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Emerging Travel Group partners with Agoda to expand reach. Adapted from official press releases using AI tools. How we use AI Emerging Travel Group (ETG), a global travel technology company, has announced a strategic partnership with digital travel platform Agoda to expand their accommodation supply and distribution. This collaboration will see Agoda connect to ETG's hotel supply via the RateHawk API, adding millions of accommodation options across Europe, the US, Latin America, and the Middle East to its marketplace. The partnership aims to broaden Agoda's offerings for travellers from Asia and beyond, providing more choices for those planning trips to popular destinations worldwide. For ETG, this move supports its strategic expansion in the Asia-Pacific region by strengthening its hotel supply and enhancing customer choice. Erik Akhmetgaliev, Regional Director APAC at RateHawk, highlighted the significance of the partnership, stating, "Partnering with Agoda is an important step for RateHawk in the Asia-Pacific region. ETG's hotel inventory, with its extensive geographic coverage, is already highly valued by our B2B partners globally." Danil Dachkevitch, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Agoda, added, "This partnership combines Agoda's deep understanding of Asia and global customer reach with Emerging Travel Group's diverse supply, giving travellers more choice across both platforms." Nikita Elagin, Managing Director for Consolidator Business Unit at ETG, noted the positive impact of Agoda on sales and customer experience across various destinations. The partnership also aligns with ETG's focus on supply chain optimisation, leveraging synergies between the two companies to enhance their offerings. ETG, founded in 2010 and based in the UAE, operates travel brands for individual travellers, B2B professionals, and corporate customers in over 190 markets. The company employs over 3,900 people globally. This story was selected and published by a human editor, with content adapted from original press material using AI tools. Spot an error? Report it here. Stay connected.

Agoda promotes Kris Suebjaklap to global marketing chief. Thu, 8th Oct 2026 (Today) Agoda has promoted Kris Suebjaklap to Senior Vice President and Global Head of Marketing, putting a long-serving executive in charge of the travel platform's global marketing organisation. Suebjaklap has spent more than a decade at Agoda, working across both consumer and business-facing marketing. Her remit now covers brand, performance and product marketing across global markets as the company moves to align those functions more closely. The appointment comes as travel companies reassess their marketing strategies in response to changing consumer behaviour, broader use of artificial intelligence and a more fragmented media environment. Agoda has used AI in campaigns and internal marketing processes while adapting its local market approach in Asia Pacific and other regions. At Agoda, Suebjaklap also helped establish the company's B2B marketing function, giving her oversight of how the group communicates not only with travellers but also with accommodation partners, affiliates and distribution networks. That broader brief reflects the structure of online travel businesses, which depend on both consumer demand and partner supply. Under her leadership, a key priority is likely to be using AI in day-to-day marketing execution rather than in limited pilot projects. Agoda has highlighted workflows, personalisation, decision-making and customer experience as areas where AI can affect commercial outcomes. That emphasis mirrors a broader shift among large consumer internet companies. After early experimentation with generative AI tools, many marketing teams are now under pressure to show measurable returns through smoother customer journeys, more efficient media buying and better conversion from discovery to purchase. For travel platforms, this can be especially significant because booking decisions often involve long consideration periods, multiple devices and repeated comparisons across destinations, prices and providers. Marketing teams increasingly use data to identify where potential customers drop out before completing a booking and to adjust messaging or offers accordingly. Agoda has also been developing market-specific campaigns designed to connect local culture with a consistent global brand identity. In Japan, it recently launched its "GO GO with Agoda!" campaign featuring actress Riisa Naka as the brand ambassador for that market. The campaign highlights a recurring challenge for international consumer brands in Asia: how to adapt storytelling to local pop culture and travel habits without fragmenting identities across countries. Large travel platforms often need to balance standardised performance marketing with more tailored brand campaigns in competitive local markets. Regional strategy Agoda's recent marketing efforts have ranged from destination-led campaigns across Asia to activity tied to entertainment and cultural moments, including Eurovision. These programmes show how travel brands are trying to remain visible beyond direct booking searches by linking themselves to wider media and lifestyle conversations. That approach has become more common as digital advertising channels grow more crowded and expensive. Travel companies that once relied heavily on search and performance media have increasingly expanded into broader brand activity to influence earlier stages of the customer journey, when travellers are still deciding where and when to go. Suebjaklap's promotion also underlines the importance of executives who can manage both brand-led storytelling and performance-led acquisition. In many online travel businesses, those two disciplines were historically run separately, but growing pressure on efficiency has encouraged closer links between creative, media, product and data teams. Her background across consumer and B2B marketing may also prove relevant as Agoda balances the interests of different groups within its marketplace. Online travel platforms must appeal to travellers seeking convenience and price while also maintaining trust and visibility among hotel owners, accommodation providers and distribution partners. The promotion places Suebjaklap among a group of senior regional marketing leaders taking on broader global mandates from Asia-based businesses. As companies headquartered in the region expand internationally, they are increasingly elevating executives with deep local market experience to oversee cross-border brand strategy and technology-led marketing operations. Agoda has not outlined further structural changes alongside the appointment, but the role suggests continuity in a strategy that more closely ties together AI adoption, local cultural relevance and marketplace growth across its marketing organisation.

Agoda launches Marina Bay Sands Flagship Store for experience-led travel. The custom digital storefront brings together Marina Bay Sands' rooms, suites and resort experiences, expanding visibility across Agoda's booking journey. Digital travel platform Agoda has partnered with Singapore's Marina Bay Sands to unveil a Marina Bay Sands Flagship Store on the Agoda platform. The customized digital storefront brings together Marina Bay Sands' rooms, suites and select resort experiences, allowing travelers to explore and book them in one place. As the first custom flagship store dedicated to a single property, the storefront features rooms and suites from Marina Bay Sands' Paiza Collection and Sands Collection, alongside select in-resort experiences. Through visual storytelling and editorial content, travelers can explore how the resort's accommodation and wider dining, entertainment, and cultural offerings can complement their stay. "Marina Bay Sands and Agoda's collaboration offers travelers a richer travel perspective through seamless planning," said Andrew Smith, Senior Vice President, Supply, Agoda. "Travelers often start with the experience they might have first seen on social media, whether that is a restaurant, a theatre show, or a cultural activity and then look for the stay that brings the trip together. Reducing friction in travel planning encourages more travel and helps position our partners' at pivotal moments that influence booking decisions." According to Agoda, a new generation of high-intent travelers is increasingly influencing luxury travel, with customized and personalized vacations accounting for over a third of global luxury travel spend, as reported by Strategic Market Research. Agoda's 2026 Travel Outlook Report points to a similar pattern emerging across Asia, where surveyed travelers are increasingly planning trips around the experiences they want to have, including culinary experiences at 31%, followed by cultural exploration at 25%. Agoda describes the Flagship Store as a multichannel marketing solution that enables hospitality brands to tell their stories, foster customer loyalty and support revenue growth. Through its dedicated storefront, Marina Bay Sands will gain a targeted presence from the early stages of travel discovery and consideration. Agoda supports the initiative with homepage visibility and branded search placements through its Connected Ecosystem feature, which allows store entry throughout the traveler journey, from discovery to booking.