October 22, 2013 by Angie Ng

WIT Conference – Day 1

WIT Conference 2013
Theme: The Asia Factor
Venue: Suntec Convention Centre

DAY 1 Programme: October 22, 2013

08.40     Opening & Scene Setting
Kick-off to WIT Conference 2013
by Yeoh Siew Hoon, Editor & Founder, Web In Travel

09.10     Track #1: Trends Changing Travel and Asia
Facilitator: Yeoh Siew Hoon

COFFEE WITH PARAG KHANNA
Yeoh Siew Hoon interviews Parag Khanna, Global Strategist, World Traveller, Author of “Hybrid Reality: Thriving in the Emerging Human-Technology Civilization” (2012), “How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance” (2011) and “The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order” (2008)  on how “The Asia Factor” will change global competition, redefine the way businesses are structured and run and give rise to a new and changing customer order.

IN CONVERSATION: Kathleen Tan, CEO, Airasia Expedia & Robert Rosenstein, AGODA
The coffee conversation continues with two of the biggest influencers in online travel in Asia.

Kathleen Tan spent nine years as head of commercial for Asia’s leading low cost airline group. How is she using this experience, and her insights and networks, into building up a joint venture that’s aimed at building up two brands in Asia – AirAsia Go and Expedia? How is she balancing the interests of two very different cultures to build a joint venture with one purpose, one vision?

Robert Rosenstein co-founded the company in 2002 and five years later, sold the company to Priceline group. It dominates the online hotel space in Asia by a huge margin and is the player to watch by competitors and suppliers. What are the secrets to its success, how has its model changed with the times and how will it hold on to its pole position as more competitors enter the market?

10.00     Knocking on Asia’s Door
As global entrants expand in Asia, what are the challenges they have to overcome, what opportunities do they see and what role will they play in the future of distribution in the region? Global brands talk about their plans and strategies to make their mark in Asia.
Adrian Currie, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, booking.com
Julio Bruno, Global Vice President of Sales, TripAdvisor for Business

10.30     The Home Advantage: Asia’s Players Dig In
With more global brands coming into their backyard, how are Asia’s home-grown OTAs playing the home advantage? How are they seizing the opportunities offered by the growth in their home markets and the region, how are they changing to face the increased competition and how are they playing to their strengths?
Scott Blume, CEO, Wotif Group
Takanobu Yamamoto, President, Rakuten Travel Inc., Japan
Beth He, Department Director, International, Ctrip International

11.00     Break

11.30     Ask Google and Facebook
Track #1: Trends Changing Travel and Asia, Part 2
Time to hear from the two brands that have changed the way we search and socialize, and learn about how they want to make their impact in travel and in Asia. What trends are they seeing in customer behaviour and how can travel suppliers make use of their platforms to drive traffic, acquire customers, retarget, retain, engage and brand? Ask the questions you’ve always wanted to ask of them in this forum.
Bambos Kaisharis, Head of Travel, South-east Asia, Google
Simrat Sawhney, Lead – India E-commerce & Online Travel, Facebook

12.15     Mobile First. Really?
Nothing defines “The Asia Factor” more than mobile where leapfrogging of technology has exposed whole swathes of population to the web. In Thailand, the number of mobile subscribers has exceeded its population since 2010 (106.6 percent), according to the National Statistic Office. Cambodia was the first country in the world where mobiles surpassed landlines. In Vietnam, 9 out of 10 Vietnamese access the web via mobile devices. China has surpassed the US to become the world’s top country for active Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. What does this mean for travel suppliers? How is it impacting existing models? And could this leapfrogging of technology change the whole game, enabling followers to leapfrog existing market leaders or spark new “Mobile First” winners?
Maya Hari, Head of Lifestyle & Social, Regional Content & Services, Samsung Electronics
Charlie Li, CEO, TravelDaily, China
Christian Lukey, Commercial Director, Asia Pacific, HRS
Jack Tan, Technology & Marketing Consultant, TAUZIA Hotel Management, Indonesia
Tomas Laboutka, CEO & Co-founder, HotelQuickly

12.55     Wrap-Up of Track #1: Trends Changing Travel and Asia

13.00     Lunch

14:00     Coffee with Philip Wolf
There’s no bigger and more respected authority on online travel than Philip Wolf. He’s watched the industry grow from its early beginnings in 1994, when he founded PhoCusWright, and he’s reported, analysed and called out every trend in the space. Last year, he made his exit from the company that bears his initials and today, he is advisor to, and sits on boards of companies around the world. No one thus has a more global eye on trends than Philip and in this interview with Yeoh Siew Hoon, he will talk about life after PhoCusWright and share his vision about where he sees online travel headed.

14.20     Track #2: New & Changing Models
Heavy Meta: From not-so-glam a few years ago, meta’s become the supermodel to watch. New overseas players are entering Asia and home-grown brands are fanning out. Then there are the deeply local players happy to stick to their home ground. A look at the different models, their plans for growth and how they are monetizing.
Bonamy Grimes, Co-founder & Director, Skyscanner
Brian Schmidt, Vice President, Global CPC Sales, TripAdvisor
Debby Soo, Senior Director, New Markets, KAYAK
Hugo Burge, CEO, Momondo Group
Nicola Simionato, General Manager EMEA & APAC, Travel, Google
Robin J.A. Harries, Head of Corporate Development & APAC, Trivago
Home Team:
Hichame Assi, COO, HotelsCombined
Rod Cuthbert, Chairman, Rome2Rio
Ross Veitch, CEO & Co-founder, Wego
Local Hero:
Kei Shibata, CEO, Venture Republic, Japan

15:45     Asia’s Growing Pains and How It Affects the Travel Marketer
Asia is having to deal with the growth of online travel and the exponential growth in marketing complexity, all at the same time.  How do you scale and specialise to meet the opportunity while staying efficient? This session will look at how you can better orchestrate your resources to build an integrated marketing organisation capable of doing real-time marketing.
Siva Ganeshanandan, Director, Adobe Marketing Cloud, Asia Pacific

16:00     Break

16:30    Continuation of Track #2: New & Changing Models
Marketplaces, Communities, Activities: Meet the players that have built up marketplaces around communities and activities and find out how they are factoring in Asia in their expansion.
Ken Frohling, Vice President Business Development, Viator
Sam Gellman, International Expansion, Uber
Stephen Joyce, CEO & Co-founder, Rezgo
Turochas ‘T’ Fuad, CEO & Co-founder, Travelmob

17:10    Coffee with Andrew Demaria, CNN Digital Asia & CNN Travel
No other model has been more disrupted than media and traditional media giants such as CNN have faced challenges adapting to the new world of media consumption and content creation. 

In this interview with Yeoh Siew Hoon, Andrew Demaria, Executive Producer, CNN Digital Asia and CNN Travel, will talk about the lessons learnt and mistakes made in the brand’s digital journey as well as share insights on how content is being consumed across Asia, and how “The Asia Factor” is influencing CNN’s coverage.

17:30     The Traveller Factor
Mandip Singh Soin is many things rolled into one. He’s a mountaineer, explorer, an adventure and luxury tour operator and a philosopher. Above all, he’s a true son of Asia and a genuine traveller who’s not only traversed 40 countries across six continents but also continously shares and exposes the joys of travelling across India and Asia with his customers. Ibex Expeditions, which he founded in 1979, has earned numerous awards and has been rated by National Geographic as among “The Best Adventure Travel Companies On Earth”. He was nominated ‘India’s Most Versatile Adventurer’ by The Limca Book of Records  and won the Ness Award for mountaineering and explorations by the Royal Geographical Society, UK. In 2012, he was awarded the ‘Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for Lifetime Achievement’ by the President of India. To hear Mandip speak is to fall in love with travel, the man and his stories.