In the news: New role at Amadeus for Mieke De Schepper, Klook and Italy’s CoopCulture team up, holiday quickies from AirAsia
People: De Schepper joins Amadeus to take charge of online travel and APAC region
Amadeus has appointed Mieke De Schepper as its new executive vice president for online travel and managing director for Asia Pacific.
Announcing the appointment, Amadeus said De Schepper will lead the Travel Channels’ online travel segment “effective immediately”. She will also “be committed to helping online travel agencies, travel media companies and travel start-ups grow their businesses …”
The company added that with over 14 years of experience working in Asia Pacific, she will also assume the regional leadership for the region and continues to be based in Singapore.
De Schepper joins Amadeus from Egencia, the travel management company of Expedia Group, where she was the senior vice president and chief commercial officer, and brings more than 17 years of experience in managing B2C and B2B businesses.
Previously, she was the Singapore-based vice president of Expedia Group’s Lodging Partner Solutions in Asia Pacific, responsible for building and managing the hotel relationships in the region. Prior to that, she spent 10 years with Phillips Electronics holding various global, regional and local leadership roles in product, marketing and sales.
Commenting on her new role De Schepper said: “Online travel companies face the constant challenge to reinvent themselves in order to maintain their relevance. I’m thrilled to join Amadeus to help these companies thrive in such a fast paced and demanding marketplace. And there is no better place to do it than from APAC where much of today’s global technology trends are defined and redefined by savvy consumers at breakneck speed.”
Travel: Klook expands Italian offerings in partnership with CoopCulture
(Image credit: Iakov Kalinin/Getty Images)
Hong Kong-based leading travel activities and services booking platform Klook is widening its global reach in a partnership with CoopCulture, an official national sites operator in Italy.
Klook said the partnership “marks a big step towards digitising the heritage sites in Italy.”
It added that travellers now can have a “more efficient, real-time process” when choosing CoopCulture’s products on Klook – from booking to redemption. They can book on-the-go to gain direct entry to the historical sites by using the QR code e-voucher on the platform’s mobile app. They can also immerse themselves in Italy’s rich heritage Italy has to offer through Klook.
Eric Gnock Fah, Klook’s COO and co-founder, said the company is committed to using innovative technology to help digitise the tours and activities industry.
“Our data shows that 75% of Klook’s bookings made are via mobile devices, so it is inevitable that travellers prefer to arrange activities on-the-go, and mobile and instant booking are crucial to this space. With our capability in providing frictionless, instant booking and redemption experience, we hope to make visiting historical sites simpler and more convenient.”
CoopCulture offers a wide range of historical sites, museums, and galleries throughout Italy including The Colosseum and Roman Forum in Rome, Palazzo Ducale and Musei Civici di Venezia in Venice, La Venaria Reale in Piedmont, the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, the Blue Grotto in Capri, the Valley of the Temples in Sicily (Agrigento), and the “Antonio Salinas” Regional Archaeological Museum and the Cloister of Monreale in Palermo.
Marketing: Fancy a holiday quckie? AirAsia has one for you
Low cost carrier AirAsia has rolled out a new brand campaign in Singapore around its short haul flights from Changi Airport Terminal 4 to 17 destinations, ranging from 55 mins to about four hours.
The campaign, cheekingly named ‘AirAsia Holiday Quickies’, aims to encourage Singaporeans to take more short holiday breaks for a better work-life balance. Among the offers are Food Quickies, Shopping Quickies and Beach Quickies.
Created by Singapore based creative agency The Teeth in partnership with W Communications, the campaign runs for three months from the January 7 launch date.
The Teeth is managing the campaign’s creative and content, while W Communications is handling the influencer and communications strategy.
Rudy Khaw, group head of branding at AirAsia, said the campaign’s goal was to create new experiences and help Singaporeans identify opportunities for them to break away from the city’s hustle and bustle for a holiday quickie.
“We wanted to disrupt the current deal saturated low cost category so we went back to the drawing board, starting with our core DNA: innovative, bold, fun; steering away from the expected category cues. AirAsia Holiday Quickies don’t talk about planes, air stewardesses or destinations to keep the focus on the service itself as an enabler for consumers,” he added.
AirAsia currently operates 317 weekly flights from Changi to Malaysia, 102 to Indonesia, 52 to Thailand and four to the Philippines
Watch the campaign video below.
• Featured image credit: Pogonici/Getty Images
