Having a strong place brand can be a game changer for places that want to attract tourists, investors, and increase the sense of belonging, quality of life and pride of the local population. This is why we created a crisp guide about place branding and its potential for the travel industry. Sign up below to […]
Category: Insights
Will blockchain disrupt the travel industry? ⚡
→ Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly curation of the top travel news, straight to your inbox. To be honest, this has been a tough week to keep an eye on the news, without feeling too overwhelmed with Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. Still, I did my best to curate the most interesting news in the travel […]
COVID-19 makes Australian skiing even more expensive in 2020
Thredbo has become the first Australian ski resort to reveal its pricing for season 2020, increasing the cost of a daily lift ticket by 20 per cent to $159 a day. Sounds outrageous at a time of hardship and unemployment for many, however the steep price hike is no doubt down to the fact that […]
Hotel tech company ReZme launches $800,000 crowd funding capital raise
Hospitality tech startup ReZme has launched an $800,000 capital raise to build out its website design, management and online marketing platform, which the founders claim will help operators increase direct bookings. reZme was founded by Matt Taylor, former GM of Marketing at Choice Hotels Asia-Pacific, and and digital marketer Luke Young late last year. It’s aiming to […]
Booking.com softens rate parity stance in Australia
Booking.com has made major concessions to its controversial rate parity policy in Australia following negotiations with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission but will still not allow hoteliers to offer cheaper rates on their own websites. In an email this week, Booking.com CEO Gillian Tans advised Australian hoteliers that from September 1 the world’s largest […]
Clement Wong, CEO, BeMyGuest
Clement has worked with the top travel companies in the world, airlines, hotels, online travel agencies, tour operators, car rental companies, helping them with their strategies and market research. He has also advised blue chip banks and venture capital firms on their acquisitions in the travel space. Before starting BeMyGuest, he was heading up research […]
Book with confidence at Wotif? No, it’s just ‘Puffery’ says Expedia
Lawyers are supposed to protect the reputations of their clients, not trash them. But it looks like someone forget to tell the highly-paid legal eagles representing Expedia in Australia, who’ve inadvertently done a hatchet job on the credibility of once-iconic Australian subsidiary Wotif.com. They did this by arguing that Wotif should not have to refund the […]
Big changes as Qantas restructures business and staff
In major news, the Qantas Group will split Qantas Airlines into separate domestic and international businesses from July 1, while there have been numerous staff changes, including the resignation of Jetstar boss Bruce Buchanan after nine years with the low cost carrier he helped create. Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said: “Qantas Domestic is strong […]
Back to the future for global hotel room rates
GLOBAL hotel room rates have slumped to their lowest levels in six years, according to latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index. Asia-Pacific is the only exception with prices 17% of ahead of 2004 but still way short of the 2008 peak. The past 12 months have been generally flat on a regional level with only Sydney, […]
Anton Stanish, Regional Director Australia and NZ, HomeAway
Anton is HomeAway’s Director for Australia and NZ, responsible for all of their businesses in the region, which include the Stayz, Bookabach, YesBookit and HomeAway brands. He led the Stayz team through the sale of the business by Fairfax Media to HomeAway in 2013, and is excited to now be part of the leading online vacation rental marketplace […]