Three years after takeover, Dynasty Travel aims to offer slower, smarter, more sustainable travel

THREE years after acquiring Dynasty Travel, chief executive officer Teo Tianyi has been reinventing the long-established tour agency with a focus on slower, curated travel.

During this year’s travel fair season, Dynasty has literally set itself apart with its own event. Besides good deals, it aims to teach visitors about destinations and create excitement around travel – for instance, with a mask-changing or bian lian performance, to promote the Chinese region of Sichuan.

Teo, the founder of travel tech company Travel Curators, acquired Dynasty in late 2021. But he began overseeing day-to-day operations only last November, as the company’s transformation “wasn’t happening fast enough”.

Within three months, he launched Dynasty’s inaugural travel fair, in partnership with OCBC.

The fair was named Blink for its “blink and you’ll miss it” hourly flash deals – as well as for the company’s refreshed corporate colours, combining its traditional blue and a newly added pink.

Alongside flash sales and free luggage offers, there will be in-depth destination-sharing sessions.

The fair, held at OCBC Wisma Atria, runs over two weekends: Feb 22 to 23, and Feb 28 to Mar 2, which coincides with the long-running National Association of Travel Agents Singapore fair.

Like other travel agencies, Dynasty has a customer base mainly aged 45 and above. But, Teo wants to expand this by attracting a younger audience, with the Blink fair as part of the effort.

For people and planet

When he took over Dynasty amid the Covid-19 pandemic, he learnt of stacks of brochures that had to be discarded, as dates and prices became outdated during the travel shutdown.

He found himself asking: “In the digital age, why is it that we still have to print so much?” This was not just a waste of money, but also a blow to sustainability.

“I think that was the first thing that made me realise that maybe, there’s a different way of conducting travel fairs.”

When borders reopened, he realised that customers collected brochures to compare prices, as well as to strategise to reach the minimum spend for free suitcases.

“But, for me, I think travel should be more inspirational,” said Teo. “I think travel should be about pampering yourself. It should be about learning more about the world around us.”

He wanted Dynasty to have its own fair, in line with its mission to “travel well, learn more, do good”. While still providing value-for-money deals, the focus would be less on prices and transactions, and more on travel excitement and appreciation.

In recent years, Dynasty has held and supported events focused not on selling packages, but promoting culture, he noted.

In 2022 and 2023, it held the World X Series, where representatives of different countries – from diplomats to chefs and wine specialists – shared about various destinations. At each country-specific session, the agency served its specialties, such as Japanese musk melons or Columbian dark chocolate.

In 2023, Dynasty sponsored the prize pool for a cosplay competition at a Japan-themed festival held by parent company Travel Curators and Far East Organization. The same year, at a culture-focused travel fair, it held craft workshops, demonstrations and performances, such as for Japanese flower arrangement and hula dancing.

Late last year, with 2025’s travel fair season approaching, Teo decided it was time for Dynasty to go it alone.

Granted, there seemed to be “no real business sense in doing so”. A solo event means bearing all the costs, with fewer economies of scale and no access to competitors’ clients.

But, with its own event, the experience would be better aligned with the company’s mission, said Teo.

Blink’s attendees would still be seeking good deals, but Teo hopes they will also take the opportunity to learn about the featured countries.

Making strides in service

Apart from partnering OCBC for Blink’s venue, Dynasty has tied up with taxi company Strides Premier. Customers who book tours at Blink will score complimentary limousine rides home from Changi Airport.

Teo believes that this will support Dynasty’s reputation for good service. While the tour agency is known for friendly, knowledgeable staff and good guides, the same could be said of other agencies – so the distinction must be made elsewhere.

“Service doesn’t just start and end when you are overseas,” he said. When customers visit the agency before their trips, they can browse travel books and memorabilia while enjoying drinks.

“I think that’s the whole part of getting you into the mood of wanting to explore the world.”

But, as for post-trip service, customer feedback showed that travelling home from the airport could be a pain point, especially for bigger families.

A limo service would round off a good trip – which is why Dynasty partnered Strides Premier. While the limo offer is limited to the Blink fair for now, Teo plans to evaluate its success before deciding on the future of the collaboration.

Greener and curated

While flights are unavoidably carbon-intensive, Dynasty tries to cut emissions where it can. It provides digital rather than printed itineraries by default, and aims to cut travel time on coaches and domestic flights.

“We tend to eschew itineraries that are too hectic,” he added.

“We try to promote slower travel so that you can go deeper into culture, and that very design is less carbon-intensive than hopping from city to city.”

Dynasty also wants to promote thematic travel: itineraries built around interests or topics, instead of a destination’s biggest landmarks. This will involve adding tags with which to search for itineraries, such as “gastronomy” or “shopping and city life”.

By bringing like-minded travellers together, themed itineraries make it more likely that they will enjoy each other’s company, improving the experience, said Teo.

Partnerships – whether for infrastructure, resources, expertise or economies of scale – will remain key to Dynasty’s plans, with various discussions ongoing. One plan is to make future editions of Blink grander, with the support of partners.

“My goal is to be able to have a travel fair that feels more like a Coachella,” he noted, referring to the iconic music and arts festival.

He envisions a large event where customers will not only book travel, but try food and watch performances, “both cultural and pop”, from featured destinations.

For example, in line with a pop-culture itinerary to South Korea – where tourists might learn to dance and meet a retired K-pop idol – the Blink fair could even feature a K-Pop act.

But, Dynasty would need partners such as an airline to bring such acts in, and a venue provider to defray the cost, he noted.

“We can’t fight the battle on our own,” said Teo.

“We are always looking for people who like our approach. And, because we’re so different from every other travel agency, if you are a partner that is looking for a travel company that is focused more on curation, more on education, more on sustainability, then there’s not many choices.”