Indonesia - Bali named among top post-pandemic destinations

Bali is among the international destinations such as Andalusia and Catalonia in Spain, as well as Florida in the United States, listed as the most desirable places to visit after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The travel industry has been one of the hardest-hit sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic, but travelers around the world have also been eager to get back on the proverbial road and visit new holiday destinations.

Dutch online ticketing company Booking.com has recorded growing wishlists on its app, listed by people in quarantine around the world in March and April.

On the list, Bali ranks second among the most desirable tourist destinations.

The island is listed along with international destinations such as Andalusia and Catalonia in Spain, as well as Florida in the United States. Krasnodar Krai in Russia tops the list.

In a statement, Booking.com said the list was based on the number of likes for properties listed on the app.

The data was compiled in March and April and compared to similar data in March and April 2019.

Alongside Bali, there are 27 Indonesian destinations on the list, such as West Nusa Tenggara, Jakarta, Yogyakarta and West Java.

The list also revealed that Indonesian users on the app are hesitant to plan international journeys after the pandemic.

Around 76 percent of Indonesian users’ wishlists comprise domestic destinations in sunny cities and places with beaches, such as Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, and Ubud and Seminyak in Bali.

Meanwhile, international destinations are dominated by Asian metropolitans, such as Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul.

On Saturday, Reuters reported that Bali could reopen to tourists in October, following the government's success in controlling the coronavirus outbreak. If the infection curve continues to improve, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry is looking to revitalize destinations and do promotional work for some parts of the country, including Bali, between June and October.

Source - #TheJakartaPost

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Seven language apps for pleasant, confusion-free travel experience

When traveling, sometimes the sky isn’t the limit, but the language barrier is. One second you’re excited about exploring a new country, and seconds later you're worrying about the language barrier it presents.

In the old days, many tourists walked around carrying a pocket dictionary. But these days people have it easier. With a little help from technology, traveling can be hassle-free. 

Here are seven apps that can save you from language confusion, as compiled by Insider:

1. Google Translate assists you with easy to use features

The app is mandatory. With over 500 million users, Google Translate is packed with useful features. For instance, you can type in text in one language and get an immediate translation in another. You can also speak into the microphone and have the app read it out in a different language. With the 59 languages available offline, Google Translate allows you to engage in real-time conversation with locals, even when you have no internet connection.

2. Duolingo equips you with knowledge of basic conversation

Duolingo offers short and fun daily conversation lessons to prepare you for a trip. If you need a bit of motivation, its mascot, a green owl, is there to cheer you on at all times. You can also test your skills and level up when ready. The app has 200 million users actively learning languages, including Esperanto, Hebrew, Portuguese, Greek, Welsh, Romanian and Swahili.

3. HelloTalk connects you to locals

Not only do people help you, but you get to help others as well. HelloTalk connects users with people who speak the language they need through free chat and audio calls. Offering more than 100 languages, HelloTalk also supports interactive experience through its translation and grammar correction tools.

4. TripLingo comes in handy in critical situations

If you need emergency information, currency conversion, tip calculation or briefings on local etiquette, TripLingo is the right app. Besides offering voice translators in 19 languages, the app offers live human translators on standby, available for an extra charge.

5. Tandem teams you up with a native speaker

Perhaps the quickest way to learn a new language, especially daily conversational ones, is by making friends. With more than 150 languages to choose from and a community of over 1 million people, Tandem pairs you with a language partner to help you learn even slang from the people who use it.

6. Waygo reads foreign alphabets for you

If you’re in for some local food but can’t read a single letter on the menu, Waygo can help you out. The app works by reading letters that you aim your camera at, translate and spell them out for you. The best thing is, it is available offline as well.

7. iTranlate converts speech to text with ease

Locals often can’t be bothered with typing the sentence they are trying to say into your translator app. iTranslate’s voice recognition technology ensures a smooth conversation between travelers and locals. It converts speech into words in over 100 languages and includes an extensive dictionary with verb conjugations. The app also recently introduced a visual dictionary, with the ability to suggest words corresponding to the object shown in photos

Source - TheJakartaPost

#Grab aspires to be travelers’ ultimate companion, offers hyperlocal innovations

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the number of Indonesian travelers exploring the archipelago in 2018 increased by 12.37 percent year-on-year

Aware of this rising trend in travel, ride-hailing app Grab reintroduced a campaign that shows its commitment to serving as the ultimate travel companion.

Grab Indonesia managing director Neneng Goenadi said in a press conference in late July that Grab aimed to ensure that users experienced smooth, convenient and safe travels.

“As an everyday super-app […], Grab wants to provide essential services to assist users in their daily life [by] providing easy and safe services with a relevant hyperlocal approach,” Neneng said.

She went on to say that the company supported the country’s Wonderful Indonesia tourism campaign as well by offering services that helped holidaymakers explore the archipelago more conveniently.

Available in 224 cities across Indonesia, Grab is already known for its GrabCar and GrabBike services, but with the different personalities of travelers in mind, the company has expanded its repertoire.

GrabCar Plus, for instance, offers five-star drivers whose cars are also in prime condition. There is also the GrabCar 6-Seater option for small groups of travelers that can take up to 80 kilograms of baggage, GrabCar Airport that can be easily ordered in 14 airports across Indonesia and GrabRent that allows users to book a dedicated car for two to 12 hours.

Meanwhile, GrabNow is a service that enables users to hail a vacant GrabBike and enter their destination afterward.

Neneng further explained a service called GrabGerak, which is a GrabCar dedicated to disabled passengers and offers cars that are wheelchair-friendly and drivers who have been trained to help the disabled.

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Similar hyperlocal services are available in Medan, North Sumatra, with the GrabBetor that provides access to betor (motorcycle pedicab) and GrabBentor in Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, for sidecar motorcycles.

Neneng added that there would also be GrabAndong in Yogyakarta for users to book horse carriages.

More than a platform for travelers to book land transportation, Grab also makes it possible for users to book plane tickets and hotel rooms through the app, not to mention food and movie tickets from CGV and Cinemaxx in some Indonesian cities.

Meanwhile, to ensure safety, drivers are required to post selfies, including ones in which they move their heads, every day before signing on to work.

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Source - TheJakartaPost

As #Facebook scandal mushrooms, Zuckerberg vows to 'step up'

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg vowed Wednesday to "step up" to fix problems at the social media giant, as it fights a snowballing scandal over the hijacking of personal data from millions of its users.

"We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you," Zuckerberg said, in his first public comments on the harvesting of Facebook user data by a British firm linked to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

Writing on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg announced new steps to rein in the leakage of data to outside developers and third-party apps, while giving users more control over their information through a special toolbar.

Zuckerberg said measures had been in place since 2014 to prevent precisely the sort of abuse revealed at the weekend.

"But we also made mistakes, there's more to do, and we need to step up and do it," he said.

The scandal erupted when a whistleblower revealed that British data consultant Cambridge Analytica (CA) had created psychological profiles on 50 million Facebook users via a personality prediction app, created by a researcher named Aleksandr Kogan.

The app was downloaded by 270,000 people, but also scooped up their friends' data without consent -- as was possible under Facebook's rules at the time.

Facebook says it discovered last week that CA may not have deleted the data as it certified.

"This was a breach of trust between Kogan, Cambridge Analytica and Facebook," Zuckerberg wrote. "But it was also a breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their data with us and expect us to protect it."

"We need to fix that."

- Probe by special counsel? -

Zuckerberg's admission follows another day of damaging accusations against the world's biggest social network as calls mounted for investigations on both sides of the Atlantic.

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Chinese smartphone brands team up to fight WeChat dominance

China’s biggest smartphone vendors are getting together for a software platform offering access to apps that can provide an alternative for WeChat’s more than 1 billion users.

Huawei Technologies Co., Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi Corp. are teaming with six smaller brands for Quick App, which lets users access a range of services including mobile payments. That’s a direct challenge to the mini programs of WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd., which lets users order food and rent bikes without ever leaving the app.

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WeChat, which is available on all the major operating systems, is nearly ubiquitous in China as people use their smartphone to buy food, pay bills and send money to friends. Mini programs has further entrenched the app by making it a one-stop shop for daily essentials and helping Tencent capture more of the revenue spent by consumers.

The vendors will each have equal status in the alliance, which is designed to improve efficiency for both smartphone users and app developers, said Kaylene Hong, a spokeswoman for Xiaomi.

Source - TheJakartaPost