WiT JAPAN & NORTH ASIA

As Senior Director of Product at Booking.com, Adrienne Enggist leads the product strategy for a diverse, cross-functional selection of teams charged with making Booking.com the easiest way for travelers to build, manage and experience their trips.

Adrienne joined Booking.com in 2010 as one of the company’s first dedicated product owners and has been an integral figure in growing and developing the consumer product department. Over the years she has helped launch and build teams for a number of consumer-facing product initiatives including email marketing, the Genius loyalty program, Guest Reviews, and the AI Trip Planner.

Adrienne has worked in the airline and online travel industries since 1998, holding a variety of different roles with Icelandair, XL.com, the Avion Group and the Holiday Extras Group. Prior to her career in e-commerce and digital travel, she was a professional chef. Adrienne is originally from the United States and currently lives in Amsterdam with her family.

Michael is leading the team who manage Expedia Group’s lodging inventory across Asia Pacific. In this role, he works with lodging supply partners to maximize their success and potential on the Expedia Group platform and stay ahead of digital innovation.  He also works with peers across Expedia Group to create great traveller experiences and be an advocate for the APAC region.

Michael joined Expedia Group in 2015 as Representative Director. In his seven-year tenure with the company, he has built a unique B2B knowledge that can benefit all supply partners as they charter the complexities of the travel ecosystem. Prior to joining Expedia Group, Michael worked at Microsoft where his last role was Director of Corporate Accounts.

Michael holds a degree in Applied Mathematics from M.I.T. He was born in Okinawa (Japan) and raised in the U.S. from the age of 7.

Ken was GIC Japan’s Country Head, where he looked after Real Estate, Integrated Strategies and Value Add investments. Over his 19 year career with GIC, Ken led the Japan team, building up a core portfolio of real estate assets across office, residential, retail, logistics and hospitality sectors, in addition to assisting GIC with its other investments in equities, private equities and infrastructure. Ken’s vast network in Japan and Asia also helped GIC establish a strong brand name and build up investments in various financial assets across different industries. Ken also sits on the board of directors for Christel Vie Ensemble, is co-chairperson for LIVES Tokyo, and the former ULI Japan Vice Chairman. Ken graduated Order of Troy receiving a BSc in Business from University of Southern California.

Ken was elected as an outside director at the general meeting of shareholders at Keihan Holdings Co.,Ltd.

Ms. Dongre joined Phocuswright in 2014. Coney supports various syndicated, special and custom projects and helps the team in data collation and management. She is adept in travel market sizing and travel trends’ analysis. She is the author or co-author of Phocuswright’s annual reports for different regions, with a focus on the APAC travel market. Coney is a frequent speaker at Phocuswright’s conferences and other strategic company partner events.

Prior to joining Phocuswright, Coney worked as an IT consultant with Infosys Limited, where she used her analytical skills to understand the requirements for projects and lay a foundation for project development. Coney is an engineering graduate from Bhopal University and holds an M.B.A. (marketing) from Symbiosis University. Apart from work, Coney enjoys gardening and bird-watching.

Brett Henry is a travel tech industry leader and a seed stage, angel investor. He brings a strong travel, travel tech, and VC/start-up executive network combined with 20 years of B2B travel technology industry experience across disciplines including product marketing, business development, strategy, planning and sales.

He thrives on leading dynamic and diverse teams driving customer focused, innovative, growth opportunities.

He is a speaker at travel technology events globally including Digital Travel Summit, Aviation Summit, Webintravel, EyeforTravel, China Travel Distribution Summit, and ITB-Asia.

My key strength are logical thinking, strategy development, sales and negotiation, offline and online marketing and execution power. I always challenged new industry when I have changed my career. I was a material engineer when I took over my family business. After getting an MBA in the US, I challenged as a consultant in an automobile industry. Then, I enhanced my sales and marketing skills in FMCG industry by working with Philip Morris. I stretched my EC and IT skills through my career with Amazon.co.jp. Now, I am challenging to stretch a start up company as co-founder CEO in travel and AI industry.

Timothy Hughes is the Vice President Corporate Development of Agoda (Booking Holdings Company). Timothy is a “retired” blogger and pundit. Previously he was the editor and publisher of one of the top online travel industry blogs (the BOOT: the Business Of Online Travel) and a writer at Phocuswire.

Tim is a former lawyer and venture capitalist. As a venture capitalist and consultant he helped a number of start-ups (inside and outside travel) secure funding, set up online media companies, managed investments in public companies and held regular client briefing sessions for a brokerage house. As lawyer he represented technology, new media, Internet, telecommunications and broadcasting clients in Australia, Europe and Hong Kong.

He first joined the online travel industry in 1999 and has worked for top tier online travel companies in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Tim has a Bachelor of Commerce and Hons Law Degree from the Australian National University.

Takero Kaneda is a board member CSO of Goldwin Inc., one of the leading sport/outdoor apparel companies in Japan, where he is responsible for the corporate mid-long term strategies with new business developments. Takero started his career as a member of Mitsui &Co., Ltd., a leading trading firm in Japan, and after Mitsui, he joined the start-up, Golf Digest Online, Inc., as COO and successfully made an IPO in 2004.

Max is a Japanese-British lawyer & entrepreneur based in Tokyo. Inspired by backcountry snowboarding and Japan’s relationship with nature, he launched Kammui in 2023. Kammui’s mission is to connect travellers with unique nature-based experiences and empower local guides and communities.

Tomotaka leads Data Driven Re-Design Strategy Team, a part of Strategic Impact, which offers solutions to social issues.

Before joining EY, he worked for a government financial institution and a global consulting firm.

He spearheads initiatives for solving various social issues, focusing on formulation of data-driven strategies.

In recent years, along with supporting policymaking for tourism, he has been playing a leading role in offering data utilization platform services in cooperation with local governments and tourism-related operators throughout Japan. Now he is recognized as one of the leading experts in ecosystem and platform businesses.

Committee Member of the Japan Tourism Agency (Promotion of tourism DX)
Committee Member of the Japan Tourism Agency (Functional enhancement for JNTO certified Foreign Tourist Information Centers)
Evaluator for Sustainable Countryside Stay Models Creation Support Program

Fumiko Kato founded WAmazing Inc. and assumed the post of CEO in July 2016 with the goal of helping international travelers to Japan.

The company subsequently released WAmazing – a smartphone app for overseas tourists. Together with a free SIM card (available at major airports in Japan), the app offers ready-to-use internet access and virtual travel agency services. These allow tourists to book hotel rooms and help them pay for activities – indispensable offerings for visitors staying in Japan.

Fumiko graduated from the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies at Keio University, Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), and joined Recruit Co., Ltd. in 1998.

She was mainly involved in project development of new online businesses, including the launch of Jalan Net and Hot Pepper Gourmet, and then transferred to the Jalan Research Center. While working at the research center, she launched “Snow Magic 19” – a project that used big data to analyze tourism trends with the aim of rejuvenating winter sports tourism in Japan, followed up by various “Magic ☆☆☆” applications.

As Regional Manager of North Asia at Booking.com, Luiz Henrique Rodrigues de Paula
oversees Japan and South Korea, managing business growth, operations and strategy, based in
the Tokyo office.

Luiz joined Booking.com in June 2022 to lead the growth strategy for the region, after 8.5 years
in leadership roles at Groupon, including Director of Sales Strategy for APAC and General
Manager in Japan. An entrepreneur at heart, he also founded two startups, including Centro
Educacional Horizonte, which served thousands of students in Brazil.

Luiz is an avid traveller with a passion for exploring the diverse cultures and cuisines of
Asia-Pacific. He enjoys the vibrant energy of cities like Tokyo and Bangkok, as well as the
serenity of hidden onsen towns and mountain trails in places like Kamikochi. This balance of
urban excitement and natural tranquillity fuels his love for uncovering unique regional
experiences.

Luiz holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economy from and a MBA in Business Administration and
Business Intelligence from FIA Business School, both in Brazil.

• Started carrier in Toppan Printing in 1994 to plan and promote the Internet business, which was still extremely new in Japan.
• He was stationed on the west coast of the United States from 1999 to 2002 and graduated from the University of Rochester MBA in 2004.
• After returning to Japan, he contributed to business growth as the head of the management department of the company’s digital content business company.
• Moved to Rakuten Group in 2007 and led PMI (Post Merger Integration) of domestic and overseas acquisition companies as C-level officer. He became an Executive Officer of Rakuten Group in 2011.
• He launched the Rakuten Mobile (MVNO) business in 2014 which became No. 1 market share in 2017.
• After that, he oversaw the sales and marketing departments as Managing Executive Officer of Rakuten Mobile, Inc. He joined Agoda, a Booking Holdings company in March 2020. He is currently in charge of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan as the Associate Vice President and head of the North Asian region.
• His lifework is to improve the life of consumers by utilizing the technology/IoT and to reform existing industries with tech advancements and aiding the digital transformation of Japanese industries

Naohisa has served as the Head of Strategy & Business Development for the Travel & Mobility Business at Rakuten group since July 2021. In December 2024, he expanded his responsibilities to include serving as the Head of the Mobility Business.

Naohisa began his career at Accenture and joined Rakuten in 2012. He worked in the Rakuten Ichiba e-commerce business, where he managed the Business Development Department and the Marketing & Web Design Department. In 2021, he transitioned to Rakuten Travel after being responsible for the acquisition of a Silicon Valley startup and post-merger integration operations at Rakuten’s U.S. office. His expertise in strategy, business development and management has played a key role in driving new business initiatives and the rapid growth of every business he has been involved in.

Naohisa earned a Master’s degree from the University of Tokyo.

Victor Osumi is Managing Director and President – Japan for Delta Airlines. Victor is responsible for managing Delta’s entity in Japan and developing the business strategy to build Delta’s presence as an industry leader in the Japan market.

Victor joined Delta in July 2019 from Marriott International, where he served as Area Vice President, Japan and Guam, responsible for the operations of 43 Marriott-branded hotels and over 30 new hotels under development.

Victor graduated from Florida Institute of Technology with a BS in Aviation Management Flight Technology and then joined the United States Ari Force.

Throughout his career, he has assumed leadership roles with major global hotel companies, including Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels Group (IG), Marriott International, and Prince Hotels. Victor holds an FAA Certified Commercial Pilot and Flight Instructor’s license (CFII).

Howard is co-founder & ceo of Section L, an apartment-hotel management company with 9 properties across Tokyo and many more in the pipeline.  Section L’s vision is to build and manage hotels without strangers, where guests can easily connect with and enhance each other’s journeys through intuitive, in-house social networking app and a community-centric service team.  Prior to Section L, Howard worked for Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts as an asset manager as well as a founding team member of the JEN by Shangri-La brand, with over 5,000 rooms across Asia Pacific.  His other experiences include guest service with Four Seasons Hotels, hotel development advisory with Horwath HTL, and founding a short-term rentals platform in Japan.

Howard is originally from Taipei, Taiwan and is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.

As Head of Strategic Partnerships at GetYourGuide APAC, Chris Lee leads the regional brand partnership strategy, driving business growth through strong collaborations across the travel ecosystem, including airlines, hotel chains, and digital platforms. With 17 years of experience in building and scaling teams, Chris specializes in developing strategic partnerships, optimizing market penetration, and leveraging technology to accelerate business performance.

Prior to joining GetYourGuide, Chris led key strategic initiatives at Booking.com, Amadeus GDS, Vrbo, and Amazon-backed LivingSocial, playing a pivotal role in scaling businesses. Throughout his career, he has built and nurtured impactful relationships across the travel, e-commerce, and digital media industries, driving innovation, market expansion, and revenue growth.

Chris holds a master’s degree from UCLA Anderson Business School. Currently based in Singapore, he enjoys traveling, golf, and cooking for his family.

Yu Taniguchi was born in Kanagawa, Japan, in June 1984, and spent approximately 10 years of his childhood in Singapore. Before founding his own company, he gained experience in sales, legal, and corporate planning at a global integrated payment management platform provider. In March 2011, he founded VESPER Inc. (now TableCheck Inc.) and assumed the role of CEO. Under his leadership, TableCheck has driven global expansion as a Japan-born tech company, offering a platform that connects restaurants and guests worldwide.

David Liu has a strong background in product management, with experience at several well-known companies. David began their career at Tencent as an Associate Product Director, where they worked from 2007 until 2013. David then joined JobsDB as a Senior Product Manager for a brief period. In 2013, they moved to Yahoo, where they served as an Ecommerce Product Manager until 2016. Currently, Liu holds the position of Chief Product Officer at Klook Travel, which they have held since January 2018.

David Liu attended The Chinese University of Hong Kong, but there is no information available regarding the degree obtained or the field of study.