This Land Is Calling. Well, it called to me.
In my book, destination marketing should challenge perceptions, should reveal what is unexpected and Saudi Arabia’s new global campaign, "This Land is Calling", featuring a solo female traveller on an epic adventure through the kingdom, did it.
Albeit she looked a bit like a female Timothy Chal [...]
The secret sauce of “char koay teow”, storytelling and indie travel businesses
AI, it seems, is creeping into everything. In a little eatery called Jiashi Cafe in a local neighbourhood in Penang, far from the madding tourist crowd, the young entrepreneurs running it offer “AI Fried Char Koay Teow”.
For anyone who’s been to Penang, you’ll know that “Char Koay Teow� [...]
Lessons to take from Weeva’s closure
A long game with no immediate payback, says Greenview’s Ricaurte
The news of Weeva’s closure has come as a surprise and disappointment to many who had been following the company’s progress since its startup in 2021.
Borne out of the pandemic by two hoteliers’ passion for sustainability [...]
What’s your theme? If you’re dreaming of your own “Mousehole”, read on
Last week, I went into the studio to record an interview with Klook’s two co-founders Ethan Lin and Eric Gnock Fah, who are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their startup.
We talked about the last 10 years and what the next 10 will bring, and in the process, the two friends and business part [...]
Letter from Burrator: A slice of Sarawak in Dartmoor, and where AI does not mean what we think it does
As my friend and I were walking down a quiet country lane in Sheepstor, in West Dartmoor, England, a man stopped and asked us, “Would you two ladies happen to be from Sarawak?”
We smiled and said, “No, but we are from Malaysia.”
Listen to the article here:
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Letter from Barcelona: Of prohibited works and the art of balancing local interests with tourism
The day before I arrived in Barcelona, apparently thousands of Spanish had taken to the streets in the city as well as in the islands to protest against mass tourism and overcrowding.
Reports said that “up to 3,000 young people marched in Barcelona on June 8, chanting “Tourists go home” and [...]
Letter from Shanghai: Of Mona Lisa, Gravitational Arena and Innovationism
The last time I was in Shanghai was in October 2019, when I attended Trip.com Group’s 20th anniversary party. I recall it felt like a rock concert, almost like a coming out party as the group declared its ambitions to grow into a global giant as well as be the champion for Chinese inbound.
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Letter from Tokyo: The human-machine and tradition-innovation dance unfolding in Japan
Inbound rush, outbound slump, new tech and travellers shaping future of travel – how will it play out in Japan? WiT Japan & North Asia 2024 had it all covered.
There is no better place in the world to observe the twin revolutions of human and technology unfolding at this time than in Japan, a [...]
Letter from Saudi: Of cheeky encounters, cultural kaleidoscopes and social transformation
A funny thing happened to me while I was waiting at King Khalid International Airport, in Riyadh, while I was waiting for the car to my hotel, Radisson Blu, in the Diplomatic Quarter. Firstly, it’s really busy, lots of people pushing carts willy-nilly.
Listen to this episode here
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Letter enroute to Riyadh: A journey into The Land of Incredulous Possibilities
I am off to Riyadh today via Singapore. It was meant to have been via Paris but a flu bug changed my plans. It has a nasty way of doing that, as we’ve all learnt in the last few years. Nothing’s going to stop us now – yeah! A bug will.
So, I am sitting at the Emirates Lounge, which is freez [...]
