Year In Review 2024, Looking Ahead To 2025, Part 3
New years always begin with such anticipation while we end each year with a tinge of nostalgia, a mood of reflection and sometimes, a sigh of relief that another year is over. Well, this is it – we’re coming to the end of 2024 and as we wind down for what was yet another tumultuous year, it’s time to look back, be grateful for the good things that happened and take the bad in our stride and move onwards and upwards.
We end our “Review of 2024 and looking ahead to 2025” series with this third instalment of answers to our key questions for the year.
Mike McGearty, CEO & Co-founder, Meili
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Momentum
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Instability
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
10 – I’m hugely optimistic of potential that exists within travel, but if I take into consideration the political landscape globally and instability around the world I’d say 6.
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025?
Evolution
What are you most looking forward to?
Continuing our journey to build a global ancillary platform
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Keeping the traveller front and centre, where they belong, while ensuring our team stays nimble enough to navigate whatever curveballs the industry may throw at us.
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
Providing customers with what they want. Travellers are done with the smoke and mirrors – it’s time for transparency and simplicity.
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Travelling to meet partners in person. Zoom calls are fine, but there’s no substitute for in-person time to truly understand their needs and uncover new opportunities to support them better.
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
The build-up to the presidential campaign in the US.
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
Saudi Arabia – it’s undergoing such rapid change, and I’m intrigued to see it for myself.
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
Transparency. It’s still far too complicated and confusing for travellers to book with confidence.
One important trend that no one is talking about yet?
The breaking point of technical debt in legacy systems and the industry as a whole. It’s already a huge limiting factor on what companies can achieve, even without considering new technologies available and AI.
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year?
Digital Transformation – If you’re not already digital, we’ve got bigger problems than buzzwords.
Doris Goh, Chief Commercial Officer, COMO Hotels & Resorts
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Grateful
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
AI
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
7
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Unpredictable
What are you most looking forward to?
World Peace and Sustainable Living
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Back to Basics and quiet luxury
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
China!
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Transformative experiences – starting with me-self
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
Overtourism and Climate Change
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Post pandemic
Johnny Thorsen, VP of Business Development for Content Distribution, Spotnana
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Pressure
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Overtourism
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
9
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Disruption
What are you most looking forward to?
Rapid innovation
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Create trust and transparency
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
Integrated platform
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Strategic innovation
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
The business of platforms
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
Spend 2-3 weeks in Brazil
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
Introduction of true digital traveller ID services
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
The total elimination of the expense report
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Fragmentation
Chan Chee Chong, CEO & Co-founder, GlobalTix
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Dynamic
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
10X (VC expectation of returns)
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
7 – it’s going to be a challenging year with recession brewing and revenge travel gone. But opportunities are still out there to be seized.
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Expansion – taking GlobalTix beyond Asia.
What are you most looking forward to?
Structure (SOP). To scale, I need to get the structure right so that the business can grow in the right manner.
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
New market, new challenges.
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
Tours and Activities continue to shine as more operators look to digitalise their business.
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
I would like to spend more time on technology, looking at the latest offerings out there to see what can supplement our core system.
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
Abang Adik. It reminded me how powerful love is and make us appreciate our family members more.
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
I want to bring my parents-in-law to China. It will be our first overseas trip as a family.
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
Over-tourism, and it’s getting more and more serious. The locals are fighting back.
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
Corporate travel. There is talk but not enough of it is mentioned. It’s changing fast. Either that or small customised private tours.
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
NDC, Revenge Travel
Kei Shibata, CEO, Trip101 and Travel.jp
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Watershed
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
War
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
7
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Flux
What are you most looking forward to?
Discovering a new version of us
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Redefining and reimagining who we are
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
Leveraging the power of great humans combined with great AI technologies
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Guiding us in the right direction
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
My daughter’s first YouTube video clip debuting as a hip-hop artist—it was completely unexpected and genuinely impressive! (Sorry for being a proud parent!) –
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
A hundred trips to Karuizawa, Japan, where we’ve just built our mountain retreat.
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
The industry’s influence on authorities and societies remains disproportionately small compared to its size.
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
Climate-Responsive Tourism and Migration. People are increasingly avoiding destinations and places to live with extreme summer heat, opting for cooler regions, higher altitudes, or destinations in the opposite hemisphere.
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
DX or Digital Transformation, likely to be replaced by terms like AI-Powered Transformation.
Gilad Berenstein, Founder, Brook Bay Capital
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Refocus
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Revenge-Travel
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
8
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Wide adoption (of AI)
What are you most looking forward to?
Maturation of AI into real use cases that drive mass value creation. Maturing past the gimmicks and wrappers of the past few years.
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Learning and experimenting!
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
Investing during the upcoming wave of AI expansion/adoption.
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Connecting with new innovators from around the world.
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
3 Body Problem, Yuval Noah Harris’s new book, “Nexus”.
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
Morocco (and Singapore!)
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
Lack of data connectivity.
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
Diminishing returns of LLM training efforts
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Revenge-Travel
Min Yoon, CEO, TIDESQUARE, South Korea
Looking back – one word to describe 2024
Uncertainty
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Polarization
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2025?
8
Looking forward – one word to describe 2025
Growth
What are you most looking forward to?
New opportunities unlocked by new technologies
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Embracing technology
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2025?
NDC and new travel tech
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2025?
Creative strategy development
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2024?
“Culinary Class Wars” on Netflix
What’s the trip you want to make in 2025 to add to your memory bank?
Trip with my children to create lasting memories before they grow
What’s the biggest problem the travel industry has yet to fix?
Overtourism and sustainability
One important trend that no one is talking about yet
Everyone is talking about AI, but one TRUE thing has yet to merge
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Metaverse
