Northstar

TRENDS www.travelweeklyweb.com Wego's Travel Predictions for 2014 The travel metasearch site says that people are travelling more frequently and seeking new destinations. SINGAPORE – Wego, the leading travel metasearch site in the Asia Pacific and Middle East, has shared the hottest travel hotspots in flight search throughout their core regions and predictions of travel trends throughout for 2014. "We've seen a lot of shifting trends in all our markets this year," said Ross Veitch, Wego CEO and Co-founder. "People are travelling more frequently and seeking new destinations from traditionally popular routes." "Accessibility is leaping forward dramatically in all our regions and the comfort and security of using Wego's metasearch is clearly reflected in the increasing number of users enjoying our site across all our localised country sites, along with our rapidly growing inventory of airline, hotel and OTA partners, helping them to explore their options to travel anywhere in the world." Wego has 50 country sites in more than 30 languages and this year appointed six new Market Development Managers covering Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, and Thailand with established regional offices in Bangalore, Dubai, Jakarta, and moved into new Singapore headquarters in March. "The Wego team has worked enormously hard this year developing a targeted and very localised user experience with more accessible and advanced technology, tailored to the needs of travellers everywhere which we're all very excited about. Watch this space," Veitch concluded. Core Market Observations Australia "Australia's top ten reflects its proximity to Asian capitals such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, while Bali, Manila and Phuket remain jumping off points for popular holiday resort locations," said Matthew Varley, COO of Wego. "With the drop in the Australian dollar towards the end of this year, you might expect that Australian's may lean towards more domestic travel. However, popular short haul destinations such as Phuket, Bali, Fiji and New Zealand still resonate with Australians and may develop even further, appreciated as good value for money international choices. The Qantas and Emirates alliance continues to provide connectivity to Dubai, and onwards to Europe, a route that we expect will remain strong in 2014," Varley stated. Singapore "Bangkok has long been a top destination for Singaporeans because of its close proximity/short travelling time, plenty of promotions on flights and accommodation for budget conscious travellers, as well as the fact that it is a food/shopping haven and the Singapore dollar has been consistently strong against the Thai Baht," observed Dave Lai, Wego's Market Development Manager for Singapore and Malaysia. "It's interesting that Taipei and Seoul have been increasing in popularity recently (past three years), and I believe will continue to do so as Singaporeans consider exploring other North Asia destinations aside from Hong Kong." "There's been an increase in Singaporean holidays to Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi also due to its close proximity but also due to active LCC promotions. In recent years, Jetstar added a daily route to Ho Chi Minh and flies to Hanoi four times weekly," Lai added. "Business travel to Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi has also increased and Singapore's direct investment in Vietnam has seen the Lion City become the largest foreign investor in Ho Chi Minh in 2013." 12 | ■ TRAVELWEEKLY ASIA | JANUARY 2014 www.travelweeklyweb.com

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