18 SPECIAL FEATURE
18 SPECIAL FEATURE TRAVEL & HOTEL TECHNOLOGIES ADVERTORIAL OUR UNIQUELY DIVERSIFIED BUSINESS MODEL IS BETTER FOR DRIVERS, PASSENGERS AND ENTERPRISES Victor Ngo CEO & Co-Founder, QUp World Bringing together the largest travel tech showcase yet in Asia Messe Berlin (Singapore) launches Travel Tech Asia 2020 to meet growing travel tech sector QUp World introduces a new era of sustainable ride-hailing for global travellers QUp World is at ITB Asia presenting a powerful “all-inone” technology for groundtransportation fleets and their affiliated networks. Hundreds of fleet owners across 180 cities have already chosen QUp World’s advanced platform and mobile apps for passengers, drivers, and partners enable total control in the management of the business. We asked company CEO and Co-founder Victor Ngo to tell us a little more. QUp technology brings a new era of sustainable ride-hailing to global travellers. QUp makes plug-andplay mobility technology accessible to local, legal and licensed ground transfer providers. With QUp’s full suite of fleet management, whitelabel web and mobile booking app, traditional ground transfer providers can deliver a seamless online booking and offline service experience to their passengers, while significantly streamlining their operational costs. What are the trends affecting the market of fleets and operators in the future? Ground transfer is an essential part of the travel ecosystem. The first and last miles of the traveller’s journey have always been duly serviced by traditional fleet operators and transfer providers. Frequent travellers were used to scheduling a transfer pickup in advance, through traditional channels such as emails and phone calls. So traveller demand is changing? Indeed. Frequent travellers no longer want to worry about the uncertainties of booking ground transfers in a foreign city. What if a pre-booked car doesn’t show up? Or they can’t find the driver? Or they need to make quick changes to their booking because of flight delay? Frequent travellers consequently want peace of mind when travelling, and traditional ground transfer providers unfortunately are not equipped to meet these demands. What makes your product and services different from other cloudbased solutions? It is not so much about being the next disruptive mobility technology that sets us apart from competition. What sets QUp apart is the execution at the local level, in collaboration with our legal and licensed fleet operators. Our uniquely diversified business model is better for drivers, passengers and enterprises. With over 45 million bookings processed, 3.1 million travelers in 72 countries, our model is proven. We are the 3.0 of Mobility Tech. We are QUp. Together, we can disrupt the disruptors STAND A38 - BASEMENT 2 Stand of BeMyGuest at ITB Asia 2018 Co-located with ITB Asia 2020 and MICE Show Asia 2020, Travel Tech Asia 2020 will take place from 21 to 23 October 2020 at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre. Travel Tech Asia will bring together a fresh set of buyer participants, the Tech Buyers. These Tech Buyers are heads of Distribution, Sales and Marketing, E-Commerce and IT from Hotels, Travel Agencies, Airlines, Tours and Activities - the key decision makers in evaluating and selecting the best travel tech in the market that best fit the industry needs. “In recent years, we have seen a remarkable development in travel technology and the integral role it is playing for the travel industry. Travel Tech Asia 2020 aims to provide the community with a platform for in-depth discussions on how technology can disrupt and transform the travel landscape,” said Katrina Leung, Managing Director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organiser of Travel Tech Asia 2020. Conference speakers will share emerging technologies, trends, ideas and applicable case studies that will set the stage for new possibilities in travel. Innovations surrounding e-commerce, internet of things in hospitality, transportation, AI, VR and AR, big data and cloud, payment solutions and revenue management and optimisation, will also be featured at the show to showcase the possibilities in travel tech and how it is set to revolutionise the industry. Exhibitors at the show will include industries such as artificial intelligence, booking, reservations and metasearch, hotel tech, virtual reality and augmented reality, voice and biometrics, data, personalisation and mobile marketing, revenue management and optimisation and more. As technologies continue to fuel record growth in the travel industry, Travel Tech Asia 2020 will see new exhibitors specifically catered for the travel tech industry ITB ASIA NEWS • Wednesday 16 October 2019 www.itb-asia-news.com
SPECIAL FEATURE CULTURAL TOURISM 19 Panorama of the city of Khiva, Uzbekistan © Doris Anthony Protecting intangible culture Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism concludes national heritage workshops SILK ROAD DESTINATIONS STEP OUT AT ITB ASIA The inside of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi The UNWTO Silk Road project continues to bear fruits, as an increasing number of regions adhere, and are assisted in promotion of their tourist destinations. M o s t r e c e n t l y, U N W T O E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r Z h u Shanzhong was one of the main speakers at the opening ceremony of the 4th Silk Road International Cultural Expo 2019, a month-long event held throughout the Gansu Province of China. A s p a r t o f t h e o p e n i n g ceremony, a Letter of Intent was signed between UNWTO and the Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, in which both parties expressed their will to cooperate c l o s e l y t o r a i s e t o u r i s m skills and competencies, increase tourism length-ofstay and spending, and raise international awareness of the Gansu Province as a key Silk Road destination. Earlier this year, at ITB Berlin, the Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department Uzbekistan successfully hosted two events: the 9 th UNWTO Silk Road Ministers’ Meeting, and the 8 th UNWTO Silk Road Tour Operators’ Forum. During the open debate, which counted upon the input of 20 Silk Road countries, important strategies were discussed that will allow UNWTO to plan activities for the 2019-2020 period. All of sustainable nature, the proposed initiatives aim towards making the historic Silk Road routes the most important transnational tourism route of the 21st century. A “ s t a n d - o u t ” I T B A s i a exhibitor featured on the Silk Road is Uzbekistan. Described by the Telegraph newspaper as the “most fascinating country you’ve never been to”, this central Asian nation is opening up to the world, making entry visa-free for visitors from 86 countries (including China) on 1 January 2020. “Uzbekistan is mainly a Muslim country, with world renowned Shrines in Silk Road places like Tashkent and Bukhara. Samarkand is home to dozens of magnificent tombs. Notable figures like the emperor Tamerlane, the astronomer Ulughbek and Kusam Ibn Abbas, the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, who brought Islam to this land in the 7 th Century, are all buried here,” explains Bahruz Hamzaev, Strategy Advisor to the State Committee for Tourism Development of Uzbekistan STAND P38 - BASEMENT 2 One of the most culturally oriented destinations of ITB Asia is certainly Abu Dhabi. The emirate’s Department of Culture and Tourism has just concluded two national heritage workshops, exploring how to best protect intangible culture in line with UNESCO guidelines. UNESCO plays a leading role in promoting the world’s diverse cultures and traditions and in helping states to preserve and enhance their cultural diversity by taking steps and measures to protect these cultures. The two workshops, held on 10 and 11 September at Manarat Al Saadiyat, saw strong participation from government bodies and NGOs. The first focused on Al-Sadu, the traditional Bedouin technique of weaving camel hair, goat fur and sheep wool into fabric to create blankets, carpets, pillows, tents and to decorate camel saddles and belts. Al-Sadu was placed on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011. It is an important part of Emirati heritage and was crucial to the economic role of Emirati women during the Bedouin period. This traditional craft is being preserved through the cooperation of local communities, who ensure its survival with culturally appropriate methods. The second workshop was dedicated to falconry, which is on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Falconry is one of the most important elements on this UNESCO list because it unites numerous cultures and peoples around the world. This workshop helped to raise awareness of the importance of falconry, the diversity of its practitioners and its cultural place across global communities. Saeed Hamad Al Kaabi, Intangible Heritage Director at DCT Abu Dhabi said: “We are committed to preserving the intangible cultural heritage of the United Arab Emirates, particularly those practices included on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which has gained special significance internationally. They are invaluable components of our shared culture and heritage, and are a source of great national pride” STAND MS14 - LEVEL 1 ITB ASIA NEWS • Wednesday 16 October 2019
