Who is the Asian indie traveller? | Report
Asia's indie travellers are rewriting the rules of tourism and AI is along for the ride
Forget the old image of the backpacker figuring it out as they go. Today's Asian indie traveller is just as likely to be a 50-something supporting a family-run guesthouse, a Swiftie crossing borders for a concer [...]
AI in action: Reshaping travel
10 key takeaways from a presentation at WiT Japan by Amy Wei, Senior Product Director, Trip.com Group
1. The shift is already here and accelerating fast.
Trip.com launched its AI assistant TripGenie in February 2023, just 2.5 months after ChatGPT. Three years of real user data tell a clea [...]
JTB acquires EXO Travel. Trip.com eyes 200m travellers. Agoda platforms ethical hackers. Vietnam tourism surge.
EXO Travel finds its next adventure under JTB Group
Asia-based Destination Management Company EXO Travel has been acquired by JTB Group, one of the world's largest travel organisations, via JTB's Asia Pacific arm purchasing All Wise Holdings Pte. Ltd., EXO's parent company. Founded in 1993 and oper [...]
Dispersal through discovery: Klook’s Wilfred Fan on using social to spread travel
The chief commercial officer on creator networks, the Hiroshima playbook, self-disruption — and a spontaneous detour to Heidelberg
There is an irony at the heart of social media’s relationship with travel. The same platforms that have made the world’s hidden places discoverable have also made [...]
Travel is reorganising along “paths of least resistance”
Expedia’s Michael Dykes says an Asia-to-Asia boom is underway
The ideal the travel industry dreamt about – the global traveller – the passport-holding, visa-free, frictionlessly mobile citizen of the world – is less real today than it’s ever been, said Michael Dykes, Vice President, Mark [...]
Meet the winners of the 2026 Global Startup Pitch
Eight travel tech startups have been selected as the winners of the 2026 Global Startup Pitch.
The winning companies were among seventeen that presented their pitches live on the Startup Stage at Phocuswright Europe in Barcelona this week.
The competition, now in its fifth year, is jointly prod [...]
Dailypoint stacks AI tools. Booking anxiety. Avelo Airlines disruption service. OneReg’s global expansion.
Booking anxiety surges in Northeast Asia
New research from Web in Travel and Phocuswright, powered by Protect Group, finds that geopolitical instability and travel uncertainty are driving a significant shift in booking behaviour across China, Japan, and South Korea. 42% of regional travellers now a [...]
53% of business travellers book outside approved channels due to lack of content
Nearly one-third of companies using a corporate online booking tool (OBT) report that 20% or more of travel spend is booked outside the approved platform, with 53% citing missing content as the main driver, reveals new research from Trip.Biz, the business travel brand of Trip.com Group.
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Asia Pacific travellers seek familiarity and practicality amid shifting global dynamics
Visa’s 2026 Global Travel Intentions study shows how Asia Pacific travellers seek trusted destinations, plan with greater intent, and seek flexibility to navigate global uncertainties
Visa has unveiled key findings from the 2026 Global Travel Intentions (GTI) study, the latest edition of its f [...]
Jesper Koll: Scarcity leads to innovation, lessons from Hello Kitty and Astro Boy
Jesper Koll, Senior Advisor, Wisdom Tree Investments, opened his presentation on “Destiny” at WiT Japan with the objection he hears most often: Japan's population is shrinking by nearly 3,000 people every day. How can anyone be bullish?
His counter argument – scarcity is the mother of inven [...]
