Tech, heart and hospitality: Three hoteliers, three roads to the future
From the polished corridors of a luxury hotel to the barefoot vibes of Potato Head Bali, and the brainy back-end of Lighthouse, three hoteliers – Christine Tan, Jack Tan, and Sharon Chen – embody different worlds of hospitality. But beneath the surface, they share a common goal: making sense o [...]
Rewriting travel: From anti-loyalty to creators’ power
At WiT Indie, where travel’s rebels and rule-breakers come to play, the conversation isn’t just about distribution channels or loyalty metrics – it’s about dismantling the old world of travel and building a new one grounded in community, creativity and traveller-centric thinking.
That’s [...]
Crisis to calling: A son returns with hopes to rebuild family agency
When Allan Aung Khang Kyaw returned to Yangon in 2023 to take over his family’s travel agency, he never imagined he’d be doing so under the shadow of civil war.
“Talk about timing,” said Allan, who had spent six years studying business/management and working in the UK before deciding to joi [...]
Big ideas, big shifts: Hospitality tech’s generational moment
Phocuswright Europe 2025’s hospitality tech panel featuring leaders from Lighthouse, Mews, and Hostaway made one thing clear: innovation in hospitality is no longer optional – it’s inevitable, and AI is leading the charge.
If there was any doubt that hospitality tech was due for disruption, t [...]
End of an era: SHATEC tipped to close after 42 years
A turning point for Singapore’s hospitality industry
The impending closure of SHATEC, Singapore’s first dedicated hospitality school, marks a significant turning point in the evolution of the city-state’s tourism and hospitality sector.
Founded in 1983 by the late Pakir Singh, then-preside [...]
Trambellir’s new partnerships are helping it shift the narrative around medical tourism
CEO maps strategy around democratising medical tourism. “This is not just innovation, it’s inclusion.”
When So Iizuka (CEO and co-founder, Trambellir) speaks about medical tourism, he talks about it in relation to infrastructure, compliance, trust, and an industry-wide rewiring that’s ha [...]
Morris Sim on social bubbles, people firewalls and loss of talent | Conversations On Turning 20
When you get to the ripe young age of 20, you’re bound to collect lots of stories – not only about the past but lessons for the future.
As WiT marks its 20th year in 2025, we turn the spotlight on our community, our tribe pioneers and leaders, to tell their stories and share their views on th [...]
The constant battle: How Booking.com’s security chief fights travel scams at scale
For cybercriminals, the travel industry has become a lucrative new target and it’s not hard to see why. Big money, emotional stakes, digital self-service, and a globally distributed ecosystem of users and suppliers make the perfect storm for fraudsters.
At the centre of the fight is Marnie Wilk [...]
The Tomb A Machine Can’t Find: When the Golden Key Unlocks What Tech Alone Can’t
“Thank you. I found my friend.”
That was the message Sharezal Abdul Wahid received a week after a guest checked out of The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur — accompanied by a photo of the elderly man standing by the grave of a long-lost wartime friend.
No app could’ve found that grave. No A [...]
How Atiom’s Matt Spriegel is fixing a big hospitality blind spot
Tackling a gap where the frontline got left behind
When Matt Spriegel founded Atiom, a tech platform for hospitality staff training and engagement, he wasn’t chasing shiny trends - he was trying to fix a problem no one was really talking about. “The frontline workforce - we call them the Forgot [...]
