WIT Penang 2023

Here are the notes taken for attending WIT Penang 2023.

Here are the travel indies attending the event:


Part One - "Things-to-do" Segment

  • Most users refer to tours and activities as "Things to do". Thanks to Google.
  • People over 40 search for "things to do" upon arrival and on-trip.
  • People younger than 40 search and plan for "things to do" before the trip. Why? Because they want to squeeze in as many attractions/cafes/locations as possible to get lovely photos (for their Instagram, TikTok posts)
    • Because of the above, there's a demand for Things-to-do booking engine.
    • Who influences their choice? KOL. KOL stands for key-opinion-leader; they're influencers. KOL has outperformed Google Ads in attracting bookings because customers look for opportunities to take photos and videos (mimicking KOLs). 
  • Types of tours and activities
    • Attractions - lego land, zoo tickets, circus, etc. Entrances with a ticket/passes. No assistance.
    • Tours - jungle tracking tour, Kinabatangan river cruise tour (e.g. https://borneoadventure.com/). Basically, group activities with assistance (e.g. tour guide, trekking guide, instructors, driver, etc).
    • Events - similar to attractions but for a limited time only. (e.g. Taylor Swift's concert).
  • Examples of operators
    • Attractions
      • https://www.legoland.com.my/
      • https://sunwaylagoon.com/
      • Circus https://pharecircus.org/
    • Tours
      • Many tours on this site https://borneoadventure.com/
      • One day trip to Sekinchan https://www.klook.com/en-MY/activity/10630-sky-mirror-sekinchan-paddy-field-tour-kuala-lumpur
      • One day historical trip to Melaka https://www.klook.com/en-MY/activity/12010-historical-melaka-with-lunch-kuala-lumpur/
  • Examples of Things-to-do Direct Booking Engine
    • Rezdy https://rezdy.com/
    • GlobalTix https://globaltix.com/
  • Examples of Things-to-do OTAs
    • Klook https://www.klook.com/ms-MY/
    • Funnow https://www.myfunnow.com/en
    • GoCity https://gocity.com/en-us
  • Channel manager of Things-to-do OTAs is also available. Globaltix providing one. I believe channel manager works more for tours than attractions because tours have limited inventory (because of tour guides, drivers, car seats, etc).


Part Two - Others

  • ChatGPT makes voice control better. In the past, email replaced fax. Now, messages (WhatsApp, slack) replaced email. In the future, voice will replace messages. Imagine having a virtual assistant who listens and works for us. Voice will become the main user interface.
  • Korean drama "Start-up" gives us an idea of how the Korean corporate world works.
  • My dream comes true - ChatGPT doing customer support. https://replyr.ai/
  • Using Midjourney to draw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5XYgU9-Xs0
  • Sound is part of branding. Many big brands have a dedicated sound for their product. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpduxRd9orM
  • Regarding marketing analytics, we can track "click to site" and "revenue clicks" to measure marketing campaigns. "Click to site" tracks brand campaigns; it focuses on the number of user reach. "Revenue click" tracks performance campaigns; it focuses on revenue conversion. Know our marketing campaign's objective and use the right metric to track it.
  • Travel long tail keywords. An example is "Souvenir" for the travel site because tourists want to buy a souvenir and want to check where they can purchase it. GoCity (things-to-do OTA) using this keyword to attract web traffic.
  • With all the generated videos and images, being authentic is the key to as brand. How to be authentic?
    • Non-perfect images. Rough edges and be real.
    • Showing our faces on social media becomes more important so the customers know the people behind the company.
    • We should still adopt AI-generated content but we must do both. AI helps with productivity and original content helps with authenticity.

WIT Indie Penang 2023 at Penang Institute




Bumped into a hotel that will go live with Softinn



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