B2B: Where the real battle is being fought
The front end of travel gets all the attention. The apps, the campaigns, the loyalty programmes, the AI-powered search experiences – these are what travellers see and what the industry talks about at conferences.
But as a panel on “B2B: The Power Layer of Travel” at WiT Japan made clear, th [...]
The country you think you know (but don’t): Florian Sengstschmid on marketing Azerbaijan
Before my interview with Florian Sengstschmid, CEO of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, at WiT Phocuswright Middle East, I asked Claude, give me three good reasons to visit Azerbaijan.
Claude, having apparently tracked my recent interest in Dylan Thomas’s birthplace in Wales, came back with three a [...]
Letter from Athens & Corfu: Of beds, seasonality and service
Landing in Istanbul en route to Athens, I had six hours to kill at IST. Turned out not to be a problem.
The largest airport in Turkey, the second busiest in Europe, and the largest privately-owned airport operation in the world – it is impressive. Massive, in fact. Generously spaced retail, wel [...]
AI in ASEAN travel. What’s working, what isn’t, what’s next.
Because of the widespread nature of AI, conversations about its applications and potential can get pretty vague. We didn’t want that to be the case, so at Travel Tech Thursdays Vol 9, we had three experts on the panel who are already deep in the build - Sarah Wan, GM for Singapore, Malaysia, Indon [...]
The Ground Shift: 10 things we now know
Gathering the key takeaways from WiT Phocuswright Middle East 2026
“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” I simply had to open WiT Phocuswright Middle East last week in Barcelona with the opening line from Charles Dickens’ The Tale of Two Cities.
It felt apt – an event t [...]
Dispersal through discovery: Klook’s Wilfred Fan on using social to spread travel
The chief commercial officer on creator networks, the Hiroshima playbook, self-disruption — and a spontaneous detour to Heidelberg
There is an irony at the heart of social media’s relationship with travel. The same platforms that have made the world’s hidden places discoverable have also made [...]
The overwhelmed CTO and what it means for the B2B layer of travel
Dida co-founder James Jin on staying calm while AI moves faster than anyone can digest, and why the supply chain still wins.
James Jin, co-founder and CTO of Dida, one of Asia’s leading B2B travel technology companies, opened his Coffee Chat at WiT Japan with a confession, when asked about his re [...]
Inside the storm: Wego’s Veitch caught between anxiety and excitement
As a leader heading an OTA inside the storm of the Middle East conflict, Ross Veitch, co-founder and CEO of Wego, finds himself caught between two emotional states.
“One gives me anxiety,” he said, when asked what was keeping him awake – the geopolitical instability reshaping the Middle Eas [...]
Travel’s next big opportunity is in the post-booking journey
Wenrix CPO Tor Leelo on the banking playbook coming for travel, and the 60% of service requests nobody's managed to fix.
A decade ago, UK banking customers didn't switch to digital-first challengers because they were cheaper, they switched because when something went wrong, the response was instant [...]
Low-cost, high stakes: How Air India Express and Transavia are navigating change
Air India Express and Transavia offer contrasting but complementary lessons on growth, digital transformation and the enduring power of brand in a price-driven world.
What does a budget airline in the Netherlands have in common with a low-cost carrier reshaping mobility across India? More than you [...]
