EXO Travel finds its next adventure under JTB Group
Asia-based Destination Management Company EXO Travel has been acquired by JTB Group, one of the world’s largest travel organisations, via JTB’s Asia Pacific arm purchasing All Wise Holdings Pte. Ltd., EXO’s parent company. Founded in 1993 and operating across 12 destinations including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Egypt and Morocco, EXO has built a 30-year reputation for tailor-made travel, local expertise and sustainability. The deal gives JTB a stronger regional footprint in Asia, while EXO gains access to JTB’s global network, resources and scale. For existing clients and partners, it’s business as usual — same teams, same leadership under CEO Hamish Keith, same operational structures, and no disruption to bookings or agreements.
Vietnam’s tourism boom goes global as new markets take flight
International air travel to Vietnam surged 11.1% in March 2026 (vs. March 2025), with growth driven by an increasingly diverse mix of source markets. While South Korea remains the top source market at 31.5% of arrivals, it actually dipped 4.6% — with the real momentum coming from elsewhere: the Philippines (+66.4%), Hong Kong (+53.5%), and Singapore (+45.8%) led regional growth, while Canada (+34.2%), Australia (+22.0%), and the UK (+21.5%) showed strong long-haul demand. Established heavyweights like the US (+14.7%), Japan (+14.0%), India (+12.4%), and China (+10.9%) also grew steadily. Amadeus, which provided the data, notes that this diversification is a sign of resilience — reducing Vietnam’s dependence on any single market — though it also means destinations and hoteliers must tailor campaigns more precisely to each audience.
Agoda opens its doors to ethical hackers
Digital travel platform Agoda has launched a public Bug Bounty Program on HackerOne, offering security researchers rewards of up to $6,000 for uncovering valid vulnerabilities in its core web services, APIs, and mobile app. The move expands on a private program Agoda has run since 2016, through which it has worked with hundreds of researchers and refined its bounty structure over nearly a decade. Going public opens the program to HackerOne’s broader global community of ethical hackers, with Agoda citing collaborative security research as essential in the fight against rising cybercrime. The program currently averages a 30-hour first response time and around 5 days to triage and operates under HackerOne’s responsible disclosure policies — with full details available at hackerone.com/agoda-public.
Amadeus and Myrealtrip team up to power Korea’s next travel tech wave
Amadeus and Myrealtrip, Korea’s leading online travel platform, have signed a global agreement to deepen their existing partnership and co-develop the next generation of travel technology. The deal focuses on deploying Amadeus AI-powered tools to improve retailing, personalisation and operational efficiency, while also expanding Myrealtrip’s non-air content offering to include hotels and destination experiences. The partnership will additionally explore integrating Amadeus Hey!, a traveller engagement solution designed to enable personalized communication throughout the trip lifecycle. For Myrealtrip, the agreement supports its ambition to grow as an AI-native travel platform both within Korea and internationally; for Amadeus, it reinforces its position as a core technology partner in one of Asia’s key travel markets.
Trip.com Group bets big on inbound travel with 10x growth target
Trip.com Group posted $2.4 billion in Q1 2026 net revenue, up 17% year-on-year, with strong gains across accommodation (+17% to $944M), transportation ticketing (+12% to $877M), packaged tours (+19% to $164M) and corporate travel (+20% to $100M). International platform gross bookings surged roughly 65% year-over-year, and the company — which served 20 million inbound travelers last year — has set an ambitious target to reach 200 million inbound travelers over the next five years. AI is central to its growth strategy, with Trip.com pursuing a dual approach: building its own AI capabilities while embedding its travel supply into third-party AI platforms via APIs and agent frameworks, so it can capture demand wherever travel planning begins. Sales and marketing spend rose 25% to $543 million, reflecting the investment needed to fuel that expansion.
