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Sustainability reigns in Taiwan amid tourism recovery
04/06/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
From forest parks to Slow Food festivals, emphasis is on biodiversity and local communities Amid the recovery in the Taiwan travel market, with inbound back at 70% of 2019  levels and outbound exceeding 2019 levels to some destinations, Taiwan’s travel players are willing to take it slow and ste [...]
Letter from Shanghai: Of Mona Lisa, Gravitational Arena and Innovationism
31/05/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
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. [...]
Emirates flies with Spotnana. Expedia powers Cathay. Swiipr eases disruption. SITA goes swimming. More.
31/05/2024 by Ian Jarrett
Heading out to the best real-life experiences Headout has acquired the team behind start-up Dabble to help build a generation of AI-powered travel experiences for Headout users. Dabble, founded by Neil Mathew, Prasenjit Mukherjee and Yan Ma, “sits at the intersection of AI, computer vision and [...]
With “innovationism” as its new philosophy, Trip.com Group comes roaring back
31/05/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Goal to be No 1 flight OTA in five years; robust growth driven by higher-tier members and youths Trip.com Group is back and if you ever had any doubts about its resurgence and ambitions, well, those were swept away by the mighty and impressive show of force it put on for its Envision 2024 Global Pa [...]
As JTB returns to profit, Eijiro Yamakita talks about emotion in age of AI and investments in future
28/05/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
It was interesting that when asked which human quality they’d like to improve on as we hurtle into the age of Generative AI, travel leaders at WiT Japan & North Asia cited “emotional intelligence”, “empathy”, “listening” and “patience” among their answers. Eijiro Yamakita, P [...]
Why Melanie de Souza finds AIUla fulfilling and what’s behind “Forever Revitalising”
28/05/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
First brand campaign to showcase Saudi’s luxury heritage destination to the world Nearly five years into her role as Executive Director Destination Marketing, at the Royal Commission of AlUla, and Melanie de Souza says “it’s been the most fulfilling chapter in my career”. De Souza, who s [...]
Lighthouse expands in APAC, brings its insights to hoteliers in the region
28/05/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
The newly-rebranded Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight) is keen to shine more light on data insights for hoteliers in Asia Pacific. Chief Revenue Officer, David Collier, during a recent visit to Singapore, shared that with the business experiencing significant global growth, Lighthouse is keen to expa [...]
What makes the perfect remote work destination?
28/05/2024 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur can focus on safety while Singapore can benefit from providing a more welcoming environment for remote workers, data says Remote, a company specialising in building, managing, and supporting globally distributed workforces, recently released its annual list of the Best Des [...]
The luxuries of human interaction in travel and hospitality
23/05/2024 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
Anyone who’s been on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, any given podcast platform or any bookstore in the last decade has heard or seen the works of Simon Sinek. He’s a leadership coach, motivational speaker, podcaster and bestselling author of several books including ‘The Infinite Game’, and he r [...]
Traveloka’s secret sauce – mastery in one market, localisation amid expansion and focus on customer service
23/05/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Why the South-east Asian OTA could serve as role model for Japan’s OTAs Twelve years on, and despite massive competition in the South-east Asian region it calls home, Traveloka remains a formidable force to be reckoned with, with a total of 130+ million downloads across the six markets it operate [...]