Travel industry urged to step Through the Looking Glass and embrace five
new values at WIT Singapore 2018. In its 14th year, the award-winning WIT (Web In Travel) invites the travel industry to take a step Through the Looking Glass at this year’s WIT Singapore 2018 Conference at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre from October 15 to 17. Attendees will also be encouraged to imbibe WIT’s five new values – Curiosity, Courage, Experimentation, Acceptance and Character – while stepping through to the other side.
WIT Singapore 2018 will look beyond the travel industry to explore and discover
other verticals including tech, media, retail, and banking – and take lessons from
their experiences.
“Lines are blurring and traditionally separate industries are melding together in
new and unforeseen ways. The travel industry can no longer afford to work within
the neat lines of its fortified silos. As the world continues to become more
connected and daily life becomes increasingly inseparable from technology, we
must look beyond ourselves,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder and managing
director of Web In Travel.
“As always, we will assemble a diverse and interesting cast of speakers from
various industries and around the world to create an experience that will take our
customers’ mind to new places as well as give them real insights and ideas that
can be applied to their businesses.”
Hot ticket issues WIT will tackle include new technologies such as blockchain, AI
and voice, the evolution of personalisation, new forms of disruption coming from
all fronts from messaging to marketplaces and ride-sharing, payments, the
evolution of content and storytelling, trends in digital marketing, and the
increasingly sensitive issue of privacy in the world of big data.
In its unique style, WIT Singapore 2018 will be seeking answers to how travel
businesses should brace themselves for the future and, more importantly, come
out ahead of the pack.
This year’s Through The Looking Glass theme is a natural progression from last
year’s which celebrated the pursuit of Better Travel through the five values of
Creativity, Diversity, Openness, Love and Respect. WIT Singapore 2018 will be complemented by its other flagship event, the WIT Bootcamp (October 15), featuring the semi-finals of WIT’s famed Startup Pitch – an annual competition that celebrates young businesses (aged 0-5) for their unique approaches to solving the issues and pain points that confound the
industry.
WIT Singapore 2018 will also see the second annual WIT Hall of Fame, an event
that recognises and celebrates the industry’s pioneers that have had the most
significant impact and influence on the advancement of digital travel in their
respective sectors. Last year’s inductees included: Jane Jie Sun (Ctrip); Robert
Rosenstein (Agoda); Melissa Yang (Tujia); Michael Issenberg (AccorHotels Asia
Pacific); Fritz Demopoulos (Queen’s Road Capital); Deep Kalra (MakeMyTrip);
Tony Fernandes (AirAsia) and Shinichi Inoue (PEACH Aviation).
Over 500 delegates are expected to attend the conference this October. The
programme features more than 100 speakers and is supported by over 30
sponsors and partners.
Find out more.
About WIT
The WIT Conference is Asia’s leading online travel conference, held in Singapore every year, focused on travel technology, distribution and marketing. The two-day event will be held on October 16-17, 2018 and the Marina Bay Sands Expo Convention Centre.
WIT has won awards including Most Innovative Marketing Initiative and Trade
Conference Of The Year and in 2014, its founder Yeoh Siew Hoon was
recognised as Tourism Entrepreneur of The Year in Singapore.
Every year, WIT sees over 500 travel industry delegates in attendance from
leading companies such as: Expedia, Ctrip, Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Grab,
Paytm, Amadeus, Travelport, and many more.
Over the past 13 years, WIT Conferences have been organised and held in
multiple cities around the world, including: Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul,
London, Amsterdam, Sydney, Bali, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Dubai & Taipei.