PhocusWire's theme months for 2019 - all in one place

We started PhocusWire's theme months in 2018 as a way to provide deeper analysis on particular subjects throughout the year.

This year we continued that coverage on key trends and also added regions into the mix, so that we could devote our attention to issues that ordinarily wouldn't get much focus in the day-to-day coverage of news.

We, again, plan to repeat the theme month program in 2020 (featuring new subjects and parts of the world).

Here are some of the highlights from each theme month during 2018:

January

• Inside cruise, part 1: Keys to the sector’s smooth sailing in the future
• Inside cruise, part 2: Digging into distribution
• Inside cruise, part 3: The technical transformation
• Inside cruise, part 4: The marketing mix
• In The Big Chair - Felix Schneider of Dreamlines
• In The Big Chair - Arnold Donald of Carnival Corporation

February

• China, part 1: The big (and getting bigger) picture
• China, part 2: A conversation with Ctrip founder James Liang
• China, part 3: The state of the travel startup ecosystem
• China, part 4: The digital distribution model
• In The Big Chair - Kevin King of Shiji
• In The Big Chair - Ethan Lin of Klook
• In The Big Chair - Tarry Wang Liantao of Xiaozhu
• Q&A: Airbnb China president on growing the business, regulators, targeting millennials
• Digital disruption in China shows anything possible from e-commerce giants
• Q&A: Tujia CBO Jennifer Li on Chinese homestays, overseas growth, Airbnb

March

• Ground innovation, part 1: The investment path
• Ground innovation, part 2: A new model for car rental
• Ground innovation, part 3: A driverless future in travel and tourism
• Ground innovation, part 4: Getting onboard the rail (r)evolution
• Why a women-only ride-share app opted for crowdfunding (after kickback from male VCs)
• In the Big Chair - Nicolas Brusson of BlaBlaCar
• The effect of IPOs on transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft

April

• Middle East, part 1: How a young, digital-savvy population is impacting travel
• Middle East, part 2: The travel startup scene
• Middle East, part 3: How homegrown travel brands are diversifying distribution
• Middle East, part 4: Aviation innovation
• Middle Eastern travel marketers see Amazon as biggest disruption threat
• Using tech to overhaul one of the most troublesome parts of the travel experience

May

• Latin America, part 1: Mobile, social drive travel forward despite lingering challenges
• Latin America, part 2: Investors take notice as travel startup activity picks up
• Latin America, part 3: The evolution of buses, bikes and scooters
• Latin America, part 4: Challenges and opportunities in travel distribution
• In The Big Chair - Estuardo Ortiz of JetSmart
• In The Big Chair - Juan Pablo Lafosse of Almundo
• How payment tech could revolutionize travel brands in Latin America

June

• Travel payments, part 1: Beyond credit cards and cash
• Travel payments, part 2: Balancing friction and risk in fighting fraud
• Travel payments, part 3: Virtual payment tech and its impact on business travel
• Travel payments, part 4: Hopes and hurdles for startups
• Q&A: Worldpay's Thomas Helldorff on challenges, trends and predictions for travel payments
• Q&A: Payment complexities in the growing tours and activities sector
• Q&A: How an emerging market online travel agency facilitates payments - offline

July

• India, part 1: A vast travel opportunity, now led by digital
• India, part 2: Investors express optimism as travel market grows
• India, part 3: Can a focus on trains turn Ixigo into India’s leading OTA?
• India, part 4: Ebix CEO Robin Raina on his big plans to disrupt travel
• In The Big Chair - Ritesh Agarwal of OYO Rooms

August

• Business Travel, part 1: The (major) investor opportunity
• Business travel, part 2: TMCs focus on innovation to stay competitive
• Business travel, part 3: How technology is improving risk management
• Business travel, part 4: How data management can minimize trip "leakage"
• Business travel, part 5: The evolution to "any channel" management
• In The Big Chair - Ariel Cohen of TripActions
• In The Big Chair - Kurt Ekert of CWT
• In The Big Chair - Doug Anderson of American Express Global Business Travel
• In The Big Chair - Dan Ruch of Rocketrip
• Q&A: BCD Travel's Yannis Karmis on innovation, new tech, threats to legacy TMCs
• Could digital ID be the key to achieving a frictionless travel experience?
• To self-book or not to self-book - that is the business travel question
• What owning the end-to-end traveler experience means for Airbnb for Work

September

• Destination marketing, part 1: The evolving - and expanding - role of DMOs
• Destination marketing, part 2: Opportunities in search and social
• Destination marketing, part 3: On the road to smart, "real-time" tourism
• Destination marketing, part 4: How emerging destinations balance marketing and management
• Q&A: Doug Lansky on "unbalanced" tourism and tech's role in destination management
• Taking the "D" out of DMO: How Pinterest widens opportunities for marketers
• In The Big Chair - Keith Tan of the Singapore Tourism Board
• What’s good for millennial travelers is good for all generations

October

• Southeast Asia, part 1: How low-cost options, mobile reliance are driving travel transformation
• Southeast Asia, part 2: Investors, entrepreneurs look to specialized solutions in complex region
• Southeast Asia, part 3: Homegrown travel brands know consumers best but struggle to educate market
• In The Big Chair - Ross Veitch of Wego
• In The Big Chair - Amit Saberwal of RedDoorZ
• Southeast Asia a “melting pot of trends” in online travel
• Q&A: Agoda CMO on how it tackles Southeast Asia
• Q&A: Travelfish's Stuart McDonald on the OYO and Instagram problems plaguing Southeast Asia

November

• Brand Business - Emil Martinsek of GetYourGuide
• Brand Business - Lindsay Nelson of TripAdvisor
• Brand Business - Arjan Dijk of Booking.com
• Brand Business - Lish Kennedy of Vrbo
• Brand Business - Maria Elena Velardi of Wayaj
• Brand Business - Steven Taylor of Accor Hotels
• Brand Business - Norbert Richard Meinike of Blacklane
• Brand Business - Daniel Gelemovich of Volaris
• When should travel startups hire a CMO?

December

• PhocusWire's theme months for 2019 - all in one place
• PhocusWire editorial team's favorite interviews of 2019
• VIDEO: Amazon may inspire a new world for travel sales
• The most popular video interviews by PhocusWire in 2019
• Airports in 2020 and beyond - it's not just all about the airlines
• 2020 Vision: Travel's movers and shakers to keep your eyes on
• Sounding Off: A year of PhocusWire's weekly editorials
• Why 2020 will be the "Year of Airbnb"
• PhocusWire's newsmakers of the year 2019
• The next decade of change in the travel industry