Comments on: Asean tourism campaign will boost Murdoch empire http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/ FIRST with the FACTS on Thailand and Mekong Region TRAVEL Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:42:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: John http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-1948 John Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:31:35 +0000 http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/?p=11828#comment-1948 These two journalists represent more than 60 years of experience in the field and in the region. They make a formidable pair and their professionalism has brought numerous gains for the industry they report on, including the demise of some very shady characters in very high places. The travel business is open to anyone, without qualifications, experience or principles, and Don and Imtiaz are fearless in rooting out the bad eggs. This is a thankless task at times, but somebody has to do it. ACE should be proud to be given the ink it gets, considering it is a very mysterious organisation with some pretty strange connections, some of whom are well known to this investigative duo. These two journalists represent more than 60 years of experience in the field and in the region. They make a formidable pair and their professionalism has brought numerous gains for the industry they report on, including the demise of some very shady characters in very high places. The travel business is open to anyone, without qualifications, experience or principles, and Don and Imtiaz are fearless in rooting out the bad eggs. This is a thankless task at times, but somebody has to do it. ACE should be proud to be given the ink it gets, considering it is a very mysterious organisation with some pretty strange connections, some of whom are well known to this investigative duo.

]]> By: Jay http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-1940 Jay Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:43:53 +0000 http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/?p=11828#comment-1940 Bottom line: if it's either USAid or Murdoch, it's unacceptable: that is, as a CONSUMER, I won't go near it. WEGO away. Bottom line: if it’s either USAid or Murdoch, it’s unacceptable: that is, as a CONSUMER, I won’t go near it. WEGO away.

]]> By: Anon http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-1938 Anon Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:52:09 +0000 http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/?p=11828#comment-1938 Surely the fact that Wego had to fight its own corner says more for the poor quality of the journalism involved than the leadership at ACE! Surely the fact that Wego had to fight its own corner says more for the poor quality of the journalism involved than the leadership at ACE!

]]> By: John http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-1931 John Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:16:36 +0000 http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/?p=11828#comment-1931 Strange how the very people this debate is about have chosen to sit it out, no doubt because they haven't a clue how to communicate what it really is that they are doing. The mists around ACE and their strange funding are growing murkier, and the fact that the good burghers of Asean tourism at first thought it was they who would have to cough up the funds shows just how poorly ACE is messaged. Too many stakeholders are now questioning the credentials of the entire effort, and the fact that a supplier such as Wego had to fight its own corner says little for the leadership at ACE. Maybe they do not read internet pieces, preferring old parchment tomes from USAID about being nice to the natives, but not patting them on their heads. Strange how the very people this debate is about have chosen to sit it out, no doubt because they haven’t a clue how to communicate what it really is that they are doing. The mists around ACE and their strange funding are growing murkier, and the fact that the good burghers of Asean tourism at first thought it was they who would have to cough up the funds shows just how poorly ACE is messaged. Too many stakeholders are now questioning the credentials of the entire effort, and the fact that a supplier such as Wego had to fight its own corner says little for the leadership at ACE. Maybe they do not read internet pieces, preferring old parchment tomes from USAID about being nice to the natives, but not patting them on their heads.

]]> By: Gavin Sacks http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-1916 Gavin Sacks Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:22:02 +0000 http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/?p=11828#comment-1916 John, I think that your comments regarding the need for a clearer marketing plan (minimum 3 year plan is required) is actually a reasonable comment and I agree that the new initiative needs to me marketed properly with sufficient resources. I live in Australia and have previously worked for state funded tourism projects and am well aware of the inherent challenges in trying to develop a unified initiative, which satisfies the various State government interests. In my experience I have not come across an initiative, which has not been contentious. Australia, is full of journalists like Mr. Muqbil, I apologize if my opinions regarding his article were on the personal side, but its hard not to when he is trying to be sensational and attention grabbing by accusing Mr. Murdoch personally with trying to muscle in on the ASEAN tourism industry. I have just read the comments from Wego's CEO and applaud him for shooting straight back at Mr Muqbil (the "wanna be" investigative bully.) I really hope for all concerned that this initiative gets the required marketing funding and planning it deserves. And more importantly that its gets the much needed support from the ASEAN tourism operators. John, I think that your comments regarding the need for a clearer marketing plan (minimum 3 year plan is required) is actually a reasonable comment and I agree that the new initiative needs to me marketed properly with sufficient resources.

I live in Australia and have previously worked for state funded tourism projects and am well aware of the inherent challenges in trying to develop a unified initiative, which satisfies the various State government interests. In my experience I have not come across an initiative, which has not been contentious.

Australia, is full of journalists like Mr. Muqbil, I apologize if my opinions regarding his article were on the personal side, but its hard not to when he is trying to be sensational and attention grabbing by accusing Mr. Murdoch personally with trying to muscle in on the ASEAN tourism industry.

I have just read the comments from Wego’s CEO and applaud him for shooting straight back at Mr Muqbil (the “wanna be” investigative bully.)

I really hope for all concerned that this initiative gets the required marketing funding and planning it deserves. And more importantly that its gets the much needed support from the ASEAN tourism operators.

]]> By: John http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-1909 John Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:46:26 +0000 http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/?p=11828#comment-1909 Finally, some passion in Asean tourism! Maybe Mr Sacks should not get quite so personal, because said investigative journalist Muqbil has amazing contacts and might just detect what his particular scam is. The fact is, the facts are sketchy and have been hopelessly communicated by the various USAID flunkees, but none of that is new. The big issue, though, is the total lack of either proper research and also a valid marketing plan. This make-shift 'build it and they will come' effort insults everyone who makes a living in tourism in the region. Finally, some passion in Asean tourism!
Maybe Mr Sacks should not get quite so personal, because said investigative journalist Muqbil has amazing contacts and might just detect what his particular scam is.
The fact is, the facts are sketchy and have been hopelessly communicated by the various USAID flunkees, but none of that is new.
The big issue, though, is the total lack of either proper research and also a valid marketing plan. This make-shift ‘build it and they will come’ effort insults everyone who makes a living in tourism in the region.

]]> By: Gavin Sacks http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-1906 Gavin Sacks Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:59:35 +0000 http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/?p=11828#comment-1906 Mr Imtiaz Muqbil you sound like a frustrated trade journalist who still holds dreams of being an investigative journalist. What I see is someone who has used Google to try and dig up some potential dirt on the companies who are behind this new travel initiative. What you have found are pieces of information which you have tried to piece together without proper context or investigation..........the result is a hackneyed B grade investigative story. Which unless substantiated with proper facts beyond a cursory Google search is defamatory to all your accused parties. It’s a real shame that you have missed the point that international travellers now searching for information on the South East Asia region now have a useful tool to use. I think that readers of this article should be asking themselves whether you have pre-existing gripes Mr Imtiaz Muqbil you sound like a frustrated trade journalist who still holds dreams of being an investigative journalist. What I see is someone who has used Google to try and dig up some potential dirt on the companies who are behind this new travel initiative. What you have found are pieces of information which you have tried to piece together without proper context or investigation……….the result is a hackneyed B grade investigative story. Which unless substantiated with proper facts beyond a cursory Google search is defamatory to all your accused parties.

It’s a real shame that you have missed the point that international travellers now searching for information on the South East Asia region now have a useful tool to use. I think that readers of this article should be asking themselves whether you have pre-existing gripes

]]> By: Martin Symes http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-1901 Martin Symes Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:05:41 +0000 http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/?p=11828#comment-1901 This article, as it relates to Wego, is so inaccurate, both factually and in its offensive innuendo, that it demands correction. The factual errors include (but are not limited to) the following - 1. You state that “Wego.com has been chosen to provide technological support for the website”. This is wrong. Wego will integrate its meta-search technology into the website and will build a multi-destination trip planner for the site. 2. You state that “Wego’s revenue is derived from (pay per click) advertising and an override commission paid by its commercial partners…on completion of a successful referral”. Wrong. We do not have a single “override commission” agreement in place. 3. You state that “Search criteria is weighted in favour of partners”. Wrong. By definition, only partners are displayed in our search results. Furthermore, the commercial aspect of a partnership does not affect the display order of search results, which are listed according to price (airfares) and a popularity based algorithm (hotels). 4. You state that Wego is “Based out of an office on Boat Quay”. Wrong. 5. You state that wego.com was launched on 8 August 2008. Wrong. 6. You state that Bezurk was “a B2B comparison shopping site established in 2005”. Wrong – Bezurk was always B2C. 7. You state that “A financial restructuring, concluded 15 January 2008, saw News Digital Media become an investor”. Wrong – there was no restructuring; just a straight-forward investment by a new shareholder. 8. You state that the investment by News …”was viewed as a pivotal factor driving the brand remake and the decision to go B2C”. Wrong. The acquisition of the wego.com domain name and the decision to re-brand from Wego to Bezurk was made prior to News’ investment and the business was B2C from inception. 9. You describe Wego as “a business unit of…” News Corporation. Wrong. Wego is an independent, ASEAN based business employing 24 ASEAN residents and taxpayers. Quite aside from the above, and the numerous other errors which I have neither the time nor inclination to bother correcting, the article’s over-riding claim – that US funds are ‘set to give Wego… clear dominance in the Asean online travel market’ would be laughable if it wasn’t so offensive to everyone involved in the project. The facts are these; USAID is donating money (you state $4 million – we are not aware of where this number comes from) to help boost multi-destination tourism in the ASEAN region. A small part of that money will be used to build a website. Wego was approached to provide functionality for part of the site. The traffic and revenue Wego will receive from being on the website is small. To imply that somehow this deal will be the making of Wego is utter nonsense. And even – EVEN – if we were given four million bucks to spend on marketing Wego, we still wouldn’t get anywhere close to the ‘clear dominance’ you claim we would. In fact, if any of your readers know how we could achieve clear dominance with such a sum, I’d love to hear from them, I really would. Martin Symes CEO Wego Pte Ltd This article, as it relates to Wego, is so inaccurate, both factually and in its offensive innuendo, that it demands correction.

The factual errors include (but are not limited to) the following –

1. You state that “Wego.com has been chosen to provide technological support for the website”. This is wrong. Wego will integrate its meta-search technology into the website and will build a multi-destination trip planner for the site.

2. You state that “Wego’s revenue is derived from (pay per click) advertising and an override commission paid by its commercial partners…on completion of a successful referral”. Wrong. We do not have a single “override commission” agreement in place.

3. You state that “Search criteria is weighted in favour of partners”. Wrong. By definition, only partners are displayed in our search results. Furthermore, the commercial aspect of a partnership does not affect the display order of search results, which are listed according to price (airfares) and a popularity based algorithm (hotels).

4. You state that Wego is “Based out of an office on Boat Quay”. Wrong.

5. You state that wego.com was launched on 8 August 2008. Wrong.

6. You state that Bezurk was “a B2B comparison shopping site established in 2005”. Wrong – Bezurk was always B2C.

7. You state that “A financial restructuring, concluded 15 January 2008, saw News Digital Media become an investor”. Wrong – there was no restructuring; just a straight-forward investment by a new shareholder.

8. You state that the investment by News …”was viewed as a pivotal factor driving the brand remake and the decision to go B2C”. Wrong. The acquisition of the wego.com domain name and the decision to re-brand from Wego to Bezurk was made prior to News’ investment and the business was B2C from inception.

9. You describe Wego as “a business unit of…” News Corporation. Wrong. Wego is an independent, ASEAN based business employing 24 ASEAN residents and taxpayers.

Quite aside from the above, and the numerous other errors which I have neither the time nor inclination to bother correcting, the article’s over-riding claim – that US funds are ‘set to give Wego… clear dominance in the Asean online travel market’ would be laughable if it wasn’t so offensive to everyone involved in the project.

The facts are these; USAID is donating money (you state $4 million – we are not aware of where this number comes from) to help boost multi-destination tourism in the ASEAN region. A small part of that money will be used to build a website. Wego was approached to provide functionality for part of the site. The traffic and revenue Wego will receive from being on the website is small. To imply that somehow this deal will be the making of Wego is utter nonsense.

And even – EVEN – if we were given four million bucks to spend on marketing Wego, we still wouldn’t get anywhere close to the ‘clear dominance’ you claim we would. In fact, if any of your readers know how we could achieve clear dominance with such a sum, I’d love to hear from them, I really would.

Martin Symes
CEO
Wego Pte Ltd

]]> By: Brinley http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-1900 Brinley Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:32:43 +0000 http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/?p=11828#comment-1900 As an e-commerce business we can’t compete against this sort of funding and it loses us business. It is very unfair practice from USAID if true and why are they interfering in commercial fields? For the past 4 years we’ve been developing e-business for small businesses in the East Asia market. The comments made so far should be of great concern to the US government and US taxpayers. Will USAID be conducting a full investigation into the procedures and have USAID rules and regulations been met? As an e-commerce business we can’t compete against this sort of funding and it loses us business. It is very unfair practice from USAID if true and why are they interfering in commercial fields? For the past 4 years we’ve been developing e-business for small businesses in the East Asia market. The comments made so far should be of great concern to the US government and US taxpayers. Will USAID be conducting a full investigation into the procedures and have USAID rules and regulations been met?

]]> By: Atticus http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/02/asean-tourism-campaign-will-boost-murdoch-empire/comment-page-1/#comment-1892 Atticus Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:11:31 +0000 http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/?p=11828#comment-1892 The very term 'Asean Tourism Strategic Plan for 2011-15' suggests it should be written with the engagement of Asean tourism experts, not US-funded carpetbaggers who will have long gone before any of the results have to be accounted for. By handing over the most important planning exercise after military cooperation to a bunch of expats living large off US funding shows just how little Asean tourism leaders care about cooperation. None of them will be around either, long out to pasture as local politics changes. Tourism ministries have by nature been the dumping ground of spent politicos or used as sops to coalition politics. This is entirely suspect and when the provenance of Wego is factored in, it makes a mockery of Asean. Murdoch is fighting for his survival with debts the size of the Himalayas, his family has turned on his Fox fossicking of journalistic principles and even his Hong Kong wife has joined the fray, backing the public comments of his PR maven son-in-law Freud. Asean deserves better than this, and the belotioned "experts" at ACE better have one up their tailored sleeves, because outing is about to happen. The very term ‘Asean Tourism Strategic Plan for 2011-15′ suggests it should be written with the engagement of Asean tourism experts, not US-funded carpetbaggers who will have long gone before any of the results have to be accounted for. By handing over the most important planning exercise after military cooperation to a bunch of expats living large off US funding shows just how little Asean tourism leaders care about cooperation. None of them will be around either, long out to pasture as local politics changes. Tourism ministries have by nature been the dumping ground of spent politicos or used as sops to coalition politics. This is entirely suspect and when the provenance of Wego is factored in, it makes a mockery of Asean. Murdoch is fighting for his survival with debts the size of the Himalayas, his family has turned on his Fox fossicking of journalistic principles and even his Hong Kong wife has joined the fray, backing the public comments of his PR maven son-in-law Freud. Asean deserves better than this, and the belotioned “experts” at ACE better have one up their tailored sleeves, because outing is about to happen.

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