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☆ Coldplay, then Taylor Swift: Concert economics are driving a tourism boom in Singapore
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | In Ying-Shan-Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and now Taylor Swift. Singapore is eyeing concert economics as its new growth driver, which is set to add hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism receipts. Fans bought 200,000 tickets as the shows sold out within hours, breaking the city-state's record for the most tickets sold by an artist in a single day. And starting this weekend, Singapore will host American popstar Taylor Swift, whose Eras Tour in the U.S. last year was estimated to generate around $4.6 billion in consumer spending. "Taylor Swift is also widely expected to generate a sizable economic boost, given her past record," Liu added.

Persons: Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Yun Liu, Agoda, popstar Taylor Swift, Liu Organizations: Singapore's, Coldplay's Music Locations: Singapore, ASEAN, British, Asia, Pacific, Malaysia, Indonesia, U.S

☆ Countries enacting visa exemptions receive a 'huge burst in travel,' says Agoda CEO
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailCountries enacting visa exemptions receive a 'huge burst in travel,' says Agoda CEOAfter enacting a visa-free policy for travelers from India and China on Dec. 1, 2023, Malaysia saw a 400% increase in travel searches, Agoda CEO Omri Morgenshtern told Squawk Box Asia.

Persons: Omri Morgenshtern Locations: India, China, Malaysia, Squawk, Asia

☆ Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch — could generative AI soon be added to our list of senses?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Insider Studios With Mastercard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

AI and generative AI can be productivity tools, helping everyone to work faster and more efficiently. Crucially, generative AI is developing swiftly and is likely to be transformative across nearly every sector. Plug-ins using generative AI will enable organizations to link company spending limits to whatever payment method employees are using to pay for their trips. Generative AI has the potential to revolutionize commerce, reduce stress for consumers, and foster innovation in business. Explore the Mastercard Signals report "Commerce in the age of generative AI" here.

Persons: Sandeep Malhotra Organizations: Mastercard, Mastercard Signals, Commerce, Insider Studios Locations: Asia Pacific, Asia, Pacific, Singapore, Tokyo, APAC

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive arm said Monday it is blocking leading U.S. online travel agency Booking from acquiring Sweden's flight booking provider Etraveli Group because it would have allowed it to increase its dominant position on the market on the continent. The European Commission said it had warned Booking Holdings about its concerns but that the remedies offered by the company were not sufficient. “Bans are rare, and today’s decision is in fact the first merger to be blocked this year,” EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said. According to the European Commission, online travel agencies handle transactions worth more than 100 billion euros ($106 billion) per year. Political Cartoons View All 1176 Images

Persons: “, Didier Reynders Organizations: Etraveli, European Commission, Holdings, EU Locations: BRUSSELS

☆ I was charged ‘junk fees’ by a New York City hotel. Here’s what happened next
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In this article HMARBKNG Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTMy hotel bill from a three-night trip to New York City included 21 charges. Nine were for "destination fees." Federal Trade Commission estimates show consumers paid around $2 billion in hotel fees before the pandemic, and mandatory fees have grown since then. The bill, the Hotel Fees Transparency Act, prohibits hotels from advertising rates without mandatory fees. Former presidential candidate and current Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced the Hotels Fees Transparency Act to the U.S. Senate in late July.

Persons: Joe Biden's, I'd, Munir Salem, Rafat Ali, Joe Biden, Kent Nishimura, Ali, it's, Amy Klobuchar, Bill Clark, Park's Salem, Expedia, Chip Rogers, I'm Organizations: Thompson, Park, CNBC, Thompson Central, Newspapers, Federal Trade Commission, Los Angeles Times, Getty, U.S . Senate, U.S ., Cq, Inc, Biden Administration, United, Frontier, Texas, Holdings, Marriott International Inc, Marriott, American, Lodging Locations: New York City, North America, Joe Biden's State, Park New York, Hyatt, York, U.S, U.S . Senate, Pennsylvania

☆ Travel agency Booking to defend ETraveli deal at July 7 EU hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Booking announced its bid for peer Etraveli, owner of the brands Gotogate and Mytrip and operator of airline content distribution services provider TripStack, in November 2021. The European Commission said last month the deal will make it harder for rivals to compete with market leader Booking, by reinforcing its position in hotels and further expanding its reach into travel services like flights and car rentals. Booking will attempt to address regulators' concerns at a closed hearing in Brussels on Friday, Booking told Reuters via email. Senior officials from the EU competition watchdog and national antitrust agencies, as well commission lawyers, will participate in the hearing. Booking may have to offer remedies following the hearing to prevent a veto on the deal.

Persons: Foo Yun Chee, Emma Rumney Organizations: Holdings, European, Sweden's, Booking, TripStack, Capital, European Commission, EU, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Brussels

☆ China bookings to return to pre-pandemic level by early 2024 – Agoda
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Chayut Setboonsarng | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Overseas travel bookings from mainland China are currently at just over half of pre-pandemic levels but are on course to return to the 2019 numbers by the end of this year or early 2024, the head of online travel agency Agoda said on Thursday. The country reopened earlier this year after removing most of its pandemic restrictions, giving a big boost to outbound travel. The top overseas destinations for Chinese tourists were Hong Kong, Bangkok and the Thai island of Phuket, Agoda data showed. About 80% of Chinese tourists have returned to Thailand, Morgenshtern said, attributing that faster rate of recovery to Thailand dropping restrictions on Chinese arrivals sooner than other markets. Thailand expects about 30 million arrivals for the full year with five million from China.

Persons: Agoda, Florence, Omri Morgenshtern, “, ”, Morgenshtern Organizations: Overseas, REUTERS, Booking Holdings, Tourism Locations: BANGKOK, China, Beijing, Thailand, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Thai, Phuket, India, South Korea

☆ India is now the most populous country in the world. And it’s ready to become a tourism force
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Tara Subramaniam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

A series of bold investmentsExperts say much of India’s outbound growth trajectory is being driven by improvements in infrastructure and an expansion in its aviation sector. Morgenshtern says the rise in outbound tourism from India is the result of investment not just by the government but by private airlines as well. Air India, for example, is fully owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Sons. As part of its efforts to expand its offerings, the company announced earlier this year it will be operating flights under both the Air India brand and Air India Express, having previously merged the latter with Tata’s other low-cost airline, AirAsia India. In February, Air India purchased nearly 500 new planes, the most ever bought in one order by a single airline.

Persons: Omri Morgenshtern, it’s, Gary Bowerman, It’s, Delhi’s Indira, Morgenshtern, Indira, Bowerman, Jyotiraditya Scindia, ”, “, Matthew Micah Wright, ” Morgenshtern, Arun Sankar, ” Bowerman, there’s Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Times, National Capital, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International, Indira Gandhi International, Creative, Imaging, Air India, Tata Sons, Air India Express, AirAsia India, India, LCC, ”, Tata, US . Air India, Indigo, Civil Aviation, CAPA India Aviation Summit, Bank Locations: India, China, Noida, Jewar, Uttar Pradesh, Times of India, Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, Asia, ., India’s, Europe, Africa, Morgenshtern, France, Switzerland, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, An, Vietnam, Southeast Asia, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Air China, Beijing, Shanghai, China Southern, Guangzhou, Northeast Asia

☆ China's travel recovery gets more attention, but India's outbound market is 'booming' even faster
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Company data showed that while outbound travel searches from most Asia-Pacific countries increased between 30% and 60% from 2019, searches from travelers in India jumped by 225%. Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia are top picks for Indian travelers. "Vietnam is within the top five destinations and it was never there in 2019," Morgenshtern said. "There's this perception that the Indian traveler's economic power is very low. It may be true domestically, but when it comes to outbound, I actually think it's on par with the Chinese when they visit other Asian countries," Agoda's Morgenshtern said.

☆ Tech allows us to offer 'cancellable options' to our customers, Agoda says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTech allows us to offer 'cancellable options' to our customers, Agoda saysOmri Morgenshtern, CEO of the online travel agency, explains how technology has made travel more accessible.

☆ Fact Check-Photo shows crowd gathered on South African beach, not migrants on shore of British seaside town
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Social media users are sharing an image of a crowd standing on a beach and are claiming it shows migrants in Skegness, a seaside town on Britain’s east coast. But the photo was taken in Durban, South Africa, after three people were killed by a large wave in December 2022. It can be traced back to a security service in South Africa which uploaded a series of photos showing its involvement in responding to an incident on a Durban beach in December 2022 (here and here). Based on local reports, (here and here), an unexpected large wave killed three people at the beach on Dec. 17. The image shows a crowd gathering on a beach in Durban, South Africa, not migrants standing on a beach in Skegness in Britain.

☆ Foreign visitors in Japan surge after tourism reopening
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Elaine Lies | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TOKYO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The number of foreign visitors to Japan rose to nearly 500,000 in October, the first month it fully reopened to overseas visitors after more than two years of COVID restrictions, more than doubling the volume from September. The number of foreign visitors, for both tourism and business, rose to 498,600 in October, more than double September's 206,500 and surging a massive 2,155% from the year before, the Japan National Tourism Organization said, though it was still down 80% on 2019. This year, 1.52 million foreign visitors have arrived, a far cry from the record 31.8 million in 2019 and the government's 2020 goal - pegged to the Summer Olympics, that were ultimately postponed - of 40 million. "We are seeing the weak yen in a positive way," he said. Japan said on Tuesday it was reopening its ports to cruise ships from March 2023, with some 166 ships slated to visit next year, industry group Japan International Cruise Committee (JICC).

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