People are the metric in new Perfect Somewheres awards, spotlighting top hotels worldwide
Expedia's Mel Fish on tackling 'choice paralysis' and balancing quality with affordability
Expedia Group's Hotels.com introduced the 'Perfect Somewheres' 2024 at EXPLORE 24, a program that awards the top 1% of hotels available on the Hotels.com app, with hotels like Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo and Hotel [...]
Expedia launches AI travel assistant and creator shops in 40+ spring product slate
At EXPLORE, Expedia’s annual partner conference held in Las Vegas, the company announced the launch of 40+ new products and features across its tech ecosystem - chief of all being the introduction of Romie, an AI-powered travel assistant.
Romie is designed to assist travellers at every step of [...]
The Symphony of Humans and Machines: A travel CTO’s balancing act
At the Phocuswright WiT Middle East summit in Dubai, held May 3, 2024, a panel of four senior CTOs discussed the critical issue of AI’s interface to humans. Timothy O’Neil-Dunne provides this summary.
In the ever-evolving world of travel technology, CTOs stand at the precipice of a [...]
Global Startup Pitch returns with new format
The Global Startup Pitch, by WiT, Phocuswright and PhocusWire, is back for the third year running in its quest to unearth the brightest stars on the gleaming edge of travel tech.
Welcoming both travel and non-travel startups who believe their businesses have application in the industry, the compe [...]
I met a Black Hat and it led to this revelation
I was standing in a long queue at the café at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre and wondering why it doesn’t have a robotic barista because the human ones were looking rather frazzled when I spotted the man next to me, wearing a delegate badge that says “Black Hat Asia”.
Intrigued bec [...]
Noh Master Kawamura wants to keep 14th century art form alive by sharing with travellers
Third-generation performer to open WiT Japan & North Asia 2024
Compared with most Noh families, whose roots can go back to the 14th century, Noh Master Kawamura Haruhisa, who runs Kyoto’s Kawamura Noh Theatre, is a relative newcomer. His Noh roots go back a mere three generations.
And [...]
Fritz Demopoulos on new frontiers in travel & beyond
Where others see bad traffic and chaos, this entrepreneur sees opportunities. It was with this thinking that he fearlessly co-founded the first travel metasearch company in China in 2005, Qunar, which is now part of the Trip.com Group. Since his exit, he’s been keeping a watchful eye on travel tec [...]
Lessons from WiT Africa, Part 1: From Cape of Good Hope to the promise of youths, mobile and payments
“NDC adoption is slower than two elephants making babies”, among some of the more colourful quotes at the first WiT Africa
“Isn’t it wonderful to wake up to views like these?” said Farai, our driver, taking the very words from my mouth as we weaved through the coastline from Llandudno to [...]
Letter from Cape Town: Of diamonds, dassies and naked surprises
As the Singapore Airlines flight came in for a landing in Cape Town Monday morning and I watched the beautiful vistas of the Western Cape unfold before my eyes, the first question that popped into my head was, “Why has it taken me so long?”
I first came to South Africa when I was still living [...]
Spotnana launches events platform aimed at travel management for corporate gatherings
“Large global enterprises that we serve have been asking us to provide a product for meeting and event travel,” says CEO
Travel-as-a-Service platform Spotnana has announced the launch of Spotnana Events, a solution focused on the travel management market for corporate meetings and events. With [...]
