Middle East disruptions and high fuel prices halve airline industry profitability
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its latest financial outlook for the global airline industry showing a halving of profitability as a result of war-related Middle East disruptions and high fuel prices. The regional landscape, however, is highly differentiated. At the geogr [...]
Letter from Tokyo: Samurai power, love robots, AI storm in a teacup
Key takeaways from WiT Japan 2026
A Samurai performance at the start, love robots at the end and in between one-and-half-day of conversations about “The Next 20: Precision, Reinvention and Quiet Power”.
Only in Japan could the precise sit comfortably with poetry, the quiet power of a centuri [...]
Toggle tax costing hotels. Wasted ad budgets. Juniper Group acquires DerbySoft. Cover Genius and Traveloka team up.
Cover Genius and Traveloka team up to embed travel protection across APAC
Insurtech Cover Genius has partnered with Southeast Asia's leading travel platform Traveloka to deliver embedded protection products across multiple markets. Australian customers can now access Cancellation Protection — cov [...]
An Agoda case study: What it takes to combine flights, hotels, and activities into a single transaction
Agoda has rolled out a multi-product booking engine that lets travelers bundle hotels, flights, and activities into a single transaction — no separate checkouts, no juggling multiple confirmation emails. The feature, called One Checkout, went live on May 13 and is accessible via Agoda.com and its [...]
Trust, data and the sovereign traveller: Lufthansa and Trip.com on co-creating value
If there was one message that came through at the Trip.com Airline Global Conference in Amsterdam, it was that the willingness is there to “co-create value with intelligence, trust and partnership” but numerous obstacles stand in the way.
The closing panel featuring CT Ooi, CEO of Flights, Tr [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
