The WIT Conference ended yesterday with the who’s who of online travel in APAC gathered on stage as WIT, for its 10th edition, created the WIT Warriors circle to recognise the top influencers in online travel in APAC in the past decade.
WIT Warriors, from left, Ross Veitch, Adrian Currie, Kathleen Tan, Martin Symes, Fritz Demopolous, Siew Hoon, Rob Rosenstein, Morris Sim, Keyur Joshi, Kei Shibata, Melissa Yang, Philip Wolf (representing Ram Badrinathan)
The 10 Warriors are:
- Rob Rosenstein, CEO & Co-founder, Agoda
An Internet entrepreneur, Rosenstein knew nothing about travel. He only knew he loved Thailand, a place he fell in love with when he visited as a backpacker in 1991. In 1998, he invested in one of the first online hotel businesses in Thailand and he and his partner teamed up to create what is today the online travel brand that defines Asia. His idea then was to “create a global site that would have the scale and reach to deliver better deals and more choice through a simple online booking interface”.
Five years later, he sold the business and he remains firmly at the helm.
On stage, Rosenstein told founder of WIT, Yeoh Siew Hoon, the early days weren’t easy and as entrepreneurs, you have to be ready to switch if “you find your model isn’t working” or “pivot” if the direction you are on is not right. “You don’t give up, you persist.”
Choosing partners and talent carefully is critical he said. “I like the combination of high natural intelligence, competitiveness, personal humility, and a strong ethical foundation. That’s a winning formula for your most important people.
“When you find someone who is like this who can add value to your business, be willing to pay up, take less for yourself, or make whatever sacrifice you need to make, because that is how you make a great business.”
The challenge for Agoda now as it keeps scaling is how to keep the culture young and start-up-like and this he is doing by embracing young talent and bringing new ideas into the company.
- Fritz Demopoulos, co-founder of Qunar and CEO of Queen’s Road Capital
In recognizing this serial entrepreneur who built a travel search engine that was sold to Baidu in 2011, six years after launching, Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder of WIT, said, “Our seconder influencer created a force that has changed online travel in China. He’s also been a champion of WIT since the early days, coaching and supporting us as we learned the ropes of the business and to this day, he plays a critical role in the nurturing of the travel start-up community in Asia.
“His words to us each year are, “Use me in any way you like”. He remains active in the investment and start-up scene not only in Asia but globally and, by so doing, is spreading the Asia story to the rest of the world.”
Demopoulos said he and his co-founders knew nothing about travel – Douglas Khoo and CC Zhuang and he had worked on a sports website before and were looking for an industry to disrupt. “We didn’t even know how a GDS worked. We still don’t.”
He recalled, “I remember when we first approached Siew Hoon and asked if we could speak at WIT – we were started the same time in 2005 – she asked, what is it you do? We’ve been to every WIT since and we’re grown up together.”
As an investor now, he has stakes in GetYourGuide and other travel companies but for his next move, he said he will look beyond travel for another industry to disrupt.
- Deep Kalra & Keyur Joshi and co-founders, MakeMyTrip
MMT was one of the biggest and earliest Asian success stories. Founded in 2000 and five years later, it achieved a spectacular IPO on NASDAQ. It’s a company that has executed well and despite the challenges of the last couple of years, has been nimble and innovative enough to ride out the storms in an extremely complex and competitive market. Recently, the company set up a $15m innovation fund to champion start-ups – ensuring that its influence will continue well into the next phase of Asia’s growth.
Accepting the award, Keyur Joshi said MakeMyTrip had grown with WIT and it had provided a great industry platform for learning and networking. “I’ve enjoyed every WIT I’ve attended including the one in the Middle East.”
With the new fund, MakeMyTrip is looking to invest in bright young talent with great ideas to disrupt travel.
- Kathleen Tan, CEO, AirAsia Expedia
In recognizing the former commercial head of AirAsia who’s now heading the AirAsia Expedia joint venture, Siew Hoon said, “Tan has built a successful career in the corporate world by thinking and acting like an entrepreneur. An early career in advertising opened her eyes to the world of creativity, a stint in entertainment gave her a sense of flair and fun and being plunged into the strange and unfamiliar world of airlines honed the fighting spirit.
“She revels in being the underdog. Favourite phrases – “Make your own rules” and “I love to fight”.
“For the last decade, Kathleen put everything into building an Asia brand that changed travel and now, in this new career phase, will put everything no less into breathing an Asian DNA into a global brand.”
Tan said that she was learning the ropes of a new industry and was looking forward to making changes in the OTA field. “I come from an airline background and I have a different perspective on how each side can bring value to each other. We all need each other. As an Industry, we can work better together and not fight each other because if we grow the industry as one, we all benefit.”
She said she was accepting the award on behalf of all women in travel because she said she’d like to champion women leadership in the industry.
- Melissa Yang, Co-founder & CTO, Tujia Inc.
Melissa left the corporate world of Expedia to launch her vacation rentals start-up in 2010 and pioneered a new category in China. A bold thing indeed to do for Melissa not only had to give up a stable and successful career in a global organization but it also meant leaving the US to return to the homeland.
It proved to be the right decision though because the company she co-founded has to date raised $164 million.
Said Siew Hoon, “Melissa is one of the sharpest, smartest and sweetest people I know. A phrase uttered at a WIT a couple of years ago has stuck with me – “All social is not travel but all travel is social”.
In her chosen profession as engineer and CTO, she is an inspiration and role model for many entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs.
Melissa said when she was first invited to speak at WIT a few years ago, she was very shy. “I still am very shy but am learning. I’ve met many great people at WIT and learnt a lot. It’s important to speak up and influence new generations of Chinese women entrepreneurs and engineers.”
The next phase for Tujia now is to help foreign travellers find vacation stays in China and for Chinese travellers to find vacation homes abroad “but the market at home is so big that we have to focus on the domestic sector first”.
- Morris Sim, CEO & Co-founder, Circos Brand Karma
Said Siew Hoon, when announcing his name, “When I first met our next Warrior, I knew instinctively he’d be someone to watch and I thought, “Our industry needs more outsiders like him.”
That was in 2008. He had started a business in a new space that we knew was going to explode. Yes, the world was going social, how on earth were hoteliers going to cope with it all? He and his co-founders answered the call – they focused on Asia, they worked hard to till the soil and in many ways paved the way for many to follow.”
An ex-Microsofter, Morris also knew nothing about travel and said his start-up would not have gotten the start it had without WIT. “I remember meeting Siew Hoon for the first time. My co-founder Mario Jobbe had called her and said we were a poor start-up and could we have a free ticket to WIT. Siew Hoon said yes and asked us to do something in return and so we came and met many people who were instrumental in helping us understand the hotel business and doing what we had to do to kick start the business.”
- Adrian Currie, SVP, Corporate Development at Priceline Group.
WIT recognized Currie for being a key influencer behind the successful acquisitions and mergers that have made his company the largest and most watched group in the world. He carries the group’s flag strongly and humbly in Asia Pacific. In his current role of SVP, Corporate Development, he is focused on M&A and investments in APAC. The Priceline Group has invested around $5 billion in corporate development over last two years and these investments have ranged from $1billion-plus to public market takeovers to $1million-plus investments in private, high-growth companies.
Currie said it was a privilege for him to have been involved in the early evolution of online travel in the region. He moved from Europe where he was part of the team at Active Hotels, which was acquired by Priceline, and has been in the region for the past seven years. “You have to be here to understand the incredible diversity and huge potential of this region.”
- Kei Shibata, CEO & Co-founder, Venture Republic, Japan
Said Siew Hoon, “As a pioneer in his category in his home market, Shibata had to fight many battles – including getting suppliers and customers onboard. He pursued the idea of bringing WIT to his market, believing an event like WIT was needed to grow the industry back home. It took two years of creativity, resourcefulness and partnerships on both our parts to make it happen.”
Kei, recalling his first WIT in 2008, said, “It was like the moment of truth. I realized this is a family and a wonderful network of people dedicated to the pursuit of the growth and development of online travel and I knew Japan needed something like this.”
- Ross Veitch & co-founder, Wego
“Ross and his co-founders have also fought similar battles. Many have said they were too early introducing their model before the market was fully developed. But in so doing, they prepared the ground for many of the companies to follow. It’s not been an easy road – a lot of twists and turns – but this company has soldiered on, committed to Asia, and focused on standing tall in its category.”
Veitch said Wego also started the same time as WIT and so the two brand stories were intertwined. “WIT gave us a platform and network to meet and learn from other players and we have both grown up together. It was challenging at the beginning but exciting times lie ahead for meta-search in Asia Pacific.”
10. Martin Symes, Vice President-Marketing, Abacus International
Said Siew Hoon, “You could say Warrior #10 has done it all. Was in airlines, he was an early mover into digital working with Priceline, ZUJI and later Wego. Now he’s with a company that’s responsible for the well-being and continued prosperity of the bulk of travel agents across APAC. This individual has not enriched our content over the years with his participation but also the lives of the underprivileged we support each year through our Charity Auction.”
Symes said the industry had changed tremendously since he entered the digital world and WIT had documented its progress. “It’s also very hard to say no to Siew Hoon and whenever I tell her, no more debates and no more auctions, somehow she manages to convince me, just one more time.”
An honorary category was created for Ram Badrinathan, then research analyst for PhoCusWright, when WIT first started. “While Ram is no longer in our sector, he played a vital role in its development in the early years. Certainly WIT owes him. He was behind the first of our partnerships that gave us lift. His passion was infectious on and off stage. Things he said have stuck with me. “Video is the new text.” “Set aside your ego.” “Be relentless.””
Accepting the award on his behalf was Philip Wolf, founder of PhoCusWright.
At the end, Siew Hoon got surprised herself when Stephan Ekbergh, CEO of Travelstart, South Africa, stepped on stage to interrupt her and presented her with the WIT Warriors award.
“When I thought of the word “entrepreneur”, Siew Hoon embodies it in full. She takes risks, sees things in people we don’t see ourselves. I remember my first WIT in 2007, she had never met me, had only been introduced to me by Timothy O’Neil-Dunne and she wrote to me to ask me to moderate a panel. I was scared, shitless, but that’s Siew Hoon for you. She sees things in you and she takes chances on people, and she makes things happen.”
Accepting the award, Siew Hoon said, “My team hid this from me. Goes to show you can’t know everything that’s going on. For me, WIT’s success is the sum of the warriors who have been part of its journey and will continue to be. The best way to be an influencer is to allow yourself to be influenced.”
“Our plan is to recognize new companies and individuals each year as our industry grows, and so create a, well, influential circle of Influencers, who can pay it forward.”
