Rewiring the future of travel: Simplenight

At the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s PATA Travel Mart 2025 in Bangkok, David Barrett, host of the Trends series, sat down with Mark Halberstein, founder and chief executive of Simplenight Inc. It was a conversation that revealed not just the scale of Halberstein’s ambition but also the extent to which the travel and lifestyle industries are being reshaped by digitalisation. Halberstein explained the company’s purpose. “We are a digitalisation engine,” he said. “We are advancing the digital transformation and innovation efforts of some of the largest countries and brand ecosystems in the world. We enable residents and tourists to book and order anything, anywhere, anytime.”

The language was broad, but the application specific. Simplenight is, at heart, an AI-powered super-app builder and platform provider, one that creates the digital infrastructure for governments, banks, airports, hotels, credit card companies and travel organisations. Unlike the early days of online booking, where an Expedia or a Booking.com competed for the traveller’s attention, Simplenight does not present itself as a consumer brand. Instead, it slips into the digital clothing of its clients, powering services that allow a citizen or a tourist to order not just a flight and hotel but parking, event tickets, ground transport and even dining reservations in one place.

Halberstein’s personal story is central to this vision. “I used to run a concierge business,” he told Barrett. “I catered to film studios, brands, celebrities. I was planning all of their experiences and travel and wanted to take this to the next level and build it for global scale because for me, I believe if you can help, you should. The idea was the niche of clients I was dealing with at the time was not big enough. I wanted to do more for the world.”

The ambition is certainly not modest. Simplenight already claims to operate across more than 5,000 cities in 191 countries, with a supplier network of over 10 million bookable products. By the end of 2026, Halberstein said, it will be powering digital solutions for more than 30 countries globally. “Our heaviest concentration is Asia and the Middle East currently,” he added.

Barrett pressed him on whether this meant a comprehensive sweep of travel products. “Does that mean all elements of travel, so from air to hotel accommodation and transportation, it’s all bookable within the environment that you’re creating?”

“Correct,” came the reply. “Hotels, vacation rentals, flights, ground transportation, rental cars, event tickets, tours, restaurant reservations, even parking.” The emphasis, Halberstein suggested, is on blending travel with entertainment and lifestyle, creating what he described as “a single ecosystem” in which everyday purchasing is as integrated as leisure travel.

The customer base, crucially, is not defined by age groups or demographics in the traditional sense. “It’s really the clients of our brand partners,” Halberstein explained. “We enhance the ecosystems of our government partners, our real estate partners, our travel partners. So, their clients, based on their specific segments, are able to utilise our solutions branded for them.” In this way, Simplenight remains firmly in the background, a digital scaffolding upon which others can build.

Sustainability, Barrett suggested, is now an unavoidable subject. Halberstein agreed. “Of course. We are enabling all of these ecosystem partners, primarily the governments, to really tap into their sustainable aspirations. We have a massive project that’s in the works right now coming out of a well-known entity in the Middle East that’s going to be very focused on this.”

The approach is strictly white-label. “Everything is under a business-to-business-to-consumer lens,” he said. “We white-label and customise for the branding of our partners. And those partners can be governments, hotels, airlines, even airports.”

Simplenight’s strategy is not simply to provide a booking engine but to digitise entire economies of experience. Its remit extends to more than 30 categories, from accommodation and air travel to food delivery, wellness, medical services, shopping and nightlife. In this sense, it is less a travel company than an infrastructure builder for the experience economy.

The choice of PATA Travel Mart was deliberate. “We’re here to collaborate with governments and tour operators and help them with their digitalisation efforts,” Halberstein said. Asia-Pacific, he argued, is “massive” in terms of growth, particularly in Southeast Asia and India. “For us, it’s critical. And it’s an absolute necessity for us to help with the digital transformation efforts here.”

China, inevitably, was raised. “It’s a more sensitive kind of zone,” Halberstein admitted, careful with his words. “But as things improve, hopefully, and global sentiment shifts, we would love to collaborate.”

In a global economy increasingly defined by the frictionless movement of people, money, and data, Simplenight’s ambition to be the unseen digital backbone of travel and lifestyle is as audacious as it is timely. Whether governments and corporations will allow one company to weave so deeply into their ecosystems remains to be seen. But as Halberstein’s conversation with Barrett made clear, the future of travel may be less about booking a ticket and more about inhabiting a digitally stitched world where every experience, from a taxi ride to a theatre seat, is just a swipe away.

Thanks to Pacific Asia Travel Association for facilitating the conversation on camera.