ITB Asia 2026 happening in Singapore from Oct 21 to 23, 2026
SINGAPORE, 21 October 2026: Asia’s largest B2B travel trade show, ITB Asia 2026 officially kicked off in Singapore this morning at Level 3 of the Sands Expo & Convention Centre, and is expected to welcome over 18,000 participants, 1,500 buyers, over 1,000 exhibitors and more than 160 speakers from across the global travel and tourism industry from October 21 to 23, 2026.
BorneoTalk is once again proud to be a Media Partner for ITB Asia, joining other global accredited media platforms and other international travel industry stakeholders for 3 days of presentations, panel discussions, case studies and showcases, covering key topics across leisure, MICE, Corporate Travel and Travel Technology. This year’s ITB Asia is located at both Level 1 and Basement 2 of the venue, alongside MICE Show Asia and Travel Tech Asia.
This morning’s opening ceremony was graced by Singapore’s Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry, Gan Siow Huang as well as Executive Director of Messe Berlin Asia Pacific, Darren Seah. The Ancient Sound of Dunhuang, a cave-style immersive experience theatre group from China, first took to the stage, bringing to life ancient melodies and dance that connects the East and West.
In his welcoming remarks, Seah highlighted this year’s theme of ‘Experiences in Motion: Human-Centred Design in Travel & Tourism’, sharing that the 2026 edition of ITB Asia will discuss key priorities including experiential tourism, emerging technologies and business events.
“Business meetings and networking are at the heart of ITB Asia, but the value of the show also lies in the knowledge and market intelligence that the industry can take away from it. ‘Experiences in Motion: Human-Centred Design in Travel & Tourism’ reflects how traveller needs and expectations are evolving alongside technology and changing business models. Our conference brings the industry together to exchange insights, share practical knowledge and explore new opportunities across travel, tourism and MICE,” said Seah.
The opening ceremony also saw two keynote speeches. Senior Partner at Simon-Kucher, Lovrenc Kessler, with his topic ‘The Global Travel Outlook: What’s Next for Asia-Pacific’, shared shifting demands, emerging markets and changing traveller behaviours across Asia Pacific, as well as the opportunities and challenges that come with it.
Meanwhile, President APAC, WebBeds, Brett Henry challenged some of the biggest assumptions about AI, competition and the future of travel in his keynote titled ‘When Everyone Has AI, Who Wins?’. In his keynote, he shared on how the travel industry is changing with AI, especially when every hotel, airline and travel company have access to the same technology.
