SINGAPORE, Oct. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — With culinary travel on the rise across Asia this year, digital travel platform Agoda’s latest ranking reveals which Asian travelers are most eager to book accommodations with a complimentary breakfast. According to searches made on Agoda in August, Indian travelers are leading the charge in prioritizing breakfast-included stays, with 14% using the breakfast filter as part of their accommodation searches.

A complimentary breakfast is a key consideration for many Asian travelers when booking accommodations. This amenity ranks as the second most popular search filter on Agoda, just after star ratings, underscoring the importance of a hearty breakfast as a staple of the travel experience.

The preference for breakfast-included stays also highlights a broader trend among travelers who seek convenience and value in their accommodation experiences. A complimentary breakfast not only provides a cost-effective start to the day but also offers a taste of local flavors and hospitality. This trend is particularly evident in the diverse culinary offerings available across Asia, where breakfast can range from traditional dishes to international favorites.

Indian travelers are not the only ones looking to start their travels sunny side up. Thailand and Malaysia follow close behind to round out the top three nationalities with high demand for breakfast-included stays. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Vietnam round out the top eight Asian travelers most likely to care about the availability of a complimentary breakfast.

Andrew Smith, Senior Vice President, Supply at Agoda shared, “For many travelers, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, offering fuel to power their adventures and the opportunity to sample local flavors. With Agoda’s user-friendly platform and search features, travelers can easily find accommodations that cater to their breakfast preferences, ensuring a great start to their day.”

Travelers looking for the perfect breakfast-included stay can start their search on Agoda to select from over 6 million holiday properties, more than 130,000 flight routes, and over 300,000 activities, all easily combined in a single booking. Discover the best deals on Agoda’s mobile app and visit Agoda.com for more information.

-Four designs awarded GOOD DESIGN AWARD-

KAWASAKI, Japan, Oct. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Toshiba Group has announced that its heavy ion therapy system CI-1000 was honored with a GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD and the highly regarded Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award at GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2025, sponsored by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion. 

This system was selected for the GOOD DESIGN BEST 100 from among all GOOD DESIGN AWARD recipients, a distinction that recognizes designs with the potential to contribute to future lifestyles, industries, and society. It was also honored with a GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD, which is presented to only nineteen outstanding designs and distinguished with the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award, given only to three recipients this year, that are deemed to make a significant contribution to Japan’s economic development.

This year also saw three other Toshiba designs win significant recognition and a GOOD DESIGN AWARD for their distinctive value and exceptional design: Habuki™, a sewage pretreatment system using a rotating fiber unit for the oxidation ditch; the Delighting Everyone Project; and Goi Thermal Power Station.

• Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award, GOOD DESIGN GOLD AWARD, and GOOD DESIGN BEST 100

Toshiba Heavy Ion Therapy System CI-1000 
Joint submission by Toshiba Corporation and Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation

Toshiba’s latest iteration of its ground-breaking heavy ion therapy system, CI-1000, further advances cancer irradiation therapy that removes the need for surgery or hospitalization. In the course of continuing development, Toshiba has significantly miniaturized and refined the technology, taking it beyond that of conventional systems.

The system won high marks in many areas, including combining Japan’s advanced medical technology and premium services in a comprehensive package, and for delivering an excellent treatment experience and enhancing the well-being of many individuals, improving their quality of life.

For details: Heavy Ion Therapy | Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions

• GOOD DESIGN AWARD

1. Habuki™:  A pretreatment system using a rotating fiber unit for the oxidation ditch

Habuki™ is a sewage pretreatment system that redesigns the sewage treatment process at facilities that use the oxidation ditch. It employs a new technology to pretreat inlet sewage before it enters the reaction tank, and in doing so it nearly doubles the tank treatment capacity.

In practical use, the system successfully reduces energy consumption and maintenance costs, shrinking the total life cycle cost. The system also won praise for bringing a new level of effectiveness to facility upgrades and for use in temporary operations during disasters.

For details: A pretreatment technology using the rotating fiber unit for oxidation ditch Habuki™ | Social Systems | Toshiba 

2. Delighting Everyone Project

The Delighting Everyone Project aims to make life easier for residents of the remote islands of South Pacific Islands by giving them access to electricity. This business development project is establishing shared economy services for the use of rechargeable electrical products powered by renewable energy, supported by a foundational equipment rental and payment infrastructure operated by local community stores. The project was admired for putting in place “Infrastructure that anyone can benefit from,” giving residents easy access to electricity generated from renewable sources, and for its aim of enhancing community productivity and the quality of life of local residents.

For details: Toshiba Clip | Co-creating a New Economic Sphere in Unelectrified Regions -Contributing to productivity improvement in island countries through electric product sharing services

3. Goi Thermal Power Station
Joint submission by Toshiba Corporation, Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation, Toshiba Plant Systems & Services Corporation, Takenaka Corporation, Takenaka Civil Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd., and Daiken Sekkei, Inc.

In 2019, the Toshiba-led consortium won a contract of replacement work for Goi Thermal Power Station in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture. The completion of unit 3 this year brought the project to an early and successful conclusion. Since the early stages of the rebuild, interactive workshops were held with the many people involved in construction and operation. These sessions allowed issues to be shared and discussed, and the development of an ideal future vision. This led to co-creation of a grand concept: “Easy to see, Easy to Understand, Comfortable, and Easy to Operate.”

This approach to project advancement was recognized for achieving efficiency and workplace safety by implementing functional design that proactively prevented human error, and for realizing advanced facilities and spaces that foster a sense of pride and attachment among the people who work there. 

For details: Thermal Energy | Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions

GOOD DESIGN AWARD-winning items will be showcased in GOOD DESIGN EXHIBITION 2025, at Tokyo Midtown from November 1 to 5, 2025.

About GOOD DESIGN AWARD
The annual GOOD DESIGN AWARD continues to build on the heritage of Japan’s Good Design Product Commendation System, established in 1957. It welcomes submissions from Japan and overseas, and aims to advance design that addresses societal challenges and themes, and that enhances quality of life. It promotes the winners through public outreach activities, and the ‘G Mark,’ the symbol of the award, widely recognized for denoting excellence in design.

Citibank, HSBC, and Raffles Health Insurance received the highest Total Experience Scores in the banking, investment, and health insurance sectors, respectively

SINGAPORE, Oct. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) has released its inaugural Total Experience Score rankings for financial services firms in Singapore in 2025, revealing a wide disparity between how well banks, investment firms, and health insurers align their brand promises with the experiences they deliver to their customers. Only a handful of financial services firms excel in both areas, with the majority of brands struggling to deliver consistent experiences that build trust and engender long-term loyalty.

The Total Experience Score combines findings from Forrester’s Brand Experience Index (BX Index™) and its well-established Customer Experience Index (CX Index™) to generate a composite score that measures the perceptions that both noncustomers and customers form based on their cumulative interactions with a brand. As the only metric that measures brand impact across the entire customer lifecycle, the Total Experience Score empowers CX, marketing, and digital business leaders to identify the key drivers of BX and CX, top levers of trust, and the emotions that most affect brands’ ability to win, retain, and serve customers.

Key findings from the Singapore financial services Total Experience Score rankings include:

• Banks:
  Of the six banks evaluated — Citibank, DBS, HSBC, OCBC, Standard Chartered, and United Overseas Bank (UOB) — the sector showed the weakest alignment between brand promise and customer experience. Brand perceptions among prospective customers were low, and experiences for existing customers remained flat. Only Citibank and DBS stood out, earning top rankings due to strong scores across both customer and noncustomer segments. To improve, banks must focus on creating welcoming branch environments and offering competitive interest rates to strengthen brand experience while simplifying account opening and using clear communication to enhance customer experience.
• Investment Firms:
  Among the five firms assessed — Citibank, DBS, HSBC, OCBC, and UOB — HSBC led with the highest Total Experience Score, driven by strong BX and CX ratings from affluent customers. Brand promises generally resonated well with prospective customers, and experiences for existing customers were relatively solid. Notably, international brands outperformed local ones in customer favorability. To improve, investment firms should offer a diverse range of investment products, maintain transparent fees, and deliver high-quality customer service to elevate both BX and CX.
• Health Insurers:
  Of the eight insurers evaluated — AIA, FWD, Great Eastern, HSBC Life, Income Insurance, Prudential, Raffles Health Insurance (RHI), and Singlife — RHI led across all metrics, thanks to its integrated healthcare ecosystem and high trust ratings. The sector suffers from a growing imbalance between customer and noncustomer perceptions, however, with existing customers being more critical than noncustomers. To improve, health insurers must offer affordable healthcare plans, ensure clear policy coverage, and provide hassle-free service to boost BX. Enhancing personal data security and improving website capabilities are essential to strengthening CX.

“Singapore’s financial services firms must rethink how they deliver value across the entire customer lifecycle, before and after the relationship starts,” said Tom Mouhsian, principal analyst at Forrester. “The Total Experience Score reveals that winning new customers and retaining existing ones requires more than just good branding; it demands consistent, emotionally resonant experiences. Total experience reflects the cumulative impact of every interaction across the customer lifecycle and is the most holistic measure of whether a brand is truly able to follow through on its promises, earn trust, and thus ensure sustainable growth and competitiveness.”

Resources:

• Learn more about the Total Experience Score and how it can drive growth.
• Read more about the results of Singapore financial services 2025 Total Experience Score rankings, and explore Forrester’s 2025 Total Experience Score rankings for banks, health insurers and investment firms (client access required).
• Visit here to learn more about Forrester’s BX Index.

About Forrester
Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) is one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. We empower leaders in technology, customer experience, digital, marketing, sales, and product functions to be bold at work and accelerate growth through customer obsession. Our unique research and continuous guidance model helps executives and their teams achieve their initiatives and outcomes faster and with confidence. To learn more, visit Forrester.com.

BARCELONA, Spain, Oct. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The fifth edition of Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress (TMWC), the global event driving a new sustainable and intelligent urban mobility, will gather 200 international experts in Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue from November 4-6. Among them are David Zipper, Senior Fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative, and Jari Kauppila, Head of the Secretary-General’s Office at the International Transport Forum (ITF).

David Zipper and Jari Kauppila, keynote speakers at Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress 2025

Under the theme “Move Better”, TMWC, jointly organized by Fira de Barcelona and EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the European Union, will feature over 50 sessions addressing topics such as Staying competitive in the race to net-zero, The future of mobility: exploring the next decade of innovations, and Autonomous mobility in public transport.

Urban mobility expert David Zipper will headline the keynote lineup. Zipper, a Senior Fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative, explores the intersection of transportation policy, technology, and society. He has worked in city government, venture capital, and as an advisor in the smart cities and mobility sectors.

Jari Kauppila, Head of the Secretary-General’s Office at the ITF will also participate in the congress. Kauppila oversees the Forum’s strategic agenda. Prior to that, Kauppila led research and modelling work at ITF and coordinated international projects on topics such as decarbonization, and road safety and infrastructure investment.

Key insights to reshape mobility
EIT Urban Mobility will also share the insights from two recent studies. The first investigation quantifies the return on investment of bike-sharing schemes across Europe and reveals that these systems deliver significant benefits in emissions reduction, public health improvements, congestion alleviation and urban quality of life. Key findings reveal that one new job is created for every 75 shared bicycles deployed, and that European bike sharing schemes have saved 760,000 commuting hours, equivalent to €30 million in productivity gains.

The second study explores how people’s commuting habits are shaped by factors such as status quo bias, loss aversion, or friction costs. Based on the research insights and examples from deploy corporate mobility, the report highlights models and tactics that can incentivize more sustainable behaviour in commute, such as nudges and experimentation, instrumental to overcome psychological barriers and encourage sustainable mobility.

TMWC will be held alongside Smart City Expo World Congress, the leading international summit on smart cities and urban solutions, Tomorrow.Building and Tomorrow.Blue Economy.