Startups
Next Generation’s 21 moment: What comes first, purpose or impact? | Report
02/11/2026 by WiT
“What were you doing at 21?” That was the question that opened WiT’s Next Generation Leaders 2026, sponsored by Booking.com. More than 50 rising stars in travel, all under 35, were asked to remember that moment and hold that feeling in their hearts as they deliberated their role in travel at [...]
Lobby and Crewfare win Global Startup Pitch People’s Choice Awards at WiT Singapore 2026
02/10/2026 by WiT
The Global Startup Pitch People’s Choice Awards were announced today at WiT Singapore: 21, A New Beginning, celebrating the most innovative Seedup and Scaleup startups from around the world, as voted by the audience. The awards spotlighted two rising stars of travel and technology – Lobby in the [...]
Globe Planner wins the Alibaba Cloud x Atlas Agentic AI Hackathon at WiT Singapore
02/10/2026 by WiT
Globe Planner has been named winner of the Alibaba Cloud x Atlas Agentic AI Hackathon. The finals were held at the WiT Bootcamp, part of WiT Singapore. The hackathon challenged developers, startups and travel-tech innovators to build AI agents that change how travel is searched, sold and serviced [...]
Tale of three startups: Discover, trust, experience and an investor’s take
03/08/2026 by WiT
It couldn’t have been better planned – the Founders & Futures: Global Startup Showcase at WiT Phocuswright Barcelona. On stage were three startups covering three stages of the traveller journey and facing them, Roger Sharp, chair of Technology Queenstown and investor via North Ridge Partners [...]
Expedia Group acquires Layla to bolster its AI-powered trip planning and booking strategy
01/08/2026 by WiT
Acquisition accelerates Expedia Group’s AI-native trip planning offerings spanning the full journey – from inspiration, to planning, booking, and support for travelers worldwide Expedia Group announced that it has acquired Layla, an AI-native trip planning and booking platform that helps tr [...]
SMEs and the golden AI moment: Lessons on how to seize it
22/07/2026 by WiT
How ready are SMEs to seize the AI moment? That was the question asked at WiT Indie, and moderator Sarah Wan of Klook kicked off the session by asking her panellists to rate their AI-readiness on a scale of 1 to 10. Vikram Malhi, CEO and founder of ZUZU Hospitality, a revenue management platform [...]
Meet the winners of the 2026 Global Startup Pitch
18/06/2026 by WiT
Eight travel tech startups have been selected as the winners of the 2026 Global Startup Pitch. The winning companies were among seventeen that presented their pitches live on the Startup Stage at Phocuswright Europe in Barcelona this week. The competition, now in its fifth year, is jointly prod [...]
Inside the Philippines’ most overlooked $36b digital market
29/05/2026 by WiT
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 [...]
Meet the 17 finalists of the 2026 Global Startup Pitch 
22/05/2026 by WiT
Seventeen travel tech startups have been selected for the finals of the 2026 Global Startup Pitch. Now in its fifth year, the competition is jointly produced by WiT, Phocuswright and PhocusWire and seeks to unearth the brightest stars in early-stage travel tech.  The Global Startup Pitch� [...]
This is how the small gets mightier: WiT Indie strikes partnership with Think City, Malaysia
20/05/2026 by WiT
July 3 event will move to Bangunan UAB in heart of George Town, Penang  WiT Indie 2026, the event for independent travel, will relocate to Bangunan UAB in the heart of George Town, Penang, as part of a new partnership with Think City, Malaysia’s urban impact organisation, dedicated to making [...]