Mastercard and CrescentRating: 245 million Muslim travellers by 2030, with women driving nearly half of arrivals today
Two new reports highlight how responsible, immersive, digital and assured travel experiences are shaping the next phase of Muslim-friendly tourism
Mastercard, in collaboration with CrescentRating, has released two new reports: Halal Travel Trends 2026 and Muslim Women in Travel 2026, examining how [...]
Don’t play defence: The lesson two Expedia CEOs agree on
Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi returns to the Explore stage to exchange lessons with Expedia Group CEO Ariane Gorin
It felt like it was almost always meant to be. Former CEO and now Uber chief, Dara Khosrowshahi back on stage at Explore with current CEO Ariane Gorin – the two having just signed a la [...]
Middle East war leads to 3.4% fall in air passenger demand
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for April 2026 global passenger demand:
Total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), was down -3.4% compared to April 2025. Excluding the Middle East, demand increased by 1.2%. Total capacity, measured in availab [...]
The rise of the ‘perpetual traveller’ creates new opportunities for hotels
The hospitality industry can capitalize on rising frequency, secondary city growth, and deep localization in 2026
Digital travel platform Agoda highlights that the combination of a rising middle class and changing travel habits across Asia is creating new revenue opportunities for the travel and ho [...]
Inside the Philippines’ most overlooked $36b digital market
94% of Filipino consumers will share data with AI, so why is an online travel that's set to double by 2030 still owned by foreign OTAs?
The archipelago nation of 7,600+ islands has a travel landscape that's complex by nature - fragmented routes, unbanked communities, and a population that was born [...]
Magnifica Humanitas | A Moment. A Reflection.
There are moments in life when a paper arrives not as instruction, but as interruption.
The recent ecclesiastical letter Magnifica Humanitas from Pope Leo XIV on Artificial Intelligence did not strike me as a policy paper about technology. It struck me as something much less comfortable: an exami [...]
Greg Schulze: 21 years of Expedia, and a New Beginning
I first met Greg Schulze, the outgoing chief commercial officer of Expedia Group, over kaya toast in Singapore.
That detail matters, not because of the toast, though it is, objectively, one of the great breakfast foods of the world, but because it was the beginning of what would become one of m [...]
TikTok launches GO. Mize and Dida tackle distribution. Amadeus, Accenture start ad platform.
TikTok enters travel booking with launch of TikTok GO
TikTok has launched TikTok GO — an in-app platform for discovering and booking hotels, tours, and attractions — in Indonesia, Japan, and the US. Users can find and complete bookings through familiar TikTok surfaces like videos, local feeds, [...]
Extreme weather is impacting APAC travel more than you think
Booking.com's latest sustainability report shows climate risk is no longer a background concern, it's now a front-and-centre factor in how people across Asia Pacific plan, book, and rethink travel.
According to Booking.com's 11th annual Travel & Sustainability Report, climate anxiety has offici [...]
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 [...]
