SPEAKERS
CEO & Founder
Traveligo
Anupong Kriangkrailipikorn
Anupong is a CEO & Founder of TraveliGo, a Thai OTA which provide all-in-on travel services including flight, accommodation, ticket, tour package, car rental, travel insurance. TraveliGo has just received investment fundings from KASIKORNBANK PLC to grow its travel business for both domestic and overseas market.
Head of Digital Tourism
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)
Arifah Sharifuddin
Content Lead
WiT
Arvindh Yuvaraj
Senior Vice President, Commercial, APAC
Go City
Baidi Li
Baidi Li is the SVP of Commercial in APAC for Go City, where she leads the company’s commercial growth and expansion in the region. In her role, Baidi supports the company’s mission to open access to the top experiences in the world’s best cities. She has built a best-in-class team to expand the product footprint across APAC and deepen localization efforts in new markets. Prior to Go City, Baidi has over 15 years experience with OTA, tour operators, and travel tech companies, from Viator & TripAdvisor’s experience supply team, to operations for Intrepid Travel. Born and raised in China, Baidi has lived and worked in Germany and the US. She currently resides in Singapore with her family.
Founder & CEO
STAYFOLIO
Benny Lee
Sang-muk “Benny” Lee is the founder and CEO of STAYFOLIO, a leading fine-stay curation and booking platfrom. He co-founded the architectural design group Z-LAB in 2011. At Z-LAB, he has led the planning and implementation of several signature projects, including Blind Whale, Changsin Creative House, Waon, and Zero Place.
Benny Lee has over 9 years of hands-on experience in the hospitality industry, ranging from operating Fine Stays to holding high-level managerial positions since the establishment of STAYFOLIO in 2015. Benny believes in the potential of the next generations and, even as CEO, continues to serve as a mentor while simultaneously carrying out various projects related to spaces, all grounded in good taste and lifestyle.
CEO & Co-founder
BeMyGuest
Blanca Menchaca
Blanca Menchaca is CEO and Co-founder of BeMyGuest, a travel technology company offering a Distribution Platform and a Booking System to Operators of attractions, activities, theme parks, museums, tours, events, and other travel activity services.
BeMyGuest’s distribution network enables real-time connectivity and transactions between Operators of travel activities and the rest of the travel industry (travel agents online and offline, airlines, hotels). Its network comprises top travel brands in APAC and has been increasing in popularity in the Middle East and Europe. The company’s reservation system ‘Xplore’ automates and captures B2C bookings on the Operators’ own websites, ticket counters and other direct sales channels.
Prior to taking over as CEO of BeMyGuest in 2018, Blanca acted as COO for the company since 2013 when she also entered the company as a majority investor.
Her experience in the travel and digital sector spans over 15 years, with former senior management engagements at start-up travel meta search Wego.com in 2010 and at a start-up incubator owned by Enero Group in 2007.
Blanca was born in Mexico City, obtained her BA and Masters in Sydney and Executive Certification in Global Management with INSEAD Abu Dhabi and Singapore. She has been referred to by the industry as “the face of a new global travel generation”.
Since 2021 Blanca and her business partner Ola Andersen, who is also her husband and CFO at BeMyGuest, embraced a digital nomad lifestyle. They spend most of their time between the office in Singapore, the desert in Dubai, soaking in nature in Malaysia, sailing in Australia and visiting family in Norway or Mexico.
General Manager
RYSE Hotel, Autograph Collection
Boram Park
Boram Park is the youngest General Manager among 32 Marriott-affiliated hotels in South Korea. A Korean-born New Zealand national, her professional journey has traversed diverse hotel settings across the globe, ranging from three to five-star establishments within the Accor Group. With a career spanning over 12 years, she has accumulated extensive experience in notable locations including New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan.
Her most recent role involved assuming responsibility for an array of vital tasks at Swissotel, Nankai Osaka, Japan, where she oversaw front office operations, room management, promotion, marketing, fitness, and more as Director of Rooms.
As General Manager of RYSE Hotel, she has expressed a profound appreciation for the brand’s values, emphasizing individual personalities, tastes, and authenticity. She shares her sentiment regarding RYSE, stating, “We will actively promote RYSE’s unparalleled young and energetic culture, inviting all guests to partake in an extraordinary hotel experience that defies convention. Together, we will redefine the notion of lifestyle, creating an unrivaled environment that has yet to be seen.”
General Manager
Korea, Japan & New Caledonia
Air France – KLM
Boris Darceaux
Boris Darceaux has 24 years of experience in the airline industry having joined Air France in 1999.
After various leadership experiences in France, Germany and Ireland, he held General Manager positions in Belgium and Spain before taking on his current role in Summer 2022.
He is known for his focus on organization transformation and business innovation, including launching new technology such as NDC in Korea and Japan.
With his deep knowledge of sustainability in the airline industry, he initiated the first Sustainable Aviation Fuel (so called SAF) contracts with multiple partners in Korea and Japan after having previously done so in Spain.
Boris graduated with master’s degree in Business from Neoma Business School in France.
Vice President, Travel Solutions, Agency Sales, Asia Pacific
Sabre
Brett Thorstad
Brett Thorstad is the vice president of Sabre Travel Solutions, Agency Sales, Asia Pacific. In this role, Brett is responsible for brick & mortar agency sales performance across Asia Pacific and the retention and organic growth of both local and regional accounts. He works closely with Sabre’s airline, product and technology teams to drive customer-centric solution deployment in Asia Pacific.
Having joined Sabre in 2013, Brett has held several high-profile roles within the organization, previously serving as vice president of Sabre Travel Solutions, Agency Sales for North Asia, South East Asia and APAC joint ventures. Prior to that, Brett served as vice president & associate general counsel for Sabre, with global responsibility for the agency sales business. Before relocating to Singapore, Brett was responsible for leading Sabre’s legal support of global M&A activity, corporate finance, and other corporate transactions. Prior to joining Sabre, Brett was a senior corporate associate at the Dallas office of Weil, Gotshal and Manges, a prestigious international law firm.
Brett holds a law degree, earning his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center, after having completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of Calgary.
YouTube Content Creator & Artist
브루스리 TV (YouTube)
Bruce Lee
Shin Kyu Sang is better known by the public by his nickname Bruce Lee.
Bruce Lee first started dancing in 2002, and in 2004 represented South Korea in the world’s largest breakdancing competition “Battle of the Year” in Germany and won first place with his b-boy crew “Gambler”. Since then has won more than 30 world championships in over 20 countries including the UK Championship and battle Pro in France.
In 2018, Bruce began traveling with a backpack and spent 476 days travelling the world. He published a travel essay titled “I existed in an upside down world”.
Currently he runs a travel Youtube Channel with 360,000 subscribers called “Bruce Lee TV”. As a dancer, writer and traveller, Bruce has been able to draw a lot of empathy and interest from the public through his various activities.
Co-CEO
TRAVELHOLIC
Byeongkwan Jo
ByeongKwan JO is the CO-CEO of STORICITY Inc., which operates the largest travel community media in Korea, “TRAVELHOLIC (여행에미치다).”
In 2016 he co-founded “TRAVELHOLIC (여행에미치다)”, a social media-based travel community. Now it has become the largest social network-based community media, boasting 4 million followers across multiple channels including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook. With its vast content assets, creator community, and innovative tour packages, TRAVELHOLIC creates inspirational branded campaigns with national tourism boards, local governments, and lifestyle brands all over the world.
CEO & Co-founder
GlobalTix
Chan Chee Chong
Chee Chong is passionate about the tourism industry, so much so that his 15-year career has been centered around it. He has founded not one, but two start-ups to better meet the needs of the buoyant travel/tourism industry.
He is currently Chief Executive Officer and visionary of GlobalTix, an e-ticketing travel marketplace. Chee Chong was also one of the co-founders of Adventure Glamping, which has pioneered and built the first-ever “glamping” (glamorous camping) resort called Canopi, located in Bintan.
He began his travel industry career with SilkAir, the regional carrier owned by Singapore Airlines and subsequently was seconded to Singapore Airlines.
During his seven-year career with the two carriers, he handled various job functions, including postings to Thailand, Indonesia, and Central Japan which gave him invaluable exposure in the airline industry. In Central Japan, he started many initiatives, including several that continue to today, and the team was recognized with a CEO’s Merit Award for operational excellence.
Chee Chong next joined Sentosa Development Corporation as a member of the management team. He started as the Leisure Operation, Director where he was responsible for ongoing daily operations, from beach operation, attractions to ticketing and subsequently became the General Manager of Mount Faber Leisure Group.
Chee Chong holds a Bachelor of Engineering (2nd Upper) degree from the National University of Singapore.
Area Manager, South Korea
Booking.com
Chris Kim
Chris Kim leads the Korean market for Booking.com, focusing on growth for domestic, outbound and inbound business. He is an experienced leader in the travel industry, having managed regional teams for global companies such as Skyscanner, growing the brand to one of the top players in the market. Chris has also many years in the finance industry, working on M&As at private equity firms for global and domestic deals. Outside of work, he is an avid traveler and loves skiing.
Chief Commercial Officer
Atlas
Clive Ashmore Butler
Clive Ashmore Butler is Chief Customer Officer at Atlas, the global travel tech company connecting travel sellers worldwide with superior low-cost content, powered by cutting-edge technology.
At Atlas, Clive is responsible for partnerships with travel sellers and low-cost airlines and plays a pivotal role in bringing the customer’s voice to the organization. Clive’s primary focus is on supporting customer growth by providing them with comprehensive, high-quality air content, performance and seamless customer service.
Based in Singapore, Clive has over 20 years of experience in aviation across APAC and Europe. Before joining Atlas, he had established a track record of building strategic partnerships and delivering revenue growth at leading airlines, such as Jetstar, Qantas, and Scandinavian Airlines. Clive’s passion lies in delivering solutions that make the world more accessible and enable compelling travel experiences.
CEO & Founder
MyRealTrip
Donggun Lee
Donggun Lee is a founder and CEO of MyRealTrip. Lee launched MyRealTrip’s first service in 2012, while he was a university student. Started as a Tour & Activity platform, in 8 years of its operation, MyRealTrip has been fast growing to be a full-service OTA that enables seamless booking experiences to travelers. Today, it offers 18,300 tours in 680 cities around the world with over 500,000 trustworthy reviews.
Associate Director, Accommodation Business Unit
Trip.com
Hanna Sim
Hanna currently serves as Associate Director of Accommodation Business Unit at Trip.com Group. Based in Seoul, Hanna oversees the key markets in South Korea.
Hanna joined Trip.com in 2014 and was the first foreign market manager based in overseas office. With her rich experience in the hotel business and hospitality industry over 11 years prior to joining Trip.com, she has a strong understanding of operation and management of the online travel business.
Hanna holds an BBA with International Hotel Management with Finance from Les Roches Hotel Management School in Switzerland, and has more than 8 years of experience in international chain hotels in Thailand, China, and Vietnam.
COO & Co-founder
Hanseek
Heejae Jeong
– COO & Co-founder at Hanseek (Current)
– Dive Team Lead at Innovation Network Gathering (Current)
– Innovation Manager at Pentaflow (2021.9-2023.02)
– Business Development Specialist at emoty.AI (2020.11-2021.05)
– Top 3 at Draper University Demo Day (2021.02)
– Certified Entrepreneurship Consultant (2022.10)
– BA in Global Cooperation at Sookmyung Women’s University
Lead of Language Research Team
NAVER AI Lab
Hwaran Lee
Hwaran Lee is a lead of Language Research Team at NAVER AI Lab and Safety Team of HyperCLOVA X. Her current research interests are controllable language generation, trustworthy of language models, and safety & ethics for AI. She obtained Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2018. In 2012, she obtained B.S. in Mathematical Science at KAIST. Before joining NAVER AI Lab, she worked at SK T-Brain as a research scientist from 2018 to 2021.
Business Part Leader, Travel & Global Team
KakaoMobility
Hyewon Cho
At KakaoMobility, Hyewon Cho leads the Business division within the Travel and Global Team (TAG), providing global services across more than 30 countries. In her current role, she plays a vital role in shaping TAG’s strategic business direction, incubating new global initiatives, and fostering collaborations with partners to expand services on a more global scale. Her primary objective is to deliver a seamless experience to Kakao T users throughout their travel journey.
Prior to joining KakaoMobility, Hyewon served as a Senior Consultant at EY-Parthenon and as a Business Analyst at Quantum & Partners. During this time, she contributed to the development of business solutions that drove growth and success for her clients. Also, having worked as an International Consultant at the International Trade Centre, she closely collaborated with diverse stakeholders to enhance the competitiveness of businesses and industries on a global scale.
CEO/Founder
NomadHer
Hyojeong Kim
Hyojeong is the CEO/Founder of NomadHer, the leading platform for solo female travelers, with a mission to empower women through travel. NomadHer won the grand championship awarded by UNWTO as the most innovative travel startup for women’s empowerment out of 2,000 startups worldwide in 2023. NomadHer encourages solo female travelers to ensure their safety while connecting with other female travelers during their voyages. Hyojeong has been nominated as one of the 12 rising female entrepreneurs by the Rockefeller Foundation, and she has been invited to give talks by numerous global brands, including McLaren, Dior, and UNESCO in Paris.
Hyojeong started NomadHer based on her own experience of traveling to 60 countries solo, including a Trans-Siberian journey from Paris to South Korea, crossing over 15 countries. She believes that traveling solo makes women more independent, brave, and enables them to surpass their own limits while discovering their own identities.
She represented South Korea at the G(irls)20 conference, where she discussed women’s economic engagement and participation. Hyojeong holds a Master’s degree in International Development & African Studies from SciencesPo Paris. Her favorite topics include women’s empowerment, traveling, and Tteokbboki (Korean rice cake)
Founder & CEO
Auburndale Ventures
Hyuck-Tae Kwon
Mr. Kwon has invested in more than 100 startup companies in Korea since 2010. Auburndale Ventures is a new venture firm which is focusing on investing in local startups, local brands and the local market in Korea.
Product Manager, Korea
Tripbtoz
Hyunjae Na
As Tripbtoz’s Product Manager, Hyunjae is dedicated to enhancing user experiences to make travelers’ journeys more fulfilling.
Hyunjae has planned numerous travel video challenges, allowing users to reminisce about and share their past trips. Continuously, Hyunjae devises new features for the traveler community. Over the past year, he generated participation in around 40,000 video challenges and organized various participation events to encourage sharing of more travel videos.
He remains committed to staying updated with rapidly evolving trends, brainstorming ways to implement them effectively in the app and its contents. Hyunjae shows interest in utilizing user data analysis to identify areas for improvement, aiming to enhance the app’s user experience.
Co-founder & CEO
DAYOFFCOMPANY
Hyunsoo Cho
He is a serial entrepreneur with 10 years of experience in the online travel industry, having founded Korea’s only accomodation metasearch service called Allstay.
At DAYOFFCOMPANY, he is working with various media contents and dynamic tour packages to develop an ultra-personalized travel system.
General Manager, South Korea
Klook
James Lee
As Klook’s General Manager for the South Korean market, James oversees marketing and business development efforts in the region. He plays a vital role in establishing partnerships to expand Klook’s supply portfolio in order to attract global travelers to South Korea. Under his leadership, Klook’s brand presence has grown rapidly through ongoing marketing initiatives and proactive user acquisition campaigns.
Prior to joining Klook, James worked at Samsung Mobile, where he was instrumental in global marketing efforts to launch key flagship products, such as smartphones and tablets. He has also accumulated experience in e-commerce by founding an online jewelry brand.
Born in South Korea and educated in the US, James is an avid traveler who has visited 40+ countries in 4 continents, discovering hidden gems worldwide. He also served as a Squad Leader and Military Interpreter under a special joint military unit in the United Nations Command.
Founder & CEO
HIPCAL inc.
Jang Jae Young
Mr. Jang runs Banglang Salon and Jochiwon Beer in old cities. Mr. Jang believes the historical stories in local areas are the best items in order to revitalize old cities in rural areas.
Co-founder
Cinewav
Jason Chan
Director, South Korea
Agoda
Jay Lee
Founder & CEO
Tripbtoz
Jiha Jung
Jiha Jung is a Korea market expert who has built his career in different industries over the last nine years, ranging from IT to travel. He started his career as an ERP IT consultant at Hyundai where he was specialized in a financial integration. At Expedia, Jihacultivated relationships with local travel associations and tourism boards to increase the affinity for the brand, and managed a portfolio of top partners in an effort to build sustainable online market shares. He now owns and operates the online travel agency Tripbtoz Inc. based in Seoul, South Korea. Jiha holds a master of management in hospitality degree from Cornell University.
Managing Director / Co-CEO
Yanolja Cloud
Jong Yoon Kim
Jong Yoon Kim is the Managing Director/ Co-CEO of Yanolja Cloud, leading all strategic management of businesses regarding domestic/international accommodation and leisure activity platforms and cloud-based hospitality solutions. He also oversees the company’s ongoing expansion efforts with responsibility for investment attraction & corporate acquisition strategies.
As a digital professional and business strategy expert, Kim is leading the company to grow 2X bigger per year while spearheading the digital transformation of travel and leisure industry.
Prior to joining Yanolja in 2015, Kim worked across several innovative brands and sectors including 3M, Google, and McKinsey & Company
Chief Marketing Officer
SOCAR
Joonhyong Jo
Joonhyong Jo started working at a brand strategy consulting firm in 2000, when the word ‘brand’ was unfamiliar in Korea, and continues to work as a branding expert.
He has worked in various fields such as brand strategy consulting, portal & social media, on/off line commerce, fashion, food… etc.
He has accumulated successful experiences that were loved by the national sensation, including Cyworld’s mini homepy and Dotori, TOMS, which ranked 1st on NAVER’s real time search for 11 hours, Samlip Hoppang Hozzimi, and the Pokemon Bread campaign.
He owes to his experience in various industries, he has the confidence or illusion that he has a 360-degree understanding of the market and consumers.
He recently joined SOCAR and is gearing up for another big hit based on market trends and consumer understanding.
CEO
MYRO
Joonhyung Cho
- Computer Science and Business Administration from Sogang University
- Intern at the OECD Korea representatives(Paris)
- Citibank intern
- Clal finance(Israel) intern
- LG CNS
- Instructor at Korea Gangseo Polytechnic University
Head of Global Distribution
Lufthansa Group
Jose Pereira
Jose Pereira is the Head of Global Distribution for Lufthansa Group, responsible for developing and implementing global and regional distribution roadmaps together with the Regional Distribution Multipliers. Jose first joined Lufthansa in 1998 in Supervisor Sales support and after a short stint at Movenpick Hotels & Resorts as the Regional IT systems Manager, returned to the group in 2001 working for Austrian Airlines. He held several key leadership positions as the Deputy General Manager of Switzerland, Country Manager of Spain & Portugal and Country Manager of Switzerland & Liechtenstein. Jose was also the Head of Distribution Provider Management of Lufthansa Group and Head of Partner Application Management prior to his current role.
CEO & Founder
Vouch
Joseph Ling
An early childhood interest in tech and entrepreneurship led Joseph to pursue a double degree in Electrical Engineering and Economics at the National University of Singapore, where he was awarded a government scholarship – a series of events would see him spend the first years of his career working in the Innovation and Startups Group at Singapore’s national enterprise development agency, Enterprise Singapore (ESG).
Having learned the ins and outs of running successful startups, Joseph left his lucrative role at ESG and created Vouch, an international chain approved (Accor, Hyatt, IHG) travel-tech company that provides innovative technology to the hospitality segment to enhance productivity, boost revenue and elevate the overall guest experience. Today, Vouch solutions are present in more than 35,000 rooms across APAC, enabling hoteliers the freedom and ability to focus on things that truly matter.
On his time off, Joseph can be found tinkering with tech or writing codes to set up his personalised smart home. He is happiest being a father and spending time with his three young children.
Chief Strategy & Investment Officer
Traveloka
Joydeep Chakraborty
Joydeep joined Traveloka as the Chief Strategy Officer in 2019 after spending 12 years in Investment Banking, most recently as the Head of SE Asia TMT for UBS. Throughout his career journey, Joydeep spent a significant part observing the evolution of the tech industry in Southeast Asia and also advising some of its key players including Traveloka.
CSO
Yanolja
Jungyun Kim
Co-founder & CPO
FreeD Group
Kenneth Lee
Kenneth is the Co-Founder and CPO of FreeD Group. He leads the strategic product direction
from product vision and creation to delivery, building high-quality products and solutions that
delivers excellent value to the customers and aligns with the company’s business goals.
Kenneth has over 12 years of experience in Business Intelligence, Big Data, AI and Machine
Learning. Prior to co-founding FreeD Group, he led the technology team at Manulife Financial
and one of the largest pension plan organizations in Canada to revamp their data warehousing
solutions to align with the latest company governance.
A Korean native and grew up in Canada, Kenneth holds a Bachelor’s Degree in computer
engineering from University of Waterloo in Canada
CEO
Onda
Kevin Hyunseok Oh
Kevin is the Founder and CEO of ONDA, a groundbreaking technology company that provides comprehensive software solutions and distribution platforms for the hospitality industry. His vision has grown ONDA into a leading enterprise, serving over 4,000 hotels in Korea and more than 700 hotels in Thailand. To date, the company has secured over $30 million in investment capital.
Before ONDA, Kevin founded Hanintel, a booking platform specialized in B&B and Korean accommodations worldwide. His work with Hanintel afforded him a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the hospitality sector, effectively “connecting the dots,” as Steve Jobs would put it, between technological innovation and market needs.
Trained in Computer Science Engineering and with 8 years of experience as a software engineer, Kevin’s unique blend of technological insight and entrepreneurial spirit has propelled ONDA into its current phase of international expansion. As the company extends its global reach, he continues to focus on innovation and delivering high-value, scalable solutions to hoteliers worldwide.
In a journey marked by both technical acumen and a keen business sense, Kevin has consistently pushed the boundaries of what is possible in the hospitality industry. His leadership has been central to ONDA’s mission, navigating the complexities of a changing landscape while cementing the company’s position as an industry leader.
CEO
Farmpartia
Kim Eun Young
Managing Vice President, Regional Headquarters, Korea
Korean Air
Kwang Ho Ko
Kwang Ho Ko is the Managing Vice President of the Korea headquarters of Korean Air, a Skytrax 5-star airline with a global network across 100 cities.
After graduating from Yonsei University’s College of Engineering, he joined Korean Air in 1991 and served as the Managing Vice President of Passenger Network, Jin Air Passenger Sales and the Head of Regional Headquarters, China. As an airline business professional with over 3 decades of experience, he has driven growth in customer service, revenue growth and social contributions. In February 2023, Kwang Ho Ko was appointed Managing Vice President, Regional Headquarters Korea to oversee domestic strategy and innovation.
Founder & CEO
Puzzle Lab
Kwon Osang
Mr. Kwon founded the company after serving at Gyeonggi Tourism Organization Planning, International(inbound) Marketing Division. Mr. Kwon is focusing on the hidden attractive contents in local areas starting from Gongju. Mr. Kwon believes that the Korean traditional lifestyle is the best content for visitors from all over the world.
Director, Korean Office
CzechTourism
Michal Prochazka
Michal Prochazka (1975) – is the director of the Korean office of CzechTourism – the national tourism board of the Czech Republic that also overviews the Philippines market. While coming from the cinema and audio-visual industry background, he settled in Korea and established in the Tourism field already in 2012. Ever since, he tried to orient CzechTourism Korea´s office to focus more on content, influencer, and content creators collaboration. During covid time, Prochazka graduated from the progressive sustainability tourism MBA program of SUMAS Management school in Gland, Switzerland.
“People in tourism should not forget that their industry´s genuine and original value has always been the experience. It is the industry of experience.”
CEO & Founder
TIDESQUARE
Min Yoon
Min Yoon is the CEO and founder of Tidesquare, South Korea’s leading technology-focused travel agency and operator of the #1 premium OTA brand “Privia Travel” as well as Tourvis and Kyte. TIDESQUARE is at the forefront of travel technology development in the region with a strong network of global and local partnerships with industry-leading platform operators across mobile, telecommunications, financial services and more. In addition, Tidesquare has been the co-organizer and partner for WiT Seoul since 2016, fueled with the vision of contributing to the development of the travel landscape and provide an opportunity to share the latest trends and future strategies with global experts.
Prior to Tidesquare, Min Yoon worked for international brands such as Samsung, Korean Air and Hyundai Card. He specialises in hospitality services of operations and marketing, premium marketing, new business development and new media marketing.
Director, Research & Data Tech
Consumer Insight
Min-Hwa Kim
Min-Hwa’s career has been primarily focused on researching consumer behavior within the travel industry and applying data analytics technology. This work was conducted at Consumer Insight Inc., the sole third-party consumer information provider in Korea.
Her notable achievement includes the development of the “Weekly Travel Consumer Behavior Study,” which takes into consideration the timeliness all the seasonality of travel research. This study, launched in 2015, involves collecting data from 26,000 individuals annually, with 500 people surveyed each week. It is widely recognized as the only up-to-date and comprehensive datasets for consumer travel behavior in Korea.
Min-Hwa currently leads the data business division at Consumer Insight Inc., which integrates the travel research with the data from various sectors such as transportation, communication, finance, and distribution. She is deeply committed to realizing the creation and application of ‘smart data’ within the travel industry, blending both big data and small data (survey) for optimal results.
Strategy Manager
Wemeet Mobility Inc
Myoungbee Sung
Myoungbee Sung has been working as an in-house strategist in the IT domain for 7 years and is currently responsible for operations and business planning at “Wemeet Mobility”
CEO
Air Premia
Myungsub Yoo
MyungSub Yoo is the CEO of Air Premia, Korea’s first hybrid airline.
Air Premia was born to create a world where more people can travel farther and more comfortably. Air Premia provides a balanced premium and value based fare optimized for med long haul routes, all flights operated by the next-generation B787-9 Dreamliner.
MyeongSub Yoo has been CEO of Air Premia since Nov. 2021. He has over 33 years of intensive experience in the Airline Industry, prior to Air Premia, he was worked at Koram Air and Jeju Air.
Air Premia is establishing itself as a new alternative for long haul air travel, based on high customer satisfaction.
Founder & Managing Partner
Velocity Ventures
Nicholas Cocks
Mr. Nicholas Cocks is a Co-Founder and serves as Managing Partner at Velocity Ventures. He also serves as Chief Executive Officer at ReadyVentures. He serves as Board Member at Lumitics. He served as Board Member at Forest Advisorenture. He started his career in 1985 as an accountant with Arthur Andersen Co in Sydney, Australia. He left the profession in 1989 to join his father’s readymix concrete business in Adelaide, Australia. Six months later they sold the company to Adelaide Brighton Cement and he turned his attention to South East Asia.
Vice President, Commercial Market Strategy
Accor
Ollie Ansell
Ollie currently serves as Vice President, Commercial Market Strategy at Accor, a world-leading hospitality group and the largest hotel operator in Asia Pacific.
Ollie is an Australian-born, Bangkok-based Commercial Leader with extensive experience in the tourism and hospitality sector. With a background in Revenue Management, Digital Marketing, and Operations, he has held key roles within Accor in Asia and previously in Australia.
In his current role, he represents the Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, and India regions. Ollie is not only a seasoned industry leader but also a DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) advocate, highlighting his commitment to fostering inclusivity and equality within the sector.
General Manager
Grand Hyatt Seoul
Peter Hilderbrand
Peter Hildebrand is Mt Isa born and Melbourne / Brisbane bred, completing his high school years at Brisbane Grammar School in 1985 followed by an Economics degree at the University of Queensland. Since then he has pursued a career in hospitality which has taken him from the Gold Coast to Hong Kong, Perth, Beijing, Singapore, Shanghai, Fuzhou, back to Hong Kong then to Shenzhen and on to Seoul.
Much of his early hospitality career was spent in marketing roles which culminated in a role in Shanghai where he held China/Taiwan marketing responsibility for the Hyatt hotels in the region. He then moved into hotel operations in 2006 opening Hyatt on the Bund in Shanghai and then opening Westin Fuzhou (Fujian) prior to his second Hong Kong stint where he was General Manager for W Hong Kong from 2011 to 2018.
Following his time at W Hong Kong Peter rejoined Hyatt in October 2018 as pre-opening General Manager of Park Hyatt Shenzhen, successfully opening the hotel in July 2019 and since establishing it as a social and business hub in the heart of Shenzhen’s Futian district. He commenced in August 2022 as General Manager of Grand Hyatt Seoul.
Peter is married to DukSoon, a Korean national and has a 16 year old daughter Isabella who attends Seoul Foreign School. He holds an EMBA from Rutgers State University of New Jersey and among other hobbies is a passionate road cyclist and sailing enthusiast.
CEO, KGH Group
Founding Director, MoNA
Rajan Sakya
The KGH Group is known as a pioneer in tourism industry of Nepal. The Group is a family owned and run business enterprise with over 55 years’ experience and Mr. Sakya has been actively involved for 28 years. The KGH Group operates 8 hotels and travel agencies all over Nepal. Tourism entrepreneur by profession and an art patron and promotor by heart.
With the newest addition of Museum of Nepali Art (MoNA) is Nepal’s first private museum and Kathmandu Art House (KAH) is first of its kind ART CENTER dedicated to promote young artists. The museum houses artworks of traditional, neo-traditional and contemporary subjects, focusing more on intellectual entertainment by making art more interesting for general public, all while promoting young artists.
Kathmandu Art House (KAH) is an initiative of MoNA Foundation. Established in October 2021, KAH currently houses galleries and art studios of over 25 artists. KAH has successfully helped over 10 artists to make their mark in the community.
To define and platform “uniqueness”, we must explore and upscale our identity. For any communities or nation, our core identity is reflected in our art and culture. To stand out as a nation, we must go back to our roots, and present it in such a way, that will differentiate us from each other.
Senior Vice President, Travel Sellers – North Asia, Pacific & Global TMCs, APAC
Amadeus
Renaud Nicolle
Renaud Nicolle is the Senior Vice President, Travel Sellers – North Asia, Pacific and Global TMCs, based in Singapore. He is responsible for driving the overall success of our Travel Sellers business across the leisure, online and business travel verticals in these markets and our commercial relationships with the Global Travel Management Companies (TMCs) in the APAC region.
Previously, Renaud was responsible for the growth of Amadeus’ business travel segment in Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. Prior to that, Renaud was based in Madrid where he led the commercial strategy and management of the leading global networks and travel agency specialists across business and leisure travel. Renaud has also held different positions in product management and account management initially in Nice Sophia Antipolis and then Madrid. Renaud has been in with Amadeus for over 15 years.
Before joining Amadeus, Renaud worked at L’Oréal for 5 years as a project manager and production planning manager in Monaco. Renaud holds a Master of Engineering Degree from the Ecole Centrale de Paris in France.
CEO
Amuse Travel
Seo Yeon Oh
Seo Yeon (Kevin) Oh is the CEO and founder of Amuse Travel, Korea’s leading barrier-free travel agency. Amuse Travel is a social venture that helps families pursue emotional and physical recovery, communication, and harmony through travel. They provide specialized care in travel destinations for families with children, seniors, and people with disabilities through partnerships with a number of specialized travel product partners. Having supported over 36,000 travellers over the past seven years, Amuse Travel continuously strives to develop accessible travel destinations and content. Amuse Travel is also the first Korean travel agency to receive Bcrop certification and joined “1% for the planet” to protect the natural environment.
Seo Yeon (Kevin) Oh holds a master’s degree in business administration from Aju University Graduate School of Business. He served as a member of the public-private committee for the tourism disadvantaged in Seoul and a member of the Korea Tourism Organization’s expert advisory board.
Founder & CEO
Smalldays Inc.
Seol Jae Woo
Smalldays is a company which provides local trip experiences for the foreign travellers. Mr. Seol is an expert in cultural tourism in Korea and served advisory positions in several departments.
Principal BD
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Seungdo Woo
– (Current) Principal Business Development Manager, AWS (focusing on Digital Native Businesses)
– Director, SK inc.(C&C) Digital Business Development & Consulting Group
– Senior manager, Accenture (Strategy service, focusing on High Tech, Telecom and FSI)
– Senior Consultant, Booz & Company (focusing in FSI)
– Consultant, Deloitte Consulting (focusing in Telecom & Media)
Founder & CEO
Tripstore
Sookwon Kim
Sookwon Kim is a founder and CEO of Tripstore, a online travel agency.
Tripstore is a meta-search platform where Korean travelers can compare and reserve outbound package tours. Tripstore enables customers to easily find and select the right tours through filters by gathering and standardizing information for each tour from different travel agencies.
Prior to Tripstore, Sookwon Kim was one of co-founder of woowa brother Inc.(Baedal minjok). He worked as a sales director of Baedal minjok and CEO of Baemin Riders.
Managing Director, Wolf Commercial Consulting /
President, HSMAI Korea
Stefan Wolf
Stefan has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry. He started his career with Marriott in Germany and Korea. At the InterContinental Hotels Group based in Beijing he was part of a global taskforce developing an in-house Revenue Management Academy for the company. He built a revenue management culture for Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts based in Hong Kong and was responsible for global RM strategies of the Jumeirah Group in Dubai.
He set up the revenue management infrastructure for Rocco Forte Hotels based in London and was responsible for the revenue management and distribution strategy at the Onyx Hospitality Group in Bangkok. After joining the Bangkok based accommodation provider favstay as Chief Commercial Officer, he opened his own commercial consulting company.
Stefan launched the HSMAI (Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International) Korea Chapter in 2023.
Principal, South Korea
SOSV & Orbit Startups
Stella Yoh
Strategy & Marketing Director
T'Way Air
Steve Sukwan Kim
Mr. Steve Sukwan Kim began his career in the airline industry in 1989 at Korean Air mostly in passenger business division. His major careers in Korean Air were Director, Passenger marketing in America Headquarter based in Los Angeles, General Manager, Passenger Marketing Development team, Vice President, Passenger Marketing department, and Vice President, Customer Relations department in head office.
After he left Korean Air in 2015, he had a role for Dean, General Affairs and Finance at Inha University which is an affiliate member of Korean Air. He joined T’way Air in 2018 and has been in charge of Strategy, Planning, and Marketing so far.
His major contributions in T’way Air are introducing widebody aircraft equipped with new generation seats including personal electronic device holder and power outlet, launched a new membership program (T’way Plus), and preparing customized marketing based on big data technology.
Director of Global Business Development
TIDESQUARE
Sunny Chang
Sunny is the Director of Global Business Development at Tidesquare, South Korea’s leading technology-focused travel agency. She is responsible for spearheading business development and strategic partnerships across the travel vertical with the focus of enhancing Tidesquare’s presence on the global stage.
Sunny has over a decade experience in travel and hospitality with a Masters in International Trade and Economic Development from Yonsei University and a Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management from the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne. She has lived in six countries and considers herself a third culture kid. Currently located in Toronto and Tidesquare’s first North America employee, she is looking to connect with other like minded individuals passionate about travel, technology and hospitality.
CEO & Co-founder
TakeMeTour
Taro Amornched
Taro is a CEO & Co-founder of TakeMeTour, the largest peer-to-peer marketplace for local tours in Thailand & expanding to SEA. He takes a leading role in the partnership, business developments, and marketing. Prior to TakeMeTour, he was an advertising & marketing specialist at Google Singapore where he has been coaching thousands of small & medium businesses (SMBs) to growth and success online. Taro & TakeMeTour’s co-founder were recently selected as Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2018.
Vice President, Corporate Development
Agoda
Timothy Hughes
Timothy Hughes is the Vice President Corporate Development of Agoda (Booking Holdings Company). Timothy is a “retired” blogger and pundit. Previously he was the editor and publisher of one of the top online travel industry blogs (the BOOT: the Business Of Online Travel) and a writer at Phocuswire.
Tim is a former lawyer and venture capitalist. As a venture capitalist and consultant he helped a number of start-ups (inside and outside travel) secure funding, set up online media companies, managed investments in public companies and held regular client briefing sessions for a brokerage house. As lawyer he represented technology, new media, Internet, telecommunications and broadcasting clients in Australia, Europe and Hong Kong.
He first joined the online travel industry in 1999 and has worked for top tier online travel companies in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Tim has a Bachelor of Commerce and Hons Law Degree from the Australian National University.
Commercial Manager, South Korea
Go City
Will Choi
Founder
WiT
Yeoh Siew Hoon
Siew Hoon has been covering the travel industry beat in Asia Pacific for decades, starting off as a rookie reporter and going on to lead and launch the region’s key industry media titles. In 2005, she founded WiT (Web in Travel) to tackle how technology was changing travel in Asia Pacific and created a new space in the fast-growing, dynamic region with a dedicated media and events platform.
Over the years, she took WiT to new places, launching editions in Tokyo, Seoul, Middle East and Europe to keep the world’s attention focused on the three pillars of travel, technology and Asia.
Following the acquisition by Northstar Travel Group in 2014, she led the launch of Travel Weekly Asia and M&C Asia and formed the editorial team to execute the entry of Northstar to Asia.
Her work has been recognised by numerous institutions including the Singapore Tourism Board which recognised her as Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014. The WiT Singapore conference, which remains its tentpole event, has won several awards including Most Innovative Marketing Initiative and Trade Conference Of The Year.
In 2020, WiT Singapore became the first travel conference to go fully hybrid, paving the way for a new model in events.
Other than writing about travel, Siew Hoon is also a published author of titles such as “Around Asia In One Hour: Tales of Condoms, Chillies & Curries”, children’s books such as “Adventures of Habibie The Turtle” and “The Story of Baitong and Boon” and host of “A Life In Travel” podcast.
Director General, Tourism Industry Policy Bureau
Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism
Yong Hoseong
Director, Business Development
BeMyGuest
YoonYoung Choi
YoonYoung Choi is a Business Development Director at BeMyGuest, a leading B2B distribution platform and booking system, where she has been a driving force behind the company’s growth in the South Korean and global markets over the last five years. Her core responsibilities include key API distribution partnerships and the acquisition of unique, locally curated travel experiences in response to the increasing demand for immersive travel. Having more than a decade of experience in the travel and hospitality sector, YoonYoung specialises in business development and strategic partnerships, with notable stints at industry giants such as Wyndham Worldwide and Ping An Group.
Creative Director
Tchaikimyoungjin/Tchaikim
Young Jin Kim
As the Creative Director of “Tchaikimyoungjin” hanbok and ready-to-wear brand “Tchaikim”, designer Young Jin Kim is leading a new paradigm in hanbok that strives to incorporate Korean lines and emotions into the art of ‘hanbok’.
Studying under Sunyoung Park at the Seoul Intangible Cultural Heritage Center, she designed new forms of hanbok such as iconic one pieces and skirts to establish her own niche of fashion hanbok. Fashion hanbok gradually gained attention in Korea for its uniqueness and convenience and in 2015, entered the world stage with a permanent exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK. In the same year, the ‘Korean Now’ exhibition held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, France, showcased a variety of old-fashioned yet sophisticated hanbok pieces, garnering global attention.
In 2016 Young Jin Kim took on the role of costume director at the Seoul National Theater for plays, operas and classical Korean operas including “Hamlet” and “the Merchants of Venice demons”, introducing a new aspect of design to the costumes. In the movie “Love, Lies” and popular TV drama “Mr. Sunshine”, the designer prepared beautifully preserved historic hanbok that reflected the times, garnering much attention from domestic and international stars.
Designer Kim Young Jin’s hanbok continues to showcase the beauty of Korea to the world, including in the “Hallyu” exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2022 as well as permanent exhibitions in Korea to contribute to the promotion of the infinite transformations of the beautiful hanbok.
Executive Director
JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organization) Seoul Office
Yuichi Shimizu
Yuichi Shimizu is an Executive Director of Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) Seoul office which is a part of Japanese government promoting Japan as a fascinating destination to the world. When he was a graduate student, he took a year off from school and traveled some Asia and African countries to see the world through his own eyes. After the journey and the graduation, he started his career as a researcher of tourism and spent a lot of days with the local people in several areas in Japan, especially in Okinawa. He has joined JNTO in 2017, and arrived here in Seoul this May.
Product Director, Overseas Markets
Fontrip, Taiwan
Yuwei Chang
Yuwei Chang is currently serving as the Director of International Products at Fontrip Technology. With a strong background in e-commerce travel platforms and a track record of driving growth, Yuwei is at the forefront of shaping Fontrip’s international product strategy for long-term success.
In her current role, Yuwei is responsible for identifying and spearheading potential projects in the new markets that align with Fontrip’s core business of developing and promoting dynamic travel packages for a diverse range of tourism products. Fontrip has successfully implemented its solution in Okinawa, Japan, and Bangkok, Thailand in 2022 and 2023, respectively, solidifying its presence in these key markets.
Before joining Fontrip in 2021, Yuwei held significant positions in several leading e-commerce travel platforms across the Asia-Pacific region.
• Traveloka: Market Partnerships in North Asia (Tours, Activities & Attractions sector)
• KKday: Marketing Director & Supervisor of Business Development Manager
• Voyagin (Rakuten Travel Experiences): Community Manager