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 […]
Tag: Travel Industry
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 […]
Turochas Fuad, CEO and Co-Founder, Travelmob
Turochas “T” Fuad is the CEO and co-founder of travelmob – an online social stay marketplace that connects global travellers with hosts in Asia Pacific who have unique accommodations and experiences to offer. A seasoned entrepreneur, T’s background has spanned across various industries, which include enterprise software, mobile, and consumer Internet services T most recently […]
Tourism Australia Marketing goes walkabout
By Julian Lee, Media and Marketing Editor, Sydney Morning Herald IMAGINE if Baz Luhrmann had cast Paul Hogan in the Come Walkabout tourism campaign. If the stressed-out executive played by Sybilla Budd was depicted cavorting in a billabong as Crocodile Dundee looked on. As she emerges, transformed by the calming experience of the cool waters, […]
Stefan Cordiner, Regional Director, HotelTonight
Stefan Cordiner, a Sydney-born serial tech entrepreneur, claims to be revolutionising the way people travel as the Regional Director for the leading hotel booking app HotelTonight. Stefan has a strong background in creating and growing technology ventures, most recently as co-Founder of a global digital concierge app called “Lime&Tonic” which he successfully built out across five countries. He […]
Special Report – short term rentals bounce back
It was like a car smash in which the driver and passengers were battered and bruised but managed to escape the wreck, hobbling away with a new resolve to make the most of every day – because you never know what will happen next. I’m referring to COVID, of course, which hit the Australian travel […]
Rezdy raises another $3m and there’s more on the way
Sydney company Rezdy has raised a further $3m to fuel growth in North America, opening a second US office in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company said: “This was an interim round to fund acceleration in the international growth of Rezdy ahead of a larger equity round later next year.” Grand Prix Capital, which first invested […]
Ray Stone, Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia
Ray Stone commenced his career in hospitality in London. Ray’s career in hospitality, sales and marketing spans more than 35 years with Hilton, Westin, Shangri-La and Accor, where he held Director of Sales and Marketing and Vice President Corporate Marketing roles with Westin Hotels in the United States. Ray worked for Accor, for six years […]
Randall Deer, Managing Director, Ignite Travel Group
Randall Deer – Managing Director of Ignite Travel Group – is a multiple award-winning entrepreneur who has yielded exceptional success and growth for his innovative travel and tourism marketing company as he continues to challenge traditional travel practices. After completing a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance & Accounting) at the University of Adelaide at the age […]
Outdoorsy expands to Australia
Jeff Cavins is something of an anomoly – a person who runs a ‘sharing economy’ business, Outdoorsy, and promotes the fact that some people using his Recreational Vehicle and caravan marketplace are ‘power sellers’ he says can turn over millions of dollars a year through the site. “Just like Airbnb, we’ve seen the emergence of power […]
Nalin Kalayanamitr, Marketing and Sales Strategies Manager, Lub d Bangkok Hostel
Nalin Kalayanamitr is a Marketing and Sales Strategies Manager at Lub d Hostel in Bangkok, which was rated “one of the 17 coolest hangout hostels in the world” according to Britain’s influential daily, The Observer. Nalin was born and grew up in Chiang Mai. She received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Chiang Mai University. […]