around. I fiddled with the content but never found it compelling enough to get me to book anything through it.
In recent times, I have used it less and less as dat [...]
From the mouths of youths: We just Google everything and what, travel as a career? Never thought of it
In preparation for the fourth edition of Tern, Travel Careers this Saturday, August 17, I’ve been spending time with Singaporean schoolkids in their mid-teens to find out what they think of travel, firstly as travellers and secondly, as future talent for our industry.
It’s been interesting l [...]
Letter from Kanazawa: Having a “kimono” moment in Japan’s New Golden Age
“Are we moving already?” We had not even put away our bags, let alone sat down and settled, when we realised the Shinkansen was already in motion. 11.35 to be exact.
We are headed to Kanazawa after an intense two days of WiT Japan & North Asia where the talk was about how tech was [...]
A Bird’s Eye View: What will OTA 4.0 look like?
I guess if someone had been asked 20 years ago what an OTA 1.0 might look like, few people would have the answer – until Booking.com and Expedia did it in 1996 and Ctrip followed in 1999, and showed the way.
It’s a testament to these three that two decades on, they are still on top of their [...]
