First quarter of 2020 was cautious, start of a new era, a new decade, cautious on how the economy would pan out with potential slower growth and concerns for market downturn. As for my photography business, it was a slow start and I was realigning business plans and strategies. On my personal/leisure photography front, there were a few major community events (Chinese New Year 2020 at Chinatown, Light to Night Festival 2020, River Hongbao 2020, Wan Qing Festival of Spring 2020, Battle for Singapore 2020 tours, Arts in Your Neighbourhood 2020) that I attended before Covid-19 spread changed the whole landscape.

As we all knew, second quarter was circuit breaker plus extended circuit breaker in Singapore. In a nutshell, working from home (WFH) and home based learning (HBL) were a new normal, some businesses took a huge hit, closure of businesses, job losses, retrenchments, pay cuts were commonly heard during this period. For photography businesses, we experienced the impacts and we were not able to conduct our business. This period was really stressful and difficult, on both professional and personal level.

Moving out from extended circuit breaker, phase 1 of post circuit breaker in June followed by phase 2 shortly after, this marked the start of a slow and much needed recovery to kickstart the economy again. Things are not and will not be the same as before pre Covid-19. Safety measures and strict regulations are in place for businesses to follow and implement. On the other hand, the severity of this current downturn has affected the whole economy, any business deals and transactions will not be back up fast and furious as businesses are looking at budget cuts and cost saving measures during this very difficult and challenging period. Personal and leisure photography during that period was pretty much confined to home and they could be viewed inside my Canon EOS M6 Mark II review article.

On the topic of travel, international travel is not in any of my immediate plans, I can only dream and plan for H2 2021, keeping my fingers crossed that a vaccine for Covid-19 would be available and the world can slowly start to return back to normal, although it will be a new normal for the world. I would leave the discussion on impacts and changes to world tourism and travel for another day, in another article dedicated to this discussion. 

Domestic travel, in the context of Singapore and its land size, doesn’t really ring a bell at all probably for many people, versus countries that have different states, prefectures and their citizens can travel interstate or across the country to visit.

However, while Singapore is really small in land size, we can do something about our own domestic travel/tourism, it’s just not domestic tourism per se, reference to other parts of the world. I am looking at doing my own “Explore your own backyard” theme instead, basically, it’s a continuation of my years of exploring my local neighbourhoods, just to compile, update and present in a manner that I would need to plan first.

Back to the my photography business in the post circuit breaker period, some changes are taking place, plans and strategies have gone back to the drawing board to navigate and manoeuvre during this very difficult and challenging waters ahead. The Covid-19 pandemic has definitely open up the case for business diversification that some people may not agree even in this modern and constantly changing world, they still believe in only specialising in one industry/skill/business.

Some keywords for you to ponder, digital agency and content creation, travel marketing, digital marketing, filmmaker.

The post Reflecting H1 2020 (Photography) appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.

Attending Tech in Asia Singapore 2018 was a great experience for me, listening to great panel sessions across different stages over two days, visiting different companies from various industries, listening to them sharing more about their products, services etc.

I wrote and shared about my experiences, thoughts and views (from a technology writer/enthusiast perspective) on attending Tech in Asia Singapore 2018 in another article post on my personal / technology blog/website. For this article,I am sharing startups/technology companies related to photography, travel and hospitality industries that were at Tech in Asia Singapore 2018.

Photography related industries

Markedshot

An interesting marketing and business growth platform. I visited their booth to have a chat with them and learn more about their services. After a good chat, I am able to visualise their marketing platform via their social gallery and business growth via their business intelligence and data gathering.

This might be a good partnership for photographers/photography companies that handle big events for clients and also for organisations/buinesses that would like to have a more social and marketing outreach for their events/services.

Check them out on their website – https://www.markedshot.com

Travel related industries

Ownrides

If you love to travel overseas for holidays and you love Taiwan, this would definitely get your attention! DIY and customise your own Taiwan travel itinerary with private driver without the need for a travel agent or travel agency.

Being an independent traveler, DIY travel is what I like, I do like the Ownrides platform. With my strong interest in travel photography, I had a chat with them on this topic and they do have drivers inside their network that would suit travel photographers, just remember to drop them a message.

Meanwhile, I am also looking at their expansion plans and see where they would be expanding/moving into!

Check them out on their website – https://ownrides.com

TravelSkope

Travel in the modern social media and technology era is getting more digitised, online and social media friendly. This would be more of an interest to those who are thinking of setting up their travel agency. TravelSkope can help you to build, setup and customise your travel agency website.

Now, I know who to look for if I want to setup my online travel agency one day in the future.

Check them out on their website – https://www.travelskope.com

WAmazing

For Japan travel lovers (like me!), this WAmazing app is going to get your attention too. Plan your Japan travel itinerary through this app and I hope to explore more using this app for my future travels to Japan.

Check them out on their website – https://www.wamazing.jp

Travelog

An online social travel marketplace for buying, selling and sharing, with their base in Malaysia. If you are planning a travel holiday to Malaysia, this might be useful.

Check them out on their website – https://travelog.com

TravellerMates

This would interest independent and/or small group travelers, connecting them via social media and allowing them to bulk buy popular activities to achieve a group discount

Check them out on their website – http://www.travellermates.com/en

Hospitality Industry

Coffee Break

Being a coffee fan/addict, something related to coffee caught my attention. There are many cafes in Singapore (we coffee lovers know it) and they can be a little bit pricey due to the high overhead costs in rental and wages for the cafes.

This Coffee Break app partners specially curated cafes and helps you to discover the city’s best brews and eats. You can purchase their coffee beverages package plans via the app.

Check them out on their website – http://www.hellocoffeebreak.com

LoyalGuest.com

A travel membership program network that builds a travel community, directly connecting travelers with hotels and other travel service providers. It’s not your usual accommodation booking platform, current presence in Southeast Asia and looking to expand worldwide.

Check them out on their website – http://loyalguest.com

Creative industry

A special mention to Ikibook–  A blockchain ecosystem for the creative industries, musicians, artists, photographers, creatives, this would interest them. Keep a lookout!

For my photographers, travelers and those interested in hospitality industries, hope this would be useful to you in some way or another, as a consumer or from a B2B angle.

** I would like to thank Lewis PR for the invitation to Tech in Asia Singapore 2018 conference! **

The post First Visit to Tech in Asia Singapore 2018 appeared first on TGH Photography and Travel Portal/Blog.