Tale of 3 startups: Education through experience, digitising African tour operators and solving payments for small businesses
Africa receives 90 million tourist arrivals a year. Spain alone receives more. A continent of breathtaking biodiversity, ancient culture, and unmatched wilderness experiences is, by most global travel metrics, still flying under the radar.
Three entrepreneurs who have staked their careers on chan [...]
Fly first, earn later: How HeyMax wants to turn loyalty upside down
Joe Lu has a simple problem with loyalty programmes. You earn for months, sometimes years, working towards a reward that may be devalued, unavailable, or simply not worth the wait by the time you get there. The goalpost, as he puts it, can move at any time.
So he decided to move it first.
HeyM [...]
After Phare, Dara Huot follows his own star with story, instinct and AI
What happens when the former face of a cultural institution steps away, gets stripped back by life, and starts again with only himself, his story, and AI?
There is something not quite straightforward about former CEO of Phare, The Cambodian Circus, Dara Huot’s next chapter.
It is a reinvention [...]
OTAs: The Next Frontier — trust, plumbing and the local advantage
Three OTA veterans take on the existential question: in a world reshaped by AI, geopolitical disruption, and the complexity of African markets, what does it mean to be a travel platform – and does the name even matter anymore?
The panel, “OTAs: The Next Frontier”, opened with a show of hands. [...]
Letter from Cape Town: Finding your Table Mountain
The travel industry is living through its most unsettling moment in 30 years since the Internet. AI is redrawing the front door through which travellers enter the funnel. Jobs are being reconsidered, business models questioned, and in classrooms from Singapore to Cape Town, students are asking the q [...]
Rome2Rio’s ChatGPT app. Travelgate buys AO UK. Japanese hotels vs localization. Spring Airlines joins DerbySoft.
Travelgate acquires UK content management firm AO UK
Travelgate, part of Travelsoft Group, has acquired AO UK Ltd, a content orchestration software company founded in 2006 and headquartered in the UK with operations in Australia and North America. AO UK's core product, AO Campaign, combines Product [...]
Klook now offers sports and live events, including World Cup, Wimbledon and Formula 1
Klook has announced the expansion of its offerings to include sports and live events, bringing together four of the world's most iconic sporting properties: World Cup 2026, Roland-Garros 2026, Wimbledon 2026 and Formula 1. The launch adds Sports and Live Events to Klook's wealth of experiences, conn [...]
Africa’s skies are busier than ever, but the continent still risks falling behind the world
Record seat capacity and a runaway success story in Ethiopia can't mask deep structural fault lines across West, Central and Southern Africa. OAG's CEO lays out the numbers
Reported in conjunction with WiT Africa 2026 · Based on a presentation by Filip Filipov, CEO, OAG
African avia [...]
WiT Phocuswright Middle East moves to Barcelona: A global lens on a region in transition
In a year when the travel industry has been forced to confront both uncertainty and resilience, WiT Phocuswright Middle East will take place in Barcelona on June 15, a day before Phocuswright Europe.
The two events, held at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, will bring together global and regi [...]
SAA’s Tebogo Tsimane: On survival, looking east and fixing tech in small steps
South African Airways' Chief Commercial Officer on navigating the Middle East crisis, rebuilding from business rescue, and why open skies in Africa can't happen without cheaper fares.
Tebogo Tsimane has spent 24 years at South African Airways, starting behind a reservations desk – issuing manual [...]
