This is how the small gets mightier: WiT Indie strikes partnership with Think City, Malaysia
July 3 event will move to Bangunan UAB in heart of George Town, Penang
WiT Indie 2026, the event for independent travel, will relocate to Bangunan UAB in the heart of George Town, Penang, as part of a new partnership with Think City, Malaysia’s urban impact organisation, dedicated to making [...]
Expedia Group unveils new AI experiences, expands travel ecosystem and launches philanthropy programme
Expedia Group has unveiled new AI-powered traveller experiences, marketplace capabilities and a long-term philanthropic commitment to protect the places people love to visit.
At Explore 26, its annual partner conference, the company’s founding and defining leaders — Rich Barton, Dara Khosrow [...]
Hidden cost-cutters. Qwen AI goes shopping. Amadeus’ strong Q1. World’s largest travel intelligence ecosystem.
How co-sourcing is beating traditional outsourcing
Colombia-based 247 Travel Partner Desk (247tpd) reports that its travel-specialized co-sourcing model cuts operational costs by 40–50% — and up to 70% in high-cost markets like the US and Northern Europe — by embedding trained external teams [...]
AI and digital identity drive aviation’s next chapter
Trip.com Group opened its flagship Trip.com Airline Global Conference (AGC) 2026 in Amsterdam, convening global leaders from across the aviation and travel ecosystem to explore how technology, trust, and collaboration are redefining the future of travel.
Held at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam [...]
Where the Japan inbound opportunity found HeyMax
HeyMax’s first exposure to the Japanese market was at WiT Japan 2025 where he met Lu Dong, founder of TakeMe, a booking portal for Japan’s top restaurants. The two startups sealed a partnership agreement which allowed HeyMax customers to earn miles when dining at TakeMe’s restaurants.
The r [...]
What ASEAN travellers are really asking before they choose Malaysia
Malaysia is familiar across ASEAN. That is an advantage, but it can also flatten the story: KL skyline, Penang food, Langkawi beach, Genting weekend.
The SocialSeal signal suggests something more useful for travel marketers. ASEAN travellers are not asking whether Malaysia exists on their radar. [...]
Expedia Group unifies B2B and supply under Alfonso Paredes
Move reflects Expedia Group’s focus on a more connected marketplace and partner platform strategy
Expedia Group announced that Alfonso Paredes has been appointed President, B2B & Chief Commercial Officer, Expedia Group, assuming leadership of the company’s unified B2B and Supply organizatio [...]
Travel is like water and Queenstown wants to channel it
Roger Sharp on AI, inbound tourism, and why Queenstown wants to be the Southern Hemisphere's travel tech hub
Roger Sharp has a theory about travel. "Somebody once said to me, travel is like water, it always gets through." Amidst geopolitical instability and constantly redirected flight paths, peo [...]
Grab goes cross-border. Secondary cities get big. Dubai hotels eye rebound. Ferries adopt ChatGPT.
Secondary cities are in Asia's travel spotlight
Agoda data shows accommodation searches in secondary Asian cities have grown 15% faster than traditional hubs over the past two years, with destinations like Sapa, Okayama, and Bandung seeing the biggest jumps in international interest. To mark its 21 [...]
Asia-Pacific airlines achieved 11.5% increase in demand
March passenger demand up 2.1% globally but sharp regional differences
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for March 2026 global passenger demand:
Total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), was up 2.1% compared to March 2025. Total capacity, mea [...]
