Thanks to everyone who joined us at Travel Massive Asia Conference 2025 in Da Nang, Vietnam at Ariyana Convention Centre last week during the HorecFex exhibition (26-27 August).
This year’s edition of HorecFex attracted 3,500 leaders and innovators in the hospitality, technology and tourism sectors across Vietnam and Asia for two days of meetings and events — including a CEO summit, exclusive networking, and our first Travel Massive Asia Conference (held on the second day).
Travel Massive Asia Conference featured 18 speakers and five selected startups from around the world providing a full-day program including: AI workshops, a startup pitch competition, expert panels on KOLs and influencers, OTAs and travel tech, and industry travel trends, a founders interview, and networking.
🏆 Congratulations to Mo Shariff and the team from hoppswap who were awarded the winner of the closely contested travel startup pitch competition, sponsored by Travel Trends Podcast. The team at hoppswap also receive tickets to Travel Trends AI Summit (Online) and FutureTravel Summit in Barcelona.
We had an absolute blast putting this show on for our community. To our speakers, attendees, sponsors and supporters, and to the HorecFex and Furama Resort team for hosting us — thank you and see you next year!
👉 See more photos on the Travel Massive Vietnam Facebook page.
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I'm still smiling from this event and all the incredible people from the Travel Massive community who turned out to support our first conference in Asia. Thank you!
This event took Travel Massive to the next level, and I am certain it will be looked back on as the moment where we started our next phase of growth to bring great ideas and people from our global community to the big stage.
Ultimately, these events are about conversations and connections, and the content is clever entertainment to make us think, reflect, and act on issues that are at the core of our industry's future. If our conference in Da Nang sparked a hundred new conversations and friendships that can help to make the future of travel better, and help our members be more successful, then I'm very proud of our efforts.
Finally, there's a long list of people to thank for making this possible — so here's a quick roll call to my fellow speakers and startup finalists: Natalya (for being the best event co-organizer in the world), Julie (for all last minute Grabs), Megan (our Vietnam co-leader), Sally (for saying yes), Ric (for his amazing MCing), Seiya and Ally (for bringing their cool kid on holiday!), Samuel (thanks for the coffee in HCMC), Paul and Benoit (for a mind-blowing vibe coding demo), (Mad) Max (for the Hai Van lounge laughs), Anne (for making the flight on time), Jacobo, Tan (for the local seafood tour), Crystal (see you in Singapore), Phuc Le (thanks for the AI semiconductor centre tour), Chris (following on IG!), David (for his baller interview) and Maeve. To the startup founders who pitched: Bobby (for his QR payment magic), Matt (see you in Cape Town), Ruben (for AI hustle), Mo & Zaheer & Omer (after party legends), and Fran (thanks for my surfing t-shirt!).
Thanks to our amazing and supportive sponsors: Heads on Pillows, The Gypsy Rooftop & Lounge, 7Bridges Brewing, and Ruou Lang. And to Travel Trends AI Summit and FutureTravel Summit for supporting the startup pitch awards with prizes.
And of course, thanks to all the Travel Massive community members who joined us from Bangkok, Singapore, LA, HCMC and more. You are the best community in the world!
great event! thanks for organizing.
✨ A few other highlights from the week:
🤖 Visiting the Da Nang AI Semiconductor and AI Centre. The day after the conference, Paul, Benoit, Ric and I visited the AI centre in the north of Da Nang. It's a sprawling high-rise tech complex that has already developed partnerships with Nvidia, Google, Meta and other tech partners. Thanks to director Phuc Le for the tour and it's fascinating to see the kinds of AI companies in development. Da Nang is truly a tech and hospitality centre.
🛕 Visiting My Son Sanctuary, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre about an hour's drive from Da Nang. This was a side-quest with Ric Gazarian (and I'm glad I went) to visit some unique temples built between 4th and 13th centuries with Hindu art and architecture. Well worth the afternoon to visit and explore the temples (they are in ruins but quite well preserved) and catch the cultural show.
🧵 Getting tailored in Hoi An. I was fortunate enough to have a few days in Hoi An (about 40 minutes drive south of Da Nang) before the conference and got a tailored jacket and shirts made by @natalya's tailor from the Hoi An market (01 Tran Phu, Hoi An - inside the market, shop 027). I'm a jacket convert, look out for me at the next event!
🤝 The CEO summit. HorecFex hosted 25 CEOs at a separate summit on the first day, where we heard from Dan Nang government as well as the National Tourism Association and got to ask all kinds of interesting questions such as "when will there be a direct flight from Da Nang to Australia?" (answer: when they get more widebody aircraft).
🚂 My failed train attempt. Yes, I tried taking the train from Da Nang to HCMC (the week before the conference) but I lasted all of 6 hours into the 20 hour trip after the aircon gave-up and I lost internet. I got off at Quy Nhon (with 15 hours to go) and spent the evening exploring the city. Then I took a flight the next day. I'll complete the trip next time!
🎙️ Interview with Chat.travel. I got to meet the amazing Tracie May (instagram.com/_traciemay_) who hosted the Chat.travel interviews at HorecFex. Chat.travel is founded by local traveltech entrepreneur Tan Mai (who spoke on our traveltech panel) who founded the transportation brand travelthru.com. Look out for mine and Ric Gazarian's interviews in a upcoming episode on their website.
🍻 Quiz night at the Mad Den, and Aqua Betty - these two venues are frequent expat hotspots, which I discovered thanks to my good friend Jason who lives in Da Nang these days. Here, digital nomads are a real thing - everyone is working remotely on some kind of business, tech platform, or freelance writing. We spent probably too much time at these two bars but the conversations were worth it! Head to these places to find your crew.
For our speakers and startups, here's photos from after-party at The Gypsy Rooftop bar:
Talk about "team work makes the dream work"! Now let's do this in TORONTO!
From a few beers on a rooftop in Sydney...
What an inspiring event! ✨ I feel so grateful to have been part of this special moment in Da Nang with the Travel Massive community. The energy, the connections, and the ideas shared truly reflect the future of travel. Congratulations to everyone who made it happen! I’m leaving even more motivated and excited for what’s ahead! 🌍💫
Congrats Ian! And Mo & the Hoppswap team on winning the start-up pitch competition
It was an honor to be there and meet so many amazing people! Thanks for reaching out, Ian! And congratulations on such a massive achievement!