Southeast Asia Travel Is in a 'Golden Age' of Innovation – Tech Companies Want In

The travel industry in Southeast Asia has been growing steadily, but the industry doesn’t have the tech to keep up. That’s why travel tech giants see an opportunity for new business, and a cluster of venture capital firms are investing in the region.

“The travel industry in APAC is transforming rapidly because traveler behavior is changing at every touchpoint of their journey…The travel industry must be ready to adapt, innovate, and leverage technology to power better travel experiences,” said Paul Wilson, vice president of Amadeus Hospitality, Asia Pacific, in an email. 

Amadeus said Asia is gearing up for a “travel resurgence,” which it outlined as one of five travel trends to watch in 2025. That’s in part because some Asian countries are extending visa‑free travel and simplifying entry restrictions, meant to attract international tourists and digital nomads. 

There could be a downturn in the coming months, however, particularly as a result of U.S. tariffs squeezing the Chinese economy. But actual travel numbers remain stable for now, as  The South East Asia Travel Show host Gary Bowerman and Hannah Pearson recently discussed on the Skift Travel Podcast.

Travel activity in the region has been growing steadily until this point. 

Bookings to Asia from France, for example, grew 40% between 2022 and 2024, according to data that Amadeus provided to Skift. Air France has responded by adding nonstop flights to the Philippines, Thailand, and Maldives. 

IATA said that Asia-Pacific airlines reported a 9.9% increase in demand in March 2025 compared to the prior year. And it says that the Asia-Pacific region will be responsible for 50% of global air passenger growth over the next 15 years, driven by growing wealth in the region. In Southeast Asia, eight in 10 households are expected to enter the middle class in the next decade, according to Amadeus. 

The rise of online travel agencies like Indonesia-based Traveloka have increased local trust in completing bookings online. 

A 2024 report by Google, Temasket, and Bain shows that online travel agencies are among five leading sectors in Southeast Asia’s growing digital economy, along with transport, e-commerce, online media, and financial services.  

Online travel companies sold $46 billion in bookings in 2024, surpassing 2019 levels by about $15 billion, according to the report. 

Funding Next-Generation Travel Tech 

Businesses in the region have not kept up with digital trends, and that’s why venture funds like Singapore-based Tin Men are focused on developing the next generation of business-to-business software products, according to Murli Ravi, a partner at the firm.

“[Business owners] have been using phones in their personal lives and saying, ‘My personal life is very convenient. Why is my business run on pen and paper?’ Ravi said. 

Tin Men just raised its second fund, totaling just under $45 million, he said. The firm has a preference for startups that seek to modernize traditional companies.

There’s a cluster of similar venture capital firms, mostly based in Singapore. 

They’re funding companies for hotel tech (Zuzu Hospitality Solutions), cross-border payments (YouTrip), eSims (Truely), loyalty points (Heymax), online travel (TripFactory), ticketing (GlobalTix), value-added tax refunds (Utu), and more. 

Asia Partners, a private equity firm in Singapore, in January closed a $474 million fund. The firm is a top investor in Singapore-based RedDoorz, an aggregator of budget hotels. 

Oliver Rippel, a firm partner, has high hopes for the growing digital economy. Tech startups in Southeast Asia raised $909 million in the first quarter of 2025, 30% higher than the fourth quarter of 2024, according to a report from data analytics firm Tracxn.

“We continue to believe this decade will be a golden age of entrepreneurship and innovation for Southeast Asia, and we are focused on accelerating that progress,” Rippel said in a statement 

A Unique Opportunity in Fintech

The travel industry in Southeast Asian countries has vastly different issues than India and China. One of the biggest is challenges with cross-border payments. 

The majority of consumers in the region prefer to pay for goods using a mobile wallet that connects to their bank account, according to a 2024 survey by Visa. That method of payment can be difficult or impossible between countries, so some tech companies have been developing ways to ease cross-border payments. 

“This dynamic doesn’t exist in the U.S. because everyone’s got a credit card,” Ravi said. 

One of Tin Men’s portfolio companies is GlobalTix, a platform that connects users with merchants of ticketed experiences. GlobalTix has a wallet feature that allows users to spend money across the startup’s network for merchants, no matter the country. 

“That’s a great example of something that’s purpose-driven for local reality,” Ravi said.

The Singapore-based firm 1982 Ventures also told Skift previously that there’s a lot of opportunity in fintech. The company recently participated in a series A round for IPiD, which is focused on cross-border payments. 

YouTrip, a Singapore-based startup focused on cross-border payments and corporate travel, raised $50 million in 2023 led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Similar to competitors Revolut and Wise, the app allows users to transfer currencies between 40 countries.