Travel deserves its own agent, and its own soul, according to a report from WiT Singapore. The conference examined how artificial intelligence is reshaping the industry, but speakers also warned that technology must not erase the character of the places travelers visit.
More than just a booking tool
One attendee described a road trip in Malaysia that ended in a breakdown in Kuala Selangor. The vehicle overheated, and the mechanic insisted on waiting for the engine to cool before checking the damage. The traveler noted that AI cannot fix mechanical problems, emphasizing that human judgment is still required in physical travel.
That trip through Malacca illustrated a broader issue. The city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has become overrun by tourists from a single market. Trishaws are decorated with Hello Kitty caricatures and play hip-hop music to entertain Chinese visitors. Local residents can barely recognize their own streets, where traditional Nyonya attire is now worn mostly for photo ops.
Matt Benson of Think City suggested that while travel once transformed the traveler, it now transforms the destination.
Industry leaders used the conference to discuss how agents should handle this balance. Agoda’s CEO and CTO argued that a general-purpose assistant cannot replace a specialized travel agent. They said travel is too complex and carries too much risk to be treated as a side task for an everything-device. The company prioritizes trust before speed, choosing to process transactions carefully rather than quickly.
While Agoda focuses on reliability, Klook’s co-founder emphasized the difficulty of automating diverse experiences. A standard dive trip is not the same as a visit to an elephant sanctuary, and many small operators lack online presence. Klook is shifting resources toward chatbots that can complete purchases on behalf of these offline businesses.
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The conversation shifted to the future of distribution. Tony Fernandes of AirAsia noted that travel content remains in the hands of airlines and hotels. He expects apps to morph rather than disappear, much as they did when search engines arrived. Meanwhile, Jazeera Airways’ CEO predicted that AI will make airline distribution more direct, cutting out intermediaries.
Skyscanner’s CEO expressed doubt that a single assistant could replace all apps. He showed screenshots sent by friends who used AI agents to book trips, noting that these users rarely knew if they received the best price. He believes people will eventually want both the lowest fare and the most relevant route, which requires a trusted vertical assistant.
Etraveli Group’s CEO described the “dirty work” of flight sourcing and fulfillment. He argued that in an agentic world, price matters less than access to the best content. The company runs on tight margins and has begun selling its fraud detection engine as a separate module, generating revenue from other travel companies.
Executives at ixigo took a different approach to disruption. The company built a “Newco inside the old company” by isolating 40 to 50 staff members from the rest of the organization. This team rebuilt the app from scratch, making every screen readable by AI. The new system allows agents to monitor check-in, hunt for cheaper fares, and reconfirm bookings with hotels 24 hours in advance.
Richard Valtr of Mews introduced a similar organizational change. He merged product managers, designers, and engineers into a single role called “product builder.” This shift delivered an eight-fold productivity boost, allowing the company to scale without a proportional increase in headcount.
Agoda’s leadership used a squash analogy to describe their strategy. They want to be fast and position themselves in the center of the court so they can respond to any request, whether from a user, an agent, or another system. They do not try to guess what will happen next; they simply prepare to handle whatever comes their way.
On the topic of planning, Booking.com’s managing director for Asia Pacific challenged the room to increase the percentage of travelers who enjoy the process. The company’s research shows that more than 70% of travelers currently enjoy planning, though 64% already use AI tools. Leaders agreed that travel is visual, and a pure text conversation will not scale.
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Operating in chaos
Speakers agreed that crises are now the normal operating environment. AirAsia’s chairman described the volatility of jet fuel prices, which can double overnight. The airline budgets for US$160 oil, cuts capacity by 20%, and raises fares by 30% to maintain margins.
Jazeera Airways’ CEO detailed the challenges of running an airline in a war zone. When Kuwait’s airport closed for 57 days, the carrier moved aircraft to Saudi Arabia and operated hundreds of buses to transport passengers. He expects more consolidation in the industry if fuel prices and regional tensions persist.
Klook’s co-founder noted that Asia has thrown constant shocks at the company over the past 12 years. From protests to cross-strait tensions, diversification is the only way to survive. He finds comfort in a Zen-like acceptance of the cycle.
Creating new markets
One often-overlooked fact about AirAsia is that 60% of its routes had never been flown before. The airline flies to Shantou more often than Shanghai and was the first carrier into Bandung. By connecting secondary cities directly, it created a whole new market of travelers rather than just stealing share from competitors.
The same logic applies to the OTA AirAsia MOVE. The company cannot compete with established platforms and must instead make a bold move. Hotel 101 Global’s CEO is applying the same low-cost playbook to her hotel group. By targeting segments ignored by legacy carriers and hotels, she aims to create a new market of guests rather than fighting for existing ones.
Future Growth and Operational Efficiency
Etraveli Group’s CEO described how the company works with Booking.com’s flights business. Booking designs the front end, picks the ancillaries and decides how much money it wants to make each quarter. Etraveli does everything behind it, under an eight-year contract signed after Brussels first blocked Booking Holding’s bid for the company. He explained that Etraveli bet hard on that “dirty work”, which he admitted was “more luck than skill”. He added that after the second block, Etraveli has moved on and will probably IPO in a couple of years. For a decade, Etraveli’s revenue and costs both grew about 20% a year.