Gamifying a storytelling product and redefining tours | Changemaker Chat
In this new WiT Studio video series, we catch up with winners of the 2023 WiT Travel Changemakers Awards, supported by ATTIA, and dive deeper into the work they do and what drove them to 'build back better'.
In this episode, Yock Song, Head of Partnerships at Tribe Tours, joins us to talk about [...]
Zip Zap Circus: Giving kids in South Africa a chance to dare to dream
30 years on, flying trapeze partners, Brent and Laurence, continue to change lives
In Cambodia, they have Phare, The Cambodian Circus. In South Africa, they have the Zip Zap Circus. Both have similar goals – the former provides jobs for Cambodian youths in the performing arts, the latter, “insp [...]
Ascott earns S$342 million in loyalty platform bookings, unveils refreshed brand promise
90% of direct web and mobile app bookings were attributed to ASR members, leading to a surge in booking revenue by over 40%
The Ascott Limited (Ascott), a lodging business unit wholly owned by CapitaLand Investment (CLI), celebrated the 5th anniversary of its global loyalty platform, Ascott Star Re [...]
Lessons from WiT Africa Part 2: The ties that bind us, from remote work to AI and sustainability
It’s been nearly two weeks since I left the majesty and scale of South Africa for the tiny dot of Singapore and here I am, in the even tinier (or as tiny) dot of Penang, Malaysia, where the evidence of global nomadism is in full play.
This is the island off the west coast of Malaysia that was r [...]
Inadequate airport-rail connectivity in Southeast Asia impacting aviation and sustainability
While Southeast Asian airports handle approximately 800 million passengers yearly, less than 1% of these passengers connect to trains.
The Aviation Studies Institute (ASI) has commissioned Sobie Aviation to examine Airport-Rail inter-modality in Southeast Asia. This study, part two of a broader ana [...]
Growing regulations, shift towards online and AI driving change in experiences sector
The response by authorities to over-tourism and environmental concerns by either the introduction of fees and limiting tourist numbers are posing a challenge to the experiences industry, said Arival CEO and co-founder Douglas Quinby at the opening of Arival in Berlin this week.
“In some popul [...]
Why Thailand picked two communities for its first “Amazing Organic” trips
Ban Bang Rong, Phuket and Mae Tha, Chiang Mai showcase for local efforts to protect communities through organic farming and sustainability practices
As part of efforts to support the Organic Tourism movement in Thailand, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has been promoting “Amazing Organic Trip� [...]
Reviving intangible heritage: Chris Ong’s mission to restore soul to Penang through rituals and artefacts at Seven Terraces
“Material heritage can be acquired, what was missing was the living culture”
In Penang, the eighth day of Lunar New Year known locally as “Pai Ti Kong” – prayers to the Jade Emperor – is celebrated with much gusto and fervour by the Hokkien clan, which is the dominant Chinese community. [...]
How technology has eased conversations between finance and marketing chiefs
Dynamic duo CFO Siew Kim and CCO Bee Leng unite to innovate at Ascott
Technology has not only transformed hospitality in the past decade or so but it has also made conversations easier between finance chiefs and brand marketers, two usually divergent camps because, to put it simply, one counts mone [...]
Letter from Bangkok: Weaving Sookjai (happiness) into an organic tourism experience
TOCA to link carbon credits calculations to hotels' “green practices”
The day I landed in Bangkok, social media had literally gone wild with the video of the woman driving in an open-top Bentley with a chained lion in the backseat.
For those of us familiar with Thailand, this is one of those [...]
