Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/422436
www.travelweekly-asia.com | 21 COVER STORY ThE ulTimaTE in laST-minuTE bOOking Ian Cumming, Sydney, Australia, is the creator of the largest travel industry meet up in the world - Travel Massive - which connects thousands of the world's most influential people and brands in the online travel industry in 50 cities globally including New York, London, Milan, Los Angeles, Berlin, Cape Town, Moscow and Hong Kong. Always on a plane and thinking of the next place to go. Do you travel alone a lot? Yes. I've done six overseas trips in almost the past 12 months. As a single person, how do you like to travel? Spontaneously and for at least a few weeks. I often book my flight a week before I leave, pack up my apartment and head off. I travel with carry-on only. This allows me to be really flexible with my travel and I feel more free. Travelling alone can get boring so I bring a portable DJ mixer as I love music and creating and can keep myself occupied during down time. Where do you go? What do you like to do? I like to walk around the city and get my bearings. I only book one or two nights in a hotel initially so I can explore the city by foot and find the best place to stay. I also like to arrive with no plans or expectations about the city. Then you can make up your own plans as you go. I like looking for local nightclubs and DJs as this draws a local crowd and you can meet locals and not other travellers. How do you book your travel? I use Skyscanner, Jetradar and booking.com mainly. I once booked my hotel on booking.com while above Manila on a flight. Thirty minutes later after landing I checked in to my hotel. I also ask our community on #travelmassive for advice as we have over 50 chapters around the world and a MEET THE CUSTOMER huge community of experts in everything in travel. If you were to use a travel agent, what would you like them to do for you? Book my flights over the phone and let me choose the best seat. Most online agents don't give you the best seat preference whereas agents have better access to seats than OTAs. Top places where the women are hot. Thailand and Portugal. What do you think travel sup- pliers can do better for single travellers? To be honest I don't think there is anything they need to do. Travelling by yourself unless you are with someone special is very free and much less constrained than travelling with groups or families. MEET THE CUSTOMER OWn TimE, OWn TaRgET How do you book your travel? Depends. Back then in China, I used to book with travel agents mostly. My NYC trip was made out of Singapore but I booked via a travel agent too. Was own time own target so dates were shifting a bit, agent could handle my changes and help me hold bookings then. Now I book all trips on my own so it's supplier direct mostly all DIY. If you were to use a travel agent, what would you like them to do for you? I found travel agents most useful for either cheap rates that I could not access directly, or if I had dates that could shift - so they helped manage my itinerary uncertainties. Would like for travel agents to be a source of expertise and travel advice but these are few and far between. Some destinations left me with no choice but to use a travel agent (eg: Bhutan). I would also veer towards using agents if the itinerary was complicated but again it also meant being able to access better rates through them. All my South America flights within the continent were booked through a travel agent because I found better rates through one. He was also able to help hold bookings as I was also managing train and ship bookings at the same time too, so needed flights to fit. Top places where the men are hot. Spain, Brazil, Denmark, Sweden What do you think travel suppliers can do better for single travellers? Very practical person that I am. Cost of travel is highest when travelling alone. If travel suppliers can help mitigate that high cost of going solo, would be awesome. Rita Goh, Singapore, travels for personal fulfillment a few times a year, sometimes alone, sometimes with a group of friends. Biggest trips in recent months – Bhutan, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands and Cuba. Always trigger happy with the camera and would take any road less travelled, anytime. Do you travel alone a lot? Used to do a lot of solo travel especially when I was living away from Singapore. As a single person, how do you like to travel? I like the kind of trips that are "own time, own target", so I can do whatever I want, when I want. Even if it means doing nothing at all on the trips. Where do you go? What do you like to do? Biggest solo trip was to New York. Nearer solo trips were to Hong Kong.