Letter from LA: Get past the airport and everything’s just dandy
So first let’s get the grumpy part over with – LA is the worst airport in the world. No surprises there because almost everyone agrees with that.The immigration officer attending to me (or rather my passport) because he didn’t look at me the entire transaction had all the appearance of someone [...]
Paul Theroux: Trains, chicks and contradictions
He fired my imagination about trains. “Ever since childhood, when I lived within earshot of the Boston and Maine, I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it.”The opening sentence to “The Great Railway Bazaar” got me on a train from Penang to Singapore, first chance I had.� [...]
WIT Speakers Corner: We need more competition in search, says Varley
The recent partnership between Yahoo Japan and Google, which will see the former adopt the juggernaut’s search engine, only exacerbates advertisers’ and users’ concerns that “there isn’t a significant competitor to Google in most global markets”.Said Matthew Varley, executive general man [...]
WIT Speakers Corner: Search in Japan just got more interesting, says travel.jp’s boss
Yahoo Japan’s decision to adopt Google’s search engine rather than following Yahoo Inc in working with Microsoft may have raised concerns in some quarters that the deal will hand the whole search market in the world’s second biggest economy to Google and stifle competition but one man thinks d [...]
WIT Speakers Corner: The dawn of a new romance in travel in Asia, says Tan
The empowerment of the customer in Asia is the biggest change that’s taken hold in the regional travel market in the last decade, said Kathleen Tan, group head of commercial for AirAsia.“There’s the empowerment to fly and there’s the empowerment to buy. Low cost airlines and the Internet hav [...]
WIT Speakers Corner: Ancillaries 101: What’s the fuss?
Much has been written about the Ancillary Revenue services offered by the airlines. It has left many people scratching their heads wondering why it is so hard to be able to charge separately for – say – a premium seat.In this first article, I will address what Ancillaries are, in a Q&A forma [...]
WIT Speakers Corner: Symes since inception, Wego where next?
When I asked Martin when his first WIT experience was, he quickly answered, '“I’m a WIT old-timer.” Indeed, he's been there since inception and this year, naturally, he will be there again.Martin Symes is the CEO of Singapore-based Wego, a travel search engine that simplifies your life when yo [...]
Letter from the road: The differences between Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi and Dubai
At Hong Kong airport, a PA announcement warns us about two viruses – one that sounds like a beer and one that rhymes with beer (Corona-something and MERS) – and advises us to refrain from touching “poultry, birds and camels” on our travels.Having just zipped through Abu Dhabi and Dubai, wher [...]
Letter from Abu Dhabi: First time on Etihad and a city in the making
After a month of not travelling, I feel distinctly out of practice. It takes me longer to pack than usual. And I had to turn back twice to pick up stuff I had forgotten – like my passport. Pretty essential for any trip out of Singapore.This time, I am headed for Abu Dhabi and it’s my first time [...]
Content power moving back to the professionals, at least I’d like to think so
Since the media world got flattened like roti prata, and everyone can make one – you can buy them frozen at the supermarket and just lightly toss them in a hot pan and voila, you've got a crispy one – us journalists have been wondering where to run for cover since now everyone can write as well. [...]
