Skift Take
Today’s edition of Skift’s everyday podcast looks at AirAsia’s superapp dreams, Turkey’s Russian angle, and employee psychological health at hotels.
Rashaad Jorden
Great morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 31. Here’s what you need to know about business of travel today.
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Episode Notes
Southeast Asia’s largest budget carrier AirAsia no longer aims to launch a lifestyle superapp. But Tony Fernandes, CEO of its moms and dad business Capital A, is moving his focus to establishing a superapp entirely devoted to travel, reports Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia.
Fernandes stated in an exclusive interview with Skift that AirAsia would focus on selling travel solely through its superapp, having declared Covid was over for the airline company. Superapps, popular in Asia, make it possible for users to accomplish a myriad of tasks on one platform rather of needing to turn to dozens of apps. AirAsia’s superapp offered food shipment, to name a few services, during the heart of the pandemic.
Fernandes also stated the superapp would concentrate on delivering the best worth for flights across Southeast Asia along with improving its ride sharing company.
Next, Turkey was currently a popular location for travelers from Russia, and it looks set to end up being a company travel center for Russian corporations displaced after Western sanctions, composes Business Travel Editor Matthew Parsons.
Near to 1,400 Russian businesses opened offices in Turkey in 2022, more than any other nation. Parsons writes Russian organizations wanting to continue trading view Turkey as a neutral place since it didn’t enforce sanctions on Russia following its intrusion of Ukraine. He includes that Russian corporations remain in particular to trade with companies banned directly engaging straight with Russia, especially U.S. companies that started a business in Turkey after closing their Russian operations.
Nevertheless, an executive at travel management company BCD Travel alerted that high inflation and the weakening Turkish Lira pose considerable challenges for the sector’s continuous healing in Turkey.
Lastly, hotel executives acknowledge that hospitality has actually ended up being a progressively demanding market for personnel coming out of the pandemic. So they’re focusing on enhancing their workers’ psychological wellness in an effort to maintain employees, Contributor Carley Thornell reports.
Hotel business like the Turks and Caicos Collection, a group of luxury resorts, are developing techniques to assist employees handle the stress of their work. General Supervisor Vianel Filpo confessed he can just do so much to assist staff dealing with a challenging work environment. So he’s assisted arrange face-to-face counseling sessions for staff members with a psychological health professional, which he stated have been immensely popular with personnel.
On The Other Hand, Crescent Hotels & Resorts, which operates more than 100 properties in the U.S. and Canada, increased psychological health offerings by means of its employment assistance plan. A company executive stated it’s seen a strong connection in between workers’ reduced usage of antidepressants and the start of extra psychological health protection.