From opportunity markets to product innovations to new tech, a lot was discussed at this week’s WIT Conference in Singapore. Here are the eight key takeaways.

1/ The Next Billion Users and it will all be mobile

Most of the major travel brands, from Facebook to Google to Airbnb, are eyeing the next billion users and they will come from emerging markets in Asia, and they will all be middle class, young, mobile and social.

Indonesia and the Philippines factored strongly at WIT with Henry Hendrawan, chief financial officer, Traveloka talking of the Indonesia and South-east Asia opportunity, which is a key reason for Expedia taking a $350m minority stake in the Indonesian leading OTA. Spending time in the US has prepared him and the three founders for their destiny in building up South-east Asia’s first travel unicorn out of this country of 261 million people. “I call South-east Asia the world’s best kept secret and maybe we should keep it that way,” he said. Traveloka will keep its focus on South-east Asia for the immediate future.

Right: Mike Szücs, Cebu Pacific Air

Michael Szucs (left), chief executive advisor of Cebu Pacific Air, said the Philippine growth story is middle class, social and mobile. If you are not in social, he said, you don’t have a chance. And beyond marketing, social is big in customer servicing. From call centres, his airline now runs command centres where staff monitors social media channels around the clock.

And of course let’s not forget China which will produce a total of 800m outbound travellers by 2034. The personal story told by Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip, of her rise from penniless child (her family’s income was US$15 a month) to now chief executive of a travel company valued at approximately $25b, speaks of the phenomenal rise of China. She said she was lucky to have experienced such growth in her lifetime but imagine what could happen in her two children’s lifetime.

As Chinese brands like Ctrip globalise, the influence of China will be felt not only in Asia but around the world.

2/ Payments is the new frontier

With blockchain and cryptocurrencies being talked about as the new disruption in fintech, travel brands are trying to figure out how they can get into that space with most of them citing payments as the new tech they are watching.

Paytm, India’s mobile wallet, which started out as a service inspired by vegetable vendors in China, is now selling flights, hotels and low cost carriers, and received a payments bank licence this year. Ctrip has its Ctrip wallet. Traveloka has also talked of building a Traveloka wallet.

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