Highlights and Photos from Travel Massive Asia Conference 2026 in Da Nang, Vietnam

What a couple of fantastic days in Vietnam! Our second Travel Massive Asia Conference brought the community together in Da Nang and Hoi An on 21–22 August for two days of learning, pitching, conversations, and plenty of connecting. Here are some of our favourite moments from the event in photos (use the gallery above — there’s 100 photos!). You’ll find the full program and speaker line-up on the event page and you can follow our Instagram Highlights Reel from our time in Da Nang.

Here’s a recap of what happened during our time in Vietnam.

Day 1 — Conference in Da Nang at Ariyana Convention Centre

We kicked off at the Ariyana Convention Centre in partnership with the HorecFex hospitality exhibition in Da Nang. The morning was all about rolling up our sleeves in hands-on workshops, with Heads on Pillows on getting found in the AI era and In Marketing We Trust on building smarter AI-driven marketing campaigns. These workshops were popular and highly informative.

From there, we took to the main stage for the day’s conference. Five finalists took the stage for our Travel Startup Pitch Competition, presented by Airwallex and the Travel Trends Podcast. Congratulations went to Brad Bitler, founder of Migo — a platform turning messaging-app numbers into bookable local businesses — for winning the top spot from our judging panel. Brad also wins tickets to FutureTravel Summit in Barcelona and a demo spot at the Travel Trends Summit in October. The five startup finalists also demonstrated at our exhibition booth throughout the day.

The afternoon sessions brought our panels and debates, where subject-matter experts dug into the latest topics shaping travel — the creator economy in Southeast Asia, the trends to watch for 2027, and a lively OTAs-vs-direct-booking showdown. A highlight was Tracie May‘s fireside chat with Sean Mulhern of One Life Adventures which covered foreign investment and tips for founders. We closed the day with networking drinks sponsored by Airwallex and 5 Elements Brewing Co.

Day 2 — Masterclasses at Namia River Retreat, Hoi An

Day two took us to the beautiful Namia River Retreat in Hoi An, for a more intimate day of masterclasses. With workshops and sessions hosted both at the venue and on The Merchant River Cruise and Restaurant, it was a setting that made deep conversations easy — covering everything from storytelling and hotel photography to cross-border payments and building revenue beyond Google. Attendees enjoyed a catered lunch at Namia’s acclaimed farm to table restaurant.

Then came the hotly contested Travel Massive Quiz — a nail-biter down to the final questions! We wrapped the day with sunset drinks before boarding a cruise up the river to Hoi An Old Town, ending the night at Market Bar above the old market, with a local DJ and views over the water.

New friendships were made, and everyone left with fresh ideas, new learnings, and a bigger community than they arrived with.

Thank you to the Travel Massive community and supporters

A huge thank you to all our sponsors — Airwallex, In Marketing We Trust, Heads on Pillows, Stay22, and Namia River Retreat; our Party Sponsor Nuna; event sponsor 5 Elements Brewing Company; our event host Secret Experiences; and our media partners Travel Trends Podcast, Vietcetera, and Saigoneer. Thank you also to HorecFex and the team at Furama Resort for co-hosting Day 1.

Finally, a huge thank you to every speaker, panelist, and attendee who showed up and made Travel Massive Asia Conference so special. We can’t wait to see you again next year!

❤️ We’ll be back on 19–21 August next year — save the date, and we’ll see you there.