The WiT Podcast

Travelling is a highly physical activity – those long walks to the gates and immigration, those long queues – not easy when you are not fully mobile. Especially for the elderly - the requests for assistance pre-flight, the waits at check-in for assistance, the arrival process – and the inevitable conclusion that one day it will happen to all of us.

For Siew Hoon (Founder, WiT), seeing life through her mother’s eyes made her highly cognizant of the ageing societies of Asia. According to the Singapore government's 2023 population report, citizens aged 65 and above make up almost one-fifth of Singapore's population, up 11.7% from a decade ago.

As much fuss as there is about the Gen Z and Millennials and their current and future spending power, there’s a silent and strong undercurrent going on in the silver generation.

So how can technology address the ageing population worldwide? And is the solution, as psychologists suggest, to simply travel inside our own minds?

Narrator: Yeoh Siew Hoon

As a student, Adrienne Enggist, Senior Director of Product, Customer Experience and Platforms for Booking.com, had an epiphany, not a hallucination, when she listened to Timothy O’Leary, the late American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs.

He wasn’t talking about acid but of the future, she said. ““He asked us to imagine a future that’s less than 20 years away, where you can talk to anybody in the world instantly in real time without paying for long distance … and he spoke of how you could create content like Arnold Schwarzenegger with Loni Anderson's head …”

That’s when she decided “that’s the world I want to work in”. Fast forward to now and Adrienne says all the things O’Leary spoke about – it was around 1987 – have come to pass – deep fakes that you can generate with an app, for instance.

In this episode of Customer Love, hosts Yeoh Siew Hoon (Founder, WiT) and Laura Houldsworth (Managing Director & Vice President for Asia Pacific, Booking.com) speak with Enggist about her views on AI taking over travel and hospitality and the role of tech in creating better products for customers.

For starters, Enggist's advice to developers is “you've got to make your mistakes differently”.

As for how she thinks AI will impact travel and how you can cook up “AI and Product Love” into your business to win “Customer Love”, have a listen. 

Taylor Swift has arrived in Singapore for the highly anticipated Eras Tour, which she'll perform for six nights over two weeks. Let’s face it, pop stars are good for business. More than 300,000 tickets have been sold for the concerts in Singapore, with a large number of fans travelling in from Southeast Asia and the rest of the world.

All round, it’s been a good news week for travel and tourism, with the top travel companies all reporting healthy fourth quarter 2023 and full year 2024 results – from Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, Trip.com Group, Amadeus. 

Also, why does AI get blamed for everything these days?

It's all on this week's WiT Stories. You can read the article version of this podcast here. 

Narrator: Yeoh Siew Hoon

Imagine. Fifteen years ago, there was no alternative accommodation category on Booking.com. Today, there are 7.2m short term rental listings and in its Q3 2023 earnings, this sector grew the fastest, 24% year over year, making it about 33% of all bookings.

And if you want to be part of this “New Wave of Customer Love”, Nuno Guerreiro, Regional Director South APAC and Chains, Booking.com, says you have to choose to be either green and growing, or ripe and rotting. 

The answer is a no brainer, so you simply must listen to this episode, focused on the fast-growing alternative accommodation sector, featuring Nuno and his colleague, Inas Abdella, Director of Product, Booking Home.

This episode contains lots of nuggets of insights about the reasons behind the growth, what travellers are looking for as well as what suppliers can do to ride on this new wave of accommodation, and understand what different travellers want.

As for their recommendations of their favourite short term rental places, well, have a listen.

Stay tuned for more episodes, in which Siew Hoon (Founder, WiT) and Laura Houldsworth ( interview a host of voices from Booking.com, as well as a few surprises from industry friends.

Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 

There’s certainly a lot of practices travel suppliers have to put in place to fulfil and deliver on its responsibility to build a more sustainable industry, and everyone, from the grassroots to giants, must do their part.

Danielle D’Silva, Head of Sustainability, Booking.com and Eric Ricaurte, CEO of Greenview, are certainly trying to do their part in their centrestage roles in travel’s delicate and complicated dance with sustainability.

It’s interesting the different paths they have each taken to arrive at this common junction – Danielle through a scholarly path and deep research into highly niche topics such as an ethnography on the Muslim community who cares for elephants used for Hindu processions in Varanasi, and the role social enterprises play in preserving cultural heritage in Cambodia, and Eric who got an early introduction to urban farming during his childhood in rural Ohio, and an odd job stint in “a random lodge in the northeast corner of Costa Rica”, which opened his eyes to the kind of experiences travellers were willing to travel for.

Both agree the next wave in sustainability is biodiversity which is positive in the sense in that it will get the industry out of its carbon tunnel vision, says Danielle, into areas that travellers can relate to. As for the books they recommend if you want to dig deeper into this super important topic in travel, and how we can all move from Customer Love to Planet Love, have a listen to the podcast.

Stay tuned for more episodes, in which Siew Hoon (Founder, WiT) and Laura Houldsworth ( interview a host of voices from Booking.com, as well as a few surprises from industry friends. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 

What does 'customer love' mean in 2024?

For the first time since 2019, travel companies are unanchoring themselves to the events of the last 3 years and embracing the freedom, opportunities, and challenges that come with this new travel landscape.

In the pilot episode of our new series, Customer Love, Yeoh Siew Hoon (Founder, WiT) speaks to her co-host for all upcoming episodes, Laura Houldsworth (Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Booking.com), about travel trends to look forward to this year. With a background in financial services, writing, communications and marketing, Laura gets candid about seeking Booking.com thanks to her passion for travel. She also talks about what kind of traveller she is based on Booking.com's research data. 

The duo then talk about rising trends in Asia Pacific, and what mega-platforms like Booking.com are doing to not only retain customer loyalty in a crowded marketplace, but attract new travellers with exciting new demands. 

Stay tuned for future episodes, in which Siew Hoon and Laura interview a host of voices from Booking.com, as well as a few surprises from industry friends. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 

Top Of The WiT is a grab of the trendiest news in travel, tech and Asia - all condensed into a nugget-sized podcast. 

For the last couple of weeks, we've featured our year-end series, Goodbye 2023, Hello 2024 on the WiT website, showcasing global travel leaders nutshelling 2023 while anticipating 2024. Many were positive about the last 12 months and are looking forward to 2024, while a few are more trepeditious due to shaky socio-economic conditions worldwide. 

In this episode, Siew Hoon and Arvindh discuss some of those answers - from Expedia's Michael Dykes elaborating on robust demographics in Asia, specifically Gen Z, to Wego's Ross Veitch pointing out “the long-term impact of demographic changes as a result of declining birth rates” which he says is off most people's radar but is going to massively impact economies worldwide.

We also go over some less hefty questions, like the most interesting things our featured travel leaders have read or watched this year, and one word they'd use to describe the year that was and the year that will be. 

Stream the episode to join the discussion.

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 the origin of food. It also made him determined to return to Japan, and Asia, where his heart is and so he made sure he never lost his Japanese language skills while building a new life in the US.

In this podcast, Dykes talks about how countries in South-east Asia are more interwoven with each other – a lot of cultural awareness across boundaries, not seen so much in North-east Asia, which then leads to e-commerce in general, including travel, cutting across boundaries as well.

Dykes also talks about Expedia's partnerships with Jetstar and Philippine Airlines, and a deal now with general e-commerce players such as G-Mart of South Korea. The company is also also expanding the definition of B2B, and he sees opportunities within Asia-Pacific, both vertically and geographically, for Expedia to “power travel for everybody”.

Interviewer: Yeoh Siew Hoon, Founder, WiT

For more episodes in this series, look for the WiT Podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

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 travel. With so much new technology at one's disposal, how does an experienced travel pro like Rob pick and choose what works best for the task at hand?

We also chat about new trends in Rob's specialty, Destination Marketing, and how data is helping companies like Expedia create more personalised experiences for each customer, which in turn adds value to Expedia's partners and suppliers.   

Interviewer: Yeoh Siew Hoon, Founder, WiT

Stay tuned for more episodes in this series. Subscribe to the WiT Podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

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 enters the market?

In this episode of Expedia Talks, we ask Karen about what drew her to the intersection of travel and technology. We also chat about her first startup and how it got acquired by Expedia all those years ago. 

Karen also gets candid about her time growing up and the formative years that brought her to Expedia, before answering today's most pressing question - what's a human quality that cannot be codified?

Interviewer: Yeoh Siew Hoon, Founder, WiT

Stay tuned for more episodes in this series. Subscribe to the WiT Podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

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 sit down with Greg and Hari to talk about their roles at Expedia and how it has evolved over time, especially with data, AI, and machine learning. We also go back to the early days of Online Travel Agencies and how it changed the way we travel, and why travel professionals need to always be one step ahead of the curve with trends in the market.

Greg and Hari also talk about the collective responsibility of travel players, and why it's time to rise to the occasion to meet the challenges and opportunities during this technological turning point.

Interviewer: Yeoh Siew Hoon (Founder, WiT)

Stay tuned for more episodes in this series. Subscribe to the WiT Podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

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 Expedia Group, we chat with Alfonso Paredes (SVP, Commercial Partnerships, Expedia Group) about finding synergy in a competitive travel market, looking for common goals among collaborators, and how tech is helping build bridges instead of walls in the new tourism and hospitality scene.

Interviewer: Arvindh Yuvaraj (Content Lead, WiT)

Stay tuned for more episodes in this series. Subscribe to the WiT Podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

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 the last week. Want to know how famous hotel designer Bill Bensley works with animals and mother nature when designing his projects? We've got that covered.

We also go over Klook's dive into content creation and social marketing via their Kreators program - an affiliate platform that rewards KOLs and influencers for Klook purchases made via social media platforms. But, why does Klook favour the smaller influencers, those with less than 10k followers, above the social juggernauts?

Stream the episode to find out.

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, think about working with AI? Also, his take on the Writers and Actors strikes in Hollywood is brutally honest - and not what you might expect. 

Dawn gets into new marketing trends - what are people searching for, how are younger travellers booking trips, and how important is ChatGPT and other AI tools to the overall ecosystem? We put ChatGPT to the test, in real-time, to find out.

Then, CC talks about the value of hidden gems and if traditionally popular destinations are losing their luster. Do people want to see the usual sides of Bangkok... or do they want to hop on a bike, get spontaneous, and discover a culture unseen to everyday tourists?

Stream the episode to find out more.

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 personalisation is realised, and dishes out a few hot-takes on the ways jobs will shift because of AI and tools like ChatGPT. 

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 about new startups using UGC, gamification and conversion, and how some startups have identified new gaps in the market to tackle.

Oh, and we also make a spooky suggestion regarding Google ARCore and its collaboration with the Singapore Tourism Board. 

Stream the episode to find out more.

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, Turkey & Asia-Pacific
– Premium, Midscale & Economy, Accor), and Calvin Chan (Chief Commercial Officer, Scoot), this episodes focuses on emerging trends coming out of newly reopened China, as well as how travel players can market to the new Chinese traveller.

Our panelists also touch on their predictions for Chinese outbound traffic, restoring air capacity, and Singapore's role in engaging with China's tourism scene.

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 experience of going out into the world?

Then we talk about Tim's favourite subject, airplanes and aviation, including the launch of Australia's Bonza, flight trends in China, and the future of Malaysia's latest low-cost carrier, MYAirline. 

Hosted by Arvindh and Siew Hoon
Guest: Timothy O'Neil-Dunne (Principal, T2Impact)

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, based on a new Booking.com study that says a significant number of travellers want to experience a complete culture shock this year. 

And with Tim being an Aussie and all, we talk about Australia's newest airline, Bonza, and their app-only strategy.

Hosted by Arvindh and Siew Hoon
Guest: Timothy Hughes (VP, Corporate Development, Agoda)