As 2017 comes to a close, it’s time to take a moment to reflect on the lessons learned and the stories told throughout WIT 2017… and how we can take these new insights and adapt in time for the coming year. Here is our first take of all the key highlights from Day One of WIT 2017 as well as links to the videos of each session.
Kick Off
The WIT 2017 Conference gets off to a smooth start, crescendo-ing into a rock and roll performance by local musician, Wendy Koh, before WIT founder and managing director Yeoh Siew Hoon took the stage to unravel this year’s theme of Better Travel.
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244338246
Coffee Chat with Henry Hendrawan, CFO, Traveloka
Indonesia factored strongly at WIT with Henry Hendrawan, chief financial officer, Traveloka discussing opportunities in Indonesia and South-east Asia – a key reason for Expedia taking a $350m minority stake in the leading Indonesian OTA. Spending time in the US has prepared him and the three founders for their destiny in building up South-east Asia’s first travel unicorn out of this country of 261 million people.
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244345738
Face Off: China, Money & Innovation
Investor titans, Fritz Demopoulos (CEO, Queen’s Road Capital) and William Bao Bean (General Partner, SOSV; Managing Director, Chinaccelerator) engaged in a rapid-fire tête-à-tête, debating on who would fare better in the future of online travel – local or global players?
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244363585
Asia is Eating the World, a presentation by Filip Filipov (Vice President, Product Management, Skyscanner)
The only thing that moves faster than Filip Filipov’s presentation is Asia’s rapid development in both online travel and the global economy, because of three major reasons: the existing market of 4.5 billion people, the revolution of mobile, and how fast you can go from 0 to 100M users in almost no time at all.
Skyscanner’s Filip Filipov presenting at WIT 2017
Watch all 60 slides in 600 seconds here: https://vimeo.com/244375049
Global Trends that Matter, a presentation by Maggie Rauch (Director, Research, Phocuswright)
In 2020, it is predicted that Asia Pacific will surpass the USA as the world’s biggest online travel market. WIT regular and travel research expert, Maggie Rauch offered a broader view from the top by revealing global online travel trends and how they are taking shape in Asia Pacific more specifically.
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244380885
Coffee with Melissa Maher, Senior Vice President, Global Partner Group, Expedia, Inc.
As someone who has been with Expedia since 2001 and risen through the ranks, Melissa Maher remarked that one of the key differences she’s noticed is the rate at which technology has developed and transformed the industry. In an interview with Yeoh Siew Hoon, Maher discussed how the company maintains a culture of innovation and embraces diversity from its brands to its staff.
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244386391
Disruptors at the gate: From Marketplaces to Payments
Asia’s travel companies are attempting to build and succeed in multiple tracks that exist within a single ecosystem. Rakuten is cultivating consumer loyalty through 70 different services over 20 years, serving a global community of 1.1 billion members. Grab has tag-teamed with Singapore Airlines, integrating their mobile apps. Paytm, India’s largest mobile wallet, is now selling flights, hotels and low cost carriers, and received a payments bank license this year. Lines are blurred as industries look outward to see other fields of growth.
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244394405
Coffee with Oliver Heckmann, Vice President, Engineering for Travel and Shopping, Google
Love it or hate it, Google is arguably the one company that has real power in its ability to reshape and disrupt travel retailing. In a one-on-one interview, Oliver Heckmann talked through what plans the internet Goliath has in the works for global travellers and how it’s AI-first policy is encouraging the development of a whole new suite of travel products.
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244411775
Coffee with Debby Soo, Chief Commercial Officer, KAYAK
In an interview led by Maggie Rauch, Kayak’s Debby Soo discussed how the American company is focused on “internationalisation” and making a more active effort to resonate with APAC consumers through creative influencer marketing.
Soo also discussed how “Skyscanner is the most formidable competitor [in Asia]… but more competition forces Kayak to be better, forces faster, more comprehensive and more accurate.”
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244422894
Disruptors at the Gate panel at WIT 2017
An Autonomous Future & Its Impact on Travel: Will it Be Better?
In 30 years there will be 500 million electric cars globally. These cars can last longer than current ones, and that by next year, electric cars will be cheaper to manufacture than those with internal combustion engines, halving demand for oil.
The animated visionary, Bobby Healy has his eyes set on the next frontier – autonomous cars. How does CarTrawler plan to stay relevant and finding its place in this new field of opportunity?
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244437151
Coffee with Shinichi Inoue, CEO, Peach Aviation
Ever-affable Shinichi Inoue, CEO of one of the world’s cutest airlines, Peach Aviation talked about how data is at the heart of the Japanese LCC’s unique ability to sell Volkswagen cars as part of inflight sales, and how it uses that same data to develop personal pricing or personal productisation for its customers.
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244946109
Wings of Fancy, Time to Get Rail & Set Sail
Rail and cruise are fast emerging as popular alternatives to traditional flights. Rail is worth US$350b globally, with Asia accounting for roughly half of it. Meanwhile, cruise is riding a wave of its own as the industry has grown 250% in Asia. How are these two sectors evolving to offer better experiences for their customers? What more must be done to force them online?
Meanwhile, how does the air industry intend to keep up?
Watch all three videos here:
The Making of Better Online Travel
Agoda has been able to shift its customer acquisition through its app strategy (5.5 million users) while Trivago is working on using AI to provide better matches between its hotels and customers… all in a grand effort to make travel better for their customers.
John Traas (Regional Director, South Asia Pacific, Booking.com) suggested the idea of a sustainable tourism fund, supported by major travel brands. Ross Veitch, CEO, Wego proposed using data to remove friction points at immigration and security.
Travel companies can do what they like to make travel better for customers, but they will need to work together if they want to make the world better while they’re at it.
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/244994690
Coffee with Choe Peng Sum, Chief Executive Officer, Frasers Hospitality Group
The leader of one of the region’s most watched independent hotel groups, Choe Peng Sum took to the stage to explain how the company intends to maintain strong identity in an increasingly crowded marketplace by responding and adapting quickly to changes in demand, technology and more.
Watch the full video here: https://vimeo.com/245310669
Face-Off: The Future of Live, Work, Play
WeWork’s newly minted regional director, Turochas Fuad and CMO of Next Story Group, Morris Sim argued that hoteliers must think beyond real estate as purely being about physical space and seize opportunities to make the most of underutilised spaces in more creative ways – like hopping on the co-working wave. But first, they need to put social networks at the core of how they operate.
Watch the full video: https://vimeo.com/245332844
Coffee with Jane Jie Sun, CEO, Director, Ctrip.com International
Arguably the most intriguing figure to grace the WIT 2017 stage was Jane Jie Sun, CEO of Ctrip. Sun openly chatted about how her poor family background influenced her attitudes towards female empowerment and opportunity, and how she believes the eagerness to learn in China is a key reason why the country is making larger and faster strides in digital travel, as compared with the rest of the world.
Watch the full video: https://vimeo.com/245343127
