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 [...]
Alipay+ integrates Voyager, AI travel companion, into its digital wallets
OTA launch partners include Agoda, Fliggy and Trip.com
Ant International has launched Alipay+ Voyager, an AI travel companion integrated into its digital wallets, a move that takes the company beyond payments, and giving travellers more reasons to stay within its wallet ecosystem.
Its OTA launch [...]
Aviation’s dual reality: Dreaming of the future, grounded in the now
At WiT Phocuswright Middle East, aviation leaders debated the next 10 years of travel distribution, payments, and digital transformation, and the balance between ambition and realism.
At a time when every industry panel seems to default to AI, it was refreshing to hear leaders in aviation and tech [...]
From phone cards to payment cards: Visa’s Tania Platt on powering the Next Age of Travel
Tania Platt didn’t start in travel. She started in telecoms, selling international phone minutes – Mother’s Day and Ramadan were peak days – just as they are now in travel. That deep understanding of human connection and the friction in how it’s facilitated still drives her today in her ro [...]
China’s 2025 Labor Day sees surge in inbound and outbound travel spending via Alipay+ and partner payment apps
Data from Alipay and other Alipay+ partner payment apps indicates a notable increase in both outbound and inbound tourism spending in China during the 2025 Labor Day holiday (Golden Week).
Through Alipay+, a unified wallet gateway with cross-border payment and digitization services developed by A [...]
Jazeera Airways partners with HTS to introduce Cancel for Any Reason and Disruption for Any Reason
These first-time fintech products in the Middle East aim to enhance booking flexibility and passenger experience
Jazeera Airways and HTS, the B2B division of Hopper, have joined hands to introduce Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) and Disruption Assistance For Any Reason (DAFAR) on the airline’s dir [...]
Italy fines tour operators. Sabre and CellPoint target airline payments. Klook and STB renew MoU. More.
Klook inks multi-year partnership with Singapore Tourism Board to drive growth
Klook and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) have signed a new three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), set to begin in April 2025, building on their 2023 partnership. This collaboration aims to support STB’s Touri [...]
Catch-up Podcast: True power of AI. Alipay’s success in Malaysia. OTAs in UAE. Africa’s unique path.
We're trying something new with our weekly-ish podcast - we're outsourcing it to Artificial Intelligence. This is both an experiment and, if we're being honest, a convenient way to digest the top articles of the week from the WiT website into a nugget-of-a-podcast. We'll release a new episode every [...]
Alipay+ contributes over 80% of inbound QR payments via DuitNow in Malaysia
A partnership between Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd (PayNet) and Ant International has boosted cross-border transactions for visitors, with Alipay+ now contributing more than 80% of inbound QR payments via DuitNow. Alipay+ says this growing integration is enhancing the travel experience, making [...]
Challenges facing modern payment stacks in travel
HTS report highlights challenges in travel payments and fraud prevention
A new report from travel platform HTS, titled "Challenges Facing Modern Payment Stacks & How to Combat Them," outlines key issues in travel payments, including fraud prevention, payment failure, and the importance of seaml [...]
