Heavy Meta/OTA: Soul & Flight Searching In The New World - WiT Singapore 2022

Putting things in context, flight search started in the early 2000s. Skyscanner was first in 2001, KAYAK followed in 2004, Qunar took on China in 2005, the same year that Wego attempted to bridge South-east Asia. Ixigo took India in 2007, the same year that Hopper muscled its way into the North American market; Etraveli Group has been acquired by Booking Holdings for €1.6 billion (pending approval); and ixigo has carved out a completely new model in its home market, transforming to OTA, and has declared IPO intentions. Meanwhile, in Japan, founders of Travel.jp took a different path and perhaps seeing the challenges for local search diversified with a content-led search model with Trip101. The pandemic has reset the stage. Let’s see what these players are planning amid the soul-searching for their meaning and relevance in the new world, even with the big G hanging over their heads.
Co-moderators:
Yeoh Siew Hoon, Founder
WiT
Pete Comeau, Managing Director
Phocuswright
Panelists:
Mike Ferguson, Commercial Director, DMOs, Hotels and Travel Data Partnerships
Skyscanner
Reno Wang, GM, APAC Business
Hopper
Lisa Katsouraki, Head of Corporate Development
Etraveli Group
Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO & Co-founder
ixigo
Kei Shibata, Co-founder & CEO
Venture Republic - TRAVEL jp & Trip101