Letter from Karuizawa: Of domestic sausages, chowa and online battles
Karuizawa is an hour’s train ride from Tokyo. The hill resort is a popular summer retreat for Tokyo folks looking to escape the heat and stress of city life. At WIT Japan & North Asia, there was a lot of talk about the need to disperse tourism beyond the main centres of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto [...]
Letter from Tokyo: Why did you come to Japan? A tale of Japanese influence on youthful dreams
On the Japan Airlines flight over from Singapore, I caught a television programme made by Tokyo TV called “Why did you come to Japan?”
Clearly launched on the back of the inbound boom to Japan, it basically catches visitors at Narita airport unawares, asks them their reason for coming to the [...]
The Millennial Traveller: Lost in your own re-imagination?
I do not fast but I have always had fond memories during Ramadan as a child. My mother would take us to our cousins’ apartment late at night, where we’d sit around a table and help my aunt bake a phenomenal number of batches of sugee cookies and honey cornflakes, which she would later sell to he [...]
Goodbye MISA Travel, “last of the Mohicans”
The revocation of the travel agency licence of MISA Travel on May 30 is indicative of the growing challenges facing traditional travel agencies in Singapore.
In its advisory, the Singapore Tourism Board stated that the notice was served “as it has ceased to carry on the business of a travel age [...]
Letter from Amsterdam Part 2: Fear of ghosts and bikes, and trends that rock in Asia
In Amsterdam, I stayed at the Grand Amrath Hotel. It’s reputed to be haunted. I didn’t know it because unlike 80% of travellers who read reviews before they book a hotel, I didn’t do any research.
I stayed there because it was the hotel of choice for the Phocuswright team. It’s a very [...]
The Millennial Traveller: Traditional air miles are getting us nowhere
Growing up, I remember my sister and I finding ourselves giddy with excitement, unable to sleep the night before our annual Singapore Airlines flight to Europe.
As a kid, I loved to fly. Thirteen hours of endless games and movies, flight attendants serving us copious amounts of peanut packets (a [...]
How Real-Time Data Can Drive Real Success for Asian Travel Marketers this Summer
By Russell Young, Managing Director, Sojern APAC
Travel brands will compete to captivate the hearts—and wallets—of travellers in Asia-Pacific as we move into the busy summer travel season. According to Phocuswright, the APAC online market will grow by double figures each year to reach a stagg [...]
The Millennial Traveller: Travel must set the benchmark for the future working economy
Preparing talent for a new economy is a question that pervades every industry. At the World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit, held recently in Bangkok, April Rinne (Global Authority on the Gig Economy and Future of Work) named three major developments that will affect the future of work.
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Behind the Shangri-La & Taj partnership: A new vision of loyalty
I have three dogs so I know a little about loyalty. We love our pooches because they love us unconditionally and it doesn’t matter how we treat them, their loyalty is unstinting.
We humans are different. Some of us are more loyal than others and our loyalty is conditional on many factors.
In [...]
The Millennial Traveller: AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes on leadership in times of crisis
Naturally, the world is rife with examples of terrible leadership. Donald Trump sits on the tip of everyone’s tongue as the quintessential example. Yet, in the travel business, let us not forget the scrutiny and onslaught Oscar Munoz was under, following United’s handling of the assault and forc [...]
