What happens when as an eight-year-old, you are moved from Okinawa to Indiana, two more contrasting places you couldn’t imagine? Well, for half-Japanese-half-American Michael Dykes, it was definitely “jarring”, but it taught him some valuable life lessons which have stood him in good stead in both his career and life. The Vice President, Market Management of Asia-Pacific for Expedia Group said growing up on a farm in rural America taught him self-sufficiency as well as an appreciation for...

After 15 years at Google's marketing and advertising division, Rob Torres recently returned to his former home at Expedia Group as Senior Vice President of Media Solutions. Like many key figures in travel and hospitality, Rob has seen the industry shift and evolve over time, with technology driving most of the change in the last couple of decades.  In this episode of Expedia Talks, we ask Rob about the lessons he has collected and curated over the years to help him prepare for the future of...

Technology has come a long way in the last 20 years and Expedia has always evolved its tech platforms to stay on the forefront of change. Now, travel and hospitality are at an inflection point driven by decentralised tech like Generative AI. As the Senior Vice President of Product & Technology at Expedia Group, how does Karen Bolda and her team stay on top of all these trends? And how do tech-centric providers sift through the hype without getting distracted by the 'next big thing' that...

As a company, Expedia Group is no stranger to change - the company has been through many shifts in the travel and hospitality industry, from technological booms to slumps in the global economy, to the current AI revolution amidst a worldwide recovery phase. Similarly, two travel veterans, Greg Schulze, SVP of Strategic Travel Partners and Hari Nair, SVP and General Manager, Lodging Marketplace, are no strangers to transformations in the industry either. In this episode of Expedia Talks, we...

Expedia Group rolled out a few partnerships recently – SoFi, Mastercard, and WalmartPlusTravel.com. By enabling giant retailers like these, do they risk losing business on the B2C side of things? Why would consumers continue to use Expedia’s brands if they have other channels they can book on and have the same experience? And lastly, what does it take to form lasting partnerships in today's travel and hospitality scene? On the first episode of Expedia Talks, a special series powered by...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a nugget-sized podcast.  In this episode, we're gearing up for WiT's annual flagship event, WiT Singapore. Themed 'The Human Revolution, this year's event gathers the brightest minds and most influential voices in the Asia Pacific travel scene to discuss and debate the rapidly growing role of Artificial Intelligence in travel and hospitality.  We also chat about interesting news and interviews from...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a nugget-sized podcast.  In this episode, we're joined by optimists, experimentalists, and innovators Dawn Jeremiah (GoCity), Chan Chee Chong (GlobalTix), and Jason Chan (Cinewav) to discuss the return of indie travel and their key takeaways from WiT Indie 2023, which took place in Penang after a 3-year no-go. After producing and screening content made with AI tools, what does Jason, a filmmaker,...

In this episode, we speak to Ross Veitch, Chief Executive & Co-founder, Wego about adventures past and present, including those before the inception of Wego as a company.  Last year at WiT Singapore, Ross made a number of bold predictions about the future of travel, technology, and the Artificial Intelligence revolution. Trust us, you'll be surprised at how many he got right. Has personalisation happened in the travel scene yet? Ross thinks we have a ways to go before true...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  In this episode, listen to Juliana Kua's (Assistant Chief Executive, International Group, Singapore Tourism Board) take on the online travel surge in China and her tips about tapping into India, which is now the world’s most populous country.  With the shifting travel scene comes an evolving startup space - Juliana gets insightful...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  In this episode, we connect from different timezones - Siew Hoon takes a couple of road trips in Malaysia while Arvindh is in Queensland, Australia, covering the Australian Travel Exchange (ATE23).  Then, we talk about Fever - the billion-dollar company that's creating content while also serving as a ticketing platform. 

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  In this special episode, we look back at some key learnings from China Arising: Hello, New China, WiT's first event of 2023 in collaboartion with Travel Daily China. Featuring insights from Juliana Kua (Assistant Chief Executive, International Group, Singapore Tourism Board), Kerry Healy (Chief Commercial Officer, Middle East, Africa,...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  In this episode, we continue our discussion of ITB Berlin with special guest Timothy O'Neil-Dunne (Principal, T2Impact). Tim goes over the meaning of "travel tech" and what it means in 2023.  We also get into new tech like the metaverse, virtual reality, and blockchain. Is VR a healthy component of travel, or does it take away the...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  In this episode, Siew Hoon and this week's guest, Tim Hughes, are back from ITB Berlin - jetlagged and buzzing with excitement about the return of the mega travel event. We discuss the booths, the business, and the technology that was discussed in the first post-pandemic travel event of this scale. We also talk about discomfort zones,...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  In this episode, we discuss the metaverse and how brands like Sentosa are using it as an extension of their physical space, and to also transform digital users into physical consumers.  We also discuss the value of loyalty in travel and hospitality, and what a good, clean points-and-rewards system is worth in today's landscape. And...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  We're joined by Christian Watts (Founder and CEO, Magpie Travel) to discuss the potential of ChatGPT in the Tours and Activities space. We also bring up Trip.com's new real-time travel-planning chatbot, TripGen, built on GPT tech.  Then, Christian talks about the importance of building products around ChatGPT fast or risk losing the...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  We're joined by Pete Comeau (Managing Director, PhocusWright) to unpack two reports - one about travel recovery and digital transformation in Southeast Asia, and the other about how Northeast Asia is projected to hit $11B in gross mobile bookings by 2025.  We also discuss the Global Startup Pitch, the lessons learned from last year's...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  On this week's episode, we talk about a recent interview with Greenview's Eric Ricaurte and how holding on to a belief in the future of sustainable travel has made him a "most wanted man". Then, we discuss Chinese New Year festivities and how the dance of the Golden Lion can be compared to the travel industry and the skills it had to...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  On this week's episode, we talk about Singapore's tourism projections for the next twelve months and how it forecasts a doubling of tourism receipts compared to last year's inbound traffic.  Then, we discuss an interview with Omer Chehmer, COO and co-founder of Bookaway Group, and how the ground transportation bookings company is...

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news that happened this week in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a quick-and-easy nugget-sized podcast.  On this week's episode, we hear from two industry experts on China's reopening and what's in store for the country's tourism scene, as well as what the world can expect from China's outbound travellers.  We also discuss a recent interview with Keith Tan, CEO, Singapore Tourism Board, and his view on how Singapore's soft power will help...

In this episode, we speak to Keith Tan, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Tourism Board, on the recovery trends he’s seeing in Singapore, and in Asia.  Here are the key takeaways.   On China's reopening Keith is optimistic about what China holds for its tourism prospects in 2023 although he confessed to being surprised by the somewhat sudden lifting of restrictions. “Initially, we thought China would only open up later in 2023. So anything earlier than that, which is what we're seeing...

On “Top Of The WiT”, we bring you a grab of the news that happened this week in travel, technology and Asia – interesting nuggets that caught our eye and made it into the weekly WiT newsletter. This week, social media was stormed by talk of Artificial Intelligence. ChatGPT, a bot by OpenAI that's capable of replicating human-like responses, has become quite the controversial figure. However, it also has a few suggestions on how to reduce anger in the world and bring about more peace. We...

On “Top Of The WiT”, we bring you a grab of the news that happened this week in travel, technology and Asia – interesting nuggets that caught our eye and made it into the weekly WiT newsletter. This week, we look back at a few articles that were published at the end of 2021, with answers by key players in the travel space predicting, describing, and anticipating 2021. What did they get right? What did they get slightly less right? And what words did they use to describe the last twelve...

On “Top Of The WiT”, we bring you a grab of the news that happened this week in travel, technology and Asia – interesting nuggets that caught our eye and made it into the weekly WiT newsletter. This week, we talk about the convergence of the "old world" and this new, endemic one. Siew Hoon, having just returned to Singapore from The Phocuswright Conference 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona, shares some key takeaways from the event. The timing is perfect as we move into the final month of 2022 and...

On “Top Of The WiT”, we bring you a grab of the news that happened this week in travel, technology and Asia – interesting nuggets that caught our eye and made it into the weekly WiT newsletter. This week, we tackle timezone differences and lessons from The Phocuswright Conference 2022, as Siew Hoon dials in from the event grounds in Phoenix, Arizona. And to celebrate the tenth episode of the podcast, we invite Pete Comeau, Managing Director, Phocuswright on the show to give us his key...

On “Top Of The WiT”, we bring you a grab of the news that happened this week in travel, technology and Asia – interesting nuggets that caught our eye and made it into the weekly WiT newsletter. This week, we talk about Gen Z, the future of the industry, and how they're hopeful about the hospitality space. We also discuss major takeaways from WiT Seoul - the blurring of lines with Online Travel Agengies and new demographics in the market. Then, we touch on consumer behaviour and how some...