Airbnb’s CORTIS stay. TAT and Dida launch ‘Trusted Thailand’. Ascott scales agentic AI commerce. More.
Airbnb partners with CORTIS to launch REDRED-themed stay
Airbnb and CORTIS have teamed up to open the POP-UP: Airbnb & CORTIS Seoul Hideout, a free immersive fan experience running May 1–7 in Seoul, celebrating the group's lead single REDRED from their upcoming 2nd EP GREENGREEN. The space is [...]
Tale of 3 startups: Education through experience, digitising African tour operators and solving payments for small businesses
Africa receives 90 million tourist arrivals a year. Spain alone receives more. A continent of breathtaking biodiversity, ancient culture, and unmatched wilderness experiences is, by most global travel metrics, still flying under the radar.
Three entrepreneurs who have staked their careers on chan [...]
Rome2Rio’s ChatGPT app. Travelgate buys AO UK. Japanese hotels vs localization. Spring Airlines joins DerbySoft.
Travelgate acquires UK content management firm AO UK
Travelgate, part of Travelsoft Group, has acquired AO UK Ltd, a content orchestration software company founded in 2006 and headquartered in the UK with operations in Australia and North America. AO UK's core product, AO Campaign, combines Product [...]
Klook now offers sports and live events, including World Cup, Wimbledon and Formula 1
Klook has announced the expansion of its offerings to include sports and live events, bringing together four of the world's most iconic sporting properties: World Cup 2026, Roland-Garros 2026, Wimbledon 2026 and Formula 1. The launch adds Sports and Live Events to Klook's wealth of experiences, conn [...]
Africa’s skies are busier than ever, but the continent still risks falling behind the world
Record seat capacity and a runaway success story in Ethiopia can't mask deep structural fault lines across West, Central and Southern Africa. OAG's CEO lays out the numbers
Reported in conjunction with WiT Africa 2026 · Based on a presentation by Filip Filipov, CEO, OAG
African avia [...]
WiT Phocuswright Middle East moves to Barcelona: A global lens on a region in transition
In a year when the travel industry has been forced to confront both uncertainty and resilience, WiT Phocuswright Middle East will take place in Barcelona on June 15, a day before Phocuswright Europe.
The two events, held at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, will bring together global and regi [...]
Aviation’s record technology investment hinges on one thing: data coordination
SITA research finds a consistent pattern across AI, cybersecurity, digital identities and sustainability: sharing and coordinating operational data across systems and partners is a key focus for the industry
SITA’s 2025 Air Transport IT Insights report finds that, while the air transport indust [...]
Cruise tourism in Southeast Asia generates US$10 billion in total economic output
Southeast Asia's cruise industry demonstrated strong economic value in 2024, generating US$10 billion (S$12.9 billion) in total output representing 5% of global cruise industry output. The region delivered US$2,564 (S$3,308) per passenger visit - 2.4 times the global average per passenger, despite o [...]
Minor Hotels partners with Google, Salesforce and Deloitte to build AI-driven guest data platform
Global partnership with Google Cloud, Salesforce, OneTrust and Deloitte will unify guest data and enable AI-driven personalisation, leapfrogging legacy systems
Minor Hotels has unveiled plans to build a new global data and AI platform from the ground up in partnership with Google Cloud, Salesforce, [...]
Trust, leapfrogs and the big bets on Africa’s travel
Africa will leapfrog. Again.
That was the consensus running through a panel at WiT Africa featuring Mike McGearty, CEO and co-founder of Meili, Tania Platt, global head of B2B travel at Visa, and Adebayo Adedeji, group CEO of WakaNow.
To a packed room of close to 200 delegates at Innovation City [...]
