TODAY: Alibaba founder invests in China's 'Airbnb', Changi Airport‟s Terminal 4 (T4) opened and IHG to debut Holiday Inn in Laos capital.

Alibaba founder invests in China's 'Airbnb'
Thursday, 2nd November 2017

Chinese house-sharing platform Xiaozhu raised $120 million in its latest financing round backed by Alibaba founder Jack Ma's Yunfeng Capital, making it a billion-dollar unicorn startup. Xiaozhu.com, one of Airbnb's major Chinese rivals, announced that it has raised $120 million in its latest financing round, making it a billion-dollar unicorn startup >>

Changi Airport‟s Terminal 4 (T4) opened
2 Nov 2017 : The terminal will increase Changi Airports capacity by another 16m passenger movements per annum (mppa), bringing the total to 82mppa. T4 is expected to handle about 8m passengers in its first year of operation, plus deliver an even better travel experience to Changi’s passengers >>

Israel’s Tourism Ministry requests an independent study from Michelin
2 Nov 2017 : The Tourism Ministry requests from Michelin an independent study on Israel’s gastronomy standing and potential, the conclusions of the study will be an important tool for the Tourism Ministry to improve gastronomic tourism and to measure Israel’s culinary scene against other parts of the world >>

Hilton and Transcorp Hotels sign 20 year extension for Transcorp Hilton Abuja management
2 Nov 2017 : Hilton and Transcorp Hotels Plc announced the signing of a 20-year extension to the current agreement to manage the iconic Transcorp Hilton hotel in Abuja and the agreement will see Hilton manage the property until 2037 >>

IHG to debut Holiday Inn in Laos capital
31 Oct 2017 : InterContinental Hotels Group has signed a management agreement with BIM Group to develop the first Holiday Inn hotel in Vientiane, Laos. This will be IHG’s third project with BIM Group, who also owns Crowne Plaza Vientiane and the upcoming InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort & Residences >>

HIGHLIGHT ARTICLE

Lessons From A Billionaire’s Perspective on Teamwork.
Thursday, 2nd November 2017

What can you learn about hospitality from a billionaire? Quite a lot as you might expect: One of my favorite lessons comes via Patrick Lencioni, an expert on leadership and corporate organizational health, he tells a story of a billionaire client who best expressed the power of teamwork this way. If you could get all the people in the organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.” >>

Best Management Practices for Less Experienced Owners
If you are considering a management company because you feel you are not keeping up with the nuances of distribution channel management, human resource management, digital marketing, accounting and the changes in the industry that have driven us from art to science like revenue management, you are not alone >>

Letter from Singapore: 8 Key Takeaways on Creating 'Better Travel'.
From opportunity markets to product innovations to new tech, a lot was discussed at this week’s WIT Conference in Singapore. Here are the eight key takeaways. >>

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

An Update to the New Experiments on Google Hotel Ads.

Earlier this month, we wrote about new experiments we were seeing on Google Hotel Ads, we are now possibly seeing an update to this experience where Google is using 'Book a Room' on the call to action button instead of 'Reserve a Room,' and the page displays ads when it previously showed no ads >>