The Ground Shift: 10 things we now know
Gathering the key takeaways from WiT Phocuswright Middle East 2026
“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” I simply had to open WiT Phocuswright Middle East last week in Barcelona with the opening line from Charles Dickens’ The Tale of Two Cities.
It felt apt – an event t [...]
Africa’s live events boom: The continent is ready for its mega-concert moment
From Springbok sell-outs to Formula E, South Africa is proving it can host world-class live events. But infrastructure gaps, rising costs and a talent drain are holding the continent back from its full potential.
The numbers don't lie
The global live events industry is on a tear. Valued at [...]
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 [...]
Letter from Tokyo: Samurai power, love robots, AI storm in a teacup
Key takeaways from WiT Japan 2026
A Samurai performance at the start, love robots at the end and in between one-and-half-day of conversations about “The Next 20: Precision, Reinvention and Quiet Power”.
Only in Japan could the precise sit comfortably with poetry, the quiet power of a centuri [...]
Letter from Las Vegas: The Techies built it, now the Fuzzies want it back.
The slot machines get you first. That relentless ding, ding, ding as you walk into the ARIA lobby, the raucous laughter from the bars, the crowds hunched over gaming tables – I can’t be anywhere else but Las Vegas.
I’d come off two full flights from Singapore via San Francisco, and the Stri [...]
Trip.com’s Xing Xiong on harnessing age of AI and corporate travel’s moment
When Xing Xiong, Chief Operating Officer of Trip.com Group, took to the stage at its Airline Global Conference in Amsterdam last week, he did so with the perspective of someone who has watched the travel industry and the technology underpinning it transform beyond recognition, and along with it, the [...]
Meet the 17 finalists of the 2026 Global Startup Pitch
Seventeen travel tech startups have been selected for the finals of the 2026 Global Startup Pitch. Now in its fifth year, the competition is jointly produced by WiT, Phocuswright and PhocusWire and seeks to unearth the brightest stars in early-stage travel tech.
The Global Startup Pitch� [...]
Expedia Group enters agreement to acquire CarTrawler, launches Intelligent Experience Platform
Expedia Group continues on its journey towards becoming an end-to-end B2B marketplace, with the announcement made today at its EXPLORE event in Las Vegas that it has entered into an agreement to acquire CarTrawler, the Ireland-based B2B car rental platform.
The move follows its recent acquisition [...]
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 [...]
