Mark Flower is Director of Commercial for IHG properties across South East Asia and resorts in Asia Australasia. He is based in Singapore and oversees 60 properties across 12 countries including Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Maldives and Fiji, with another 40 properties due to open in Mark’s region in the next three to five […]
Category: Insights
Vacasa raises another $108 million
Vacasa, the largest vacation rental platform in North America, has a emerged from a dark period with good news – an USD108 million fundraising. Financing was led by existing investor Silver Lake – which recently invested in both Airbnb and Expedia. “Like many companies in the travel sector, Vacasa experienced challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. […]
Paul Fischmann, Founder and CEO, 8Hotels Collection
Paul Fischmann is the Founder and CEO of 8Hotels Collection, Australia’s leading Boutique Hotel Operators. In 2004, Fischmann formed the company with the intention of developing and operating boutique hotels in prime locations that focused on value, service, design and charm. Just eight years later he has turned a business that began with three Sydney […]
One trick ponies – just 15% of global short term rentals use more than one OTA channel
Check out this Venn diagram from Transparent, which dramatically illustrates how one dimensional the distribution strategies are of most short term rental property managers – just 15% are using a multi-channel strategy – and of course the market dominance of Airbnb. Transparent explains: “In addition to booking power, Airbnb controls the lion’s share of inventory and […]
Lenoir takes the plunge, passes the CEO baton at Rezdy
Founder Simon Lenoir has made the big decision to step away from his day to day management responsibilities at Rezdy, handing the CEO reins to Chris Atkin, previously Chief Operating Officer. Lenoir, originally a software developer who has been working massive hours since starting the business in 2011, says he first thought of stepping back around […]
Rob Smith, Divisional Director, Merlin Entertainments
Rob Smith is the Divisional Director of Merlin Entertainments Australia and New Zealand, the second-largest attraction operator in the world. With over 17 years’ experience in the tourism and attraction industry across Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific, Rob leads the overall management, regional strategies and financial/non-financial responsibilities for Merlin’s 13 attractions in Australia & New […]
Schwartz flies high, invests in Sydney Seaplanes
Just six weeks after Sydney pub baron Justin Hemmes was quoted as a potential buyer of Sydney Seaplanes, hotel mogul Dr Jerry Schwartz has swooped and invested in the business. As part of the investment, Schwartz, an aviation buff, will add two amphibious aircraft he owns to the Sydney Seaplanes fleet, increasing it to six […]
Luxury Escapes Buys Scoopon Travel & BonVoyage from Catch
The Lux Group, which owns online travel business Luxury Escapes, has bought Scoopon Travel and BonVoyage as part of a complicated, multi-faceted transaction with the Catch Group that will create a pure-play online travel business with $300m turnover and enormous buying power while clearing the way for further growth. In what the companies are calling Australia’s largest “home grown” e-commerce […]
Webjet proves everyone wrong: people will repeatedly pay more for airfares
The rapid evolution of Webjet over the past year has been something to behold: acquisitions, expansion, creation of new businesses, the profitable sale of Zuji, strong hotel B2B growth and more. Webjet has won a lot of investor kudos for these moves, profit is growing a rapid clip, and a high share price is the […]
Fee for all coming to an end with Airbnb’s host commission switch?
Pricing is set to get a shakeup in Australia’s short term rental (STR) industry from November 1 when Airbnb scraps guest service charges and moves to a 15 per cent host commission only model – up from 3 per cent – for its software-connected hosts and property managers. It is a huge change for an […]