The next generation of hospitality: When the room is no longer the point
A ryokan owner, a global brand VP, a lifestyle acquirer and a boutique operator debate what will actually make a guest choose you in the next 20 years.
A panel at WiT Japan on “The Next Generation of Hospitality” brought together four voices with sharply different stakes in the answer.
Kyohe [...]
Letter from Penang: How AI sent a stranger to our door and what he, and we, learned
Mo, a hospitality software executive, woke up at 6am in Penang on Friday, July 3. Between brushing his teeth and gargling, he asked Gemini what he should do that day. He was on a solo weekend escape from Singapore, where he works.
One of the first recommendations was “an indie travel event” � [...]
Vio Travel could automate 99% of bookings. Its CEOs explain why they won’t.
It’s also the first DMC in Asia to pass a 100% sustainability audit
Vio Travel has spent the last few years trying to fix a problem most travel agents know all too well, which is building multi-country itineraries by hand is slow, messy, and inconsistent. The company has combined direct supplie [...]
Airlines eye elite status. Wego’s digital Umrah platform. Dida’s bookable recommendations. Travel holds in 2026.
Wego and Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah launch digital Umrah platform
Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in MENA, has partnered with the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to launch an integrated digital platform combining flight bookings, verified hotels, licensed ground services, and fac [...]
The leaps made and those to come: Stephan Ekbergh on building in Africa
25 years in, Travelstart’s founder is still restless, still betting, and still asking the question: what’s next?
It probably comes from having lived the last 25 years amid the natural landscapes of Cape Town, South Africa. In his interview at WiT Phocuswright Middle East in Barcelona, Stephan E [...]
Japan’s secondary cities in the search bar: Why alternative corridors are winning next-gen discovery
The travel search interface has officially fragmented. Discovery is no longer about generating links; it is about answer generation. Driven by AI-curated "Zero-Click" context and vertical video validation across TikTok, Reels, and Shorts, travelers are trading traditional keywords for contextual, wi [...]
Money, moats and the AI mirage: What it takes to build and fund a startup now
There is a peculiar kind of vertigo that comes with being a travel technology founder right now. On one side, Silicon Valley is minting billionaires at a pace not seen since the dot-com era. On the other, investors are skittish, M&A is grinding, and raising a seed round can feel like pushing a b [...]
Travel professionals in APAC expect growth but risk slowing momentum
Expedia Group has released new research, Mapping the Future of APAC Travel, showing that 65% of travel professionals expect demand for their Asia-Pacific (APAC) travel business to increase over the next two to three years, rising to 78% among loyalty professionals.
Based on a survey of 1,250 trav [...]
Visa launches Destinations. Yatra reconsiders Nasdaq. Travelport x Travelsoft. Hotels’ AI race.
Yatra faces Nasdaq deadline as share price slump bites
Online travel agency Yatra has until December 22, 2026 to regain Nasdaq compliance after its shares failed to maintain a $1 minimum closing bid price between May 12 and June 24, with a reverse stock split among the options under consideration; [...]
From Mykonos to Red Sea, from beach vibe to luxury hospitality: The building of Nammos
Carolyn Turnbull on luxury with personality and why she didn’t run a mile when the war started
Carolyn Turnbull grew up four hours south of Sydney, in a small country town where, she says with a grin, the sleeves stay rolled up.
She has since led luxury hotels across Asia for Aman, run destina [...]
