Tours and Activities
For Tourism Australia’s Harrison, “real and authentic” storytelling is king
24/07/2023 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Never mind metaverse or AI, “our focus is telling the Australian story” The first thing you got to know about Philippa Harrison, managing director of Tourism Australia, is she’s not a big believer in the metaverse. When I asked her to rate new and upcoming marketing channels on a scale of [...]
Sold out! How Singapore won the music tourism lottery
21/07/2023 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
The city-state went all out and supplied to a surging demand, reaping the rewards of a regional gap in the market. According to Dictionary.com, the word “flex”, when used as slang, means to boast or brag; show off. Cambridge Dictionary, on the other hand, describes it as “to show that you are [...]
Breaking the illusion: Apple Vision Pro can’t replicate “real” experiences
18/07/2023 by Timothy O'Neil-Dunne
"There is a lot of effort and money going into trying to make synthetic experiences as real as possible." At the WIT Japan and North Asia, Siew Hoon (Founder, WiT) posed a question. She asked “Apple Vision Pro – the beginning of spatial computing. This will be massive for travel inspiration [...]
China allows credit cards. New EU visa rules. Cloud-based airports.
14/07/2023 by Ian Jarrett
SITA’s technology unites India’s airports under the cloud Travel technology provider SITA has secured a landmark deal with Airports Authority of India to provide technology to 43 of India’s biggest airports. “The deal will see improvements to over 2,700 passenger touchpoints, paving the [...]
Uncovering future opportunities in red ocean and soft power of Japan
13/07/2023 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
From digital collaboration to new desires of travellers, travel brands seize new growth in Japan The first thing you notice when you land at Haneda airport is how busy it is – from immigration to customs to the taxi rank – despite it being almost 10pm. I think I waited almost an hour for a tax [...]
Why the medium-term is critical to AI disruption
05/07/2023 by Omri Morgenshtern
What is more natural than a conversation? This may be the biggest promise of generative or autonomous AI. Omri Morgenshtern, CEO of Agoda, gets to grips with the possibilities of Generative AI in travel in the short to medium term. It seems there are two distinct camps when it comes to the futur [...]
Wanderlust vs economic uncertainty: Over half of APAC travellers stay confident in their travel plans
05/07/2023 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
Singaporean travelers demonstrate a strong commitment to spending their money on experiences rather than fleeting pleasures. Booking.com recently unveiled its much-anticipated APAC Travel Confidence Index (TCI) for 2023, offering an analysis of travel mindsets in the region. Despite financial conc [...]
Asia Pacific’s young luxury travellers ditch long-haul for homegrown adventures
04/07/2023 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
The travel industry is undergoing a transformation as a new tribe of young luxury travelers emerges in the Asia Pacific region. Coined as 'Native Explorers' by a recent survey conducted by Marriott International, these affluent millennial and Gen Z travellers are challenging traditional travel norm [...]
When in Japan, get out of Tokyo, and stay longer
03/07/2023 by Timothy O'Neil-Dunne
First inspired by a news story on “Joyful Trains” of Japan, Timothy O’Neil-Dunne takes the opportunity of WiT Japan & North Asia happening July 5-6 to travel two weeks around the country. Here’s an account of his experience around the themes of anime, cinema, tourism and food, as well as [...]
Letter from the Priorat, Catalonia: Listening to the wines, and the silence
04/07/2023 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
To be honest (and I’ve always been told to be wary of people who start their sentences with those three words but in this case, it’s sincere), I had never heard of Priorat until, well, this year when I started planning for my Catalonia holiday. I had asked ChatGPT to recommend the top three d [...]