Zodiac tourism. Airbnb’s Reserve Now, Pay Later. Amadeus buys SkyLink. Klook and Osaka partner.
Year of the Horse ignites global travel surge
During the 2026 Lunar New Year holiday (Feb. 15-23), Weixin Mini Programs saw a total transaction value increase of over 65% year-on-year (YoY). Outbound Chinese tourists drove significant growth across several sectors, including a 35%+ YoY rise in dini [...]
9 in 10 travellers in Asia-Pacific choosing rural destinations
Travellers across Asia Pacific are increasingly choosing quieter, off-the-beaten-path destinations instead of big cities, as they seek more meaningful ways to travel.
According to Airbnb’s latest report, Beyond the Beaten Track: Unlocking Tourism Growth Across Asia Pacific, 89% of travellers in A [...]
Travel experiences surging toward $342bn by 2029
New data reveals experiences are outpacing the rest of travel, reshaping traveler behavior and attracting heightened investor interest
Arival and Phocuswright have released The Outlook for Travel Experiences 2019–2029, the most comprehensive global market-sizing report for tours, activities and a [...]
Strategic flight connections key to attracting global business and investment
A new study by the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology’s (SMART) Mens, Manus & Machina (M3S) interdisciplinary research group, alongside collaborators from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and National University of Singapore (NUS), has identified a strong statisti [...]
Travel platforms that survive won’t choose between AI and people. They’ll need both.
New “Hosted Trips” product deepens monetization for creators and travel agents, unlocking incremental demand across TourRadar’s global operator network. Listings with user-generated video convert 29% higher.
TourRadar is launching Hosted Trips, a product that gives creators and travel agents [...]
AI adoption is widespread, but developer confidence is still catching up
Developers across Southeast Asia and India are using AI at scale, but confidence in its reliability has yet to fully mature, according to findings from Agoda’s AI Developer Report 2025. While AI has become a regular part of software development workflows, many engineers remain cautious, treating i [...]
Data silos impact revenue. Multi-component trips rise. MakeMyTrip, Ixigo collab with OpenAI. Agoda’s flagship stores.
Multi-component trip bookings rise as connected trip push gains traction
Booking Holdings reported a 20% increase in travellers booking multiple trip components, as its “connected trip” strategy continues to gain traction. In 2025, multi-vertical transactions grew in the high-20% range and repr [...]
Measuring economic impact ranks as DMOs’ top priority amid AI disruption
Sojern, a leading digital marketing platform built for hospitality and recently acquired by RateGain, has announced the launch of its “State of Destination Marketing 2026” report, examining how destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are navigating economic pressure, rising performance expec [...]
How LEGOLAND Malaysia is building for the repeat visitor
“When a large portion of your audience can visit multiple times a year, growth no longer comes just from attracting new guests, but from giving loyal guests a reason to return.”
As Johor doubles down on cross-border connectivity and family tourism for Visit Johor 2026, LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort [...]
Hilton Global Foundation commits record US$5.4M investment to community resilience, including 5 APAC grantees
The Hilton Global Foundation has announced a US$5.4 million commitment to 18 nonprofit organisations worldwide, marking its largest annual grant portfolio to date and signalling a continued push to align philanthropy with the broader hospitality ecosystem. The funding, revealed in Febr [...]
