Who says meta is dead? Batista takes Skyscanner into a packages, multi-modal and beyond-Europe future
Two years into Skyscanner, first as COO, then as CEO, Lisbon-born Bryan Batista is ready to take the 21-year-old metasearch pioneer into a new future in 2026 – one that involves global expansion into new markets such as India and the Middle East, as well as a packages and multi-modal future.
Ca [...]
Letter from Seoul: High anxiety, hard questions and high stakes
“Don’t worry about the next 20, worry about the next six months”
Back in Singapore, after landing at 1am and walking my dog through tropical humidity six hours later, I found myself reflecting on the strange magic of travel.
Just 24 hours earlier, I had been in Seoul, pacing along the Han [...]
USTA’s Geoff Freeman: “We are going the wrong way”
He probably has the toughest job in travel right now – for instance, I had more anxiety travelling to the US than Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where I had just been before making my way to San Diego.
So, when U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Geoff Freeman spoke at Phocuswright, I listened with [...]
Meili’s McGearty: Rooting for a direct future that puts travellers first
“AI could tilt discovery against suppliers”, he warns at WiT Singapore
Mike McGearty, CEO and co-founder of Meili, believes the next decade of travel will be defined by direct relationships between suppliers and travellers – but not at the expense of balance across channels.
“There wil [...]
Barry Diller: On truth, end of Google search and travel’s endurance
I’ve long been a fan of Barry Diller, so when he walked onto the Phocuswright Centre Stage in San Diego, 20 years after his last appearance, I was all agog with anticipation – as were the delegates in the room. Let’s just say it was the most packed session of the three-day event.
And so it [...]
Beyond margins, the new metrics behind tourism investments
In one of the most animated and layered conversations at TOURISE 2025, CNN’s Richard Quest masterfully steered a panel featuring HE Fahd bin Abdulmohsan Al-Rasheed, advisor in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of SCEG; Sébastien Bazin, CEO of Accor; Ferit Şahenk [...]
Out of TOURISE: Visa by profile, traveller safety among key initiatives
Saudi's bid to unite consumption economy and to elevate tourism to its fair play
It was the final day of TOURISE 2025. The three-day inaugural global travel event organised by the Saudi Ministry of Tourism was winding to a close but even then, the corridors were still full of people, the energy [...]
Sonu Shivdasani: A renewal and new beginning with Sosei
From barefoot luxury to mindful rebirth, the founder of Six Senses and Soneva reflects on his mother’s lack of love, letting go, healing, and creating again, in an interview with Yeoh Siew Hoon (Founder, WiT) on the HICAP stage in Singapore.
When I first met Sonu Shivdasani in the early 1990s to [...]
Hotel CEOs on AI, distribution, and the next battle for direct
For years, hotel CEOs have talked about the power struggle between brands and online travel agencies (OTAs). But now, a new force is reshaping that battleground – Artificial Intelligence.
During the “Views from the Boardroom” panel at the HICAP conference held in Singapore in October, leader [...]
Agoda’s Omri Morgenshtern on staying relentless and building velocity
When Johannes Reck, CEO of GetYourGuide, sat down with Omri Morgenshtern, CEO of Agoda at the former’s Unlocked Asia Summit in Bangkok in late October, it wasn’t just a chat between two travel-tech leaders. It was a deep dive into what it takes to stay relevant – and relentless – in one [...]
