New years always begin with such anticipation while we end each year with a tinge of nostalgia, a mood of reflection and sometimes, a sigh of relief that another year is over. Well, this is it – we’re coming to the end of 2024 and as we wind down for what was yet another tumultuous year, it’s time to look back, be grateful for the good things that happened and take the bad in our stride and move onwards and upwards.
As part of our annual tradition, we asked our friends what they thought of 2024 and what they are looking forward to in the new year. Here’s the first instalment.
We also tried something new this year – an AI-generated podcast based on this article. Have a listen:
Rob Rosenstein, Co-founder & Chairman, Agoda
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Exuberant
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Ombudsman
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
4
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Tricky
What are you most looking forward to?
Learning new things from entrepreneurs and colleagues
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Advocate for investments in talent, regardless of how it fits in the organisation chart
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
Deploying AI to solve real customer and operational challenges, not to shiny new objects
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Working with business leaders on scaling and enterprise sustainability
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
“Into the Storm” documentary on HBO
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
Wines and golf in Mallorca
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
Personalization, efficiency in during trip/experience fulfillment (eg check-in)
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
How to deal with a major economic crisis
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Growth Hack
Laura Houldsworth, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Booking.com
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Fast
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Crisis
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
10 – always optimistic!
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
AI
What are you most looking forward to?
Being at home more.
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Building team resilience to speed of change.
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
AI
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Spending time with our accommodation partners to keep up with their changing needs.
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
The Culture Map by Erin Meyer
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
Uganda to see the gorillas in their natural habitat.
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
It’s still very far from seamless!
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
Cybercrime… everyone’s talking about it but predicting what they’ll do next is challenging!
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Hopefully – Proximity Bias!
Stephan Ekbergh, CEO, Travelstart
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
It’s the end of the post normal era
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Work from home. Well that’s three words but it’s three words that do not function together. Work and home is like oil and water.
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
9. I’m euphoric. Why?
- Everything feels up for grabs as artificial intelligence evolves and expands its potential.
- Technology is resurging and AI is maturing: After years in the doldrums, tech is finally becoming exciting and transformative again.
- Bitcoin goes mainstream: The shift is dissolving old financial structures and opening up unprecedented opportunities.
- A new administration in the White House: If they get it right, the possibilities for progress are endless.
- On a personal note: I’m finally coming to terms with my age – and it feels liberating.
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Renaissance
What are you most looking forward to?
My daughters joining our group of businesses
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Chopping the business up into “micro services”.
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
Sampling. What does that mean? Take something existing, mix it with something completely different and get something completely brand new.
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Having time to think and create
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
American politics
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
I still want to do the Trans-Siberian railroad at some point.
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
The reliance on gateways, FAANG, to attract customers.
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
Less is more – always.
As tech companies grow larger and more powerful, they often become less useful.
- Tripadvisor: Overloaded, cluttered, and nearly impossible to navigate.
- Google: Saturated with ads and biased information, making it increasingly unreliable.
- Facebook: Simply put, it’s useless.
- Booking.com: Overwhelmed with excessive content, making it more cumbersome to use.
- Reviews: The more a property has, the less trustworthy they seem.
- Twitter: It was brilliant with 280 characters, but now it’s drowning in noise and clutter.
- LinkedIn: I hardly recognize it anymore—it’s lost its unique identity.
Social media platforms have become indistinguishable from one another. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn – they all blend together into a monotonous mix, losing what once made them special.
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Sustainability. And of course: circle back/double click/eco system
Amy Wei, Senior Product Director, Trip.com Group
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Reinvention
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Smart
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
9
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Intuitive
What are you most looking forward to?
Seeing travel assistance become naturally woven into travelers’ daily lives, anticipating needs before they arise.
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Building AI capabilities that can anticipate travel needs and deliver assistance naturally across all customer touchpoints.
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
Leading the transition to predictive travel curation, while transforming travel assistance into an always-on companion that supports the entire journey – from anticipating needs before they’re expressed to providing real-time voice, text and visual translation, location-aware guidance, and contextual problem-solving.
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Pioneering ways to make travel assistance feel like a natural extension of daily life rather than a separate service to engage with.
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
“The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI” by Fei-Fei Li
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
A horse-riding trip in South Africa
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
The fragmentation of travel data and services, which prevents truly seamless travel experiences.
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
Predictive travel curation – where AI anticipates and suggests travel arrangements based on life events and behavioral patterns before travelers even start planning.
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
AI-powered
Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, Principal, T2Impact
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Busy
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Trump
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
6
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Change
What are you most looking forward to?
Solving Tech Deficit and focusing on the consumer
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Stamina is critical. So being prepared to engage and see things through. That is stamina.
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
Same as last year. Bringing knowledge and perspective to the players for solutions within context.
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Execution. Lots of theory in 2024 I would like to get back into actually building “stuff”
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
Gen AI outputs and I learned how it interprets human input. Fascinating
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
LATAM. I have not been there in 20 years and I would like to go back… Brazil and Argentina
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
Honesty
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
Tech Deficit
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Joint Venture – businesses will become a lot more selfish in 2025
Chris Hemmeter, Managing Partner, Thayer Ventures
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Accelerating!
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Unicorn
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
9
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Experimentation
What are you most looking forward to?
Entrepreneurs blowing our minds with new ways of solving old problems.
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Expanding relationships with strategic LPs.
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
Expanding relationships with strategic LPs across the globe.
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Engaging with partners and thinking through tech strategy.
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West, by David Sanger.
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
Bhutan
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
Data quality and orchestration
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
The global backlash to accelerating change
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
GenAI
