Lobby and Crewfare, two travel-technology startups, captured the People's Choice Awards at the Global Startup Pitch held during WiT Singapore 2026, according to trade publication Hospitality Net.

The recognition puts both companies in front of the OTAs, hotel chains, tour operators, DMO technologists and procurement teams who attend Web in Travel's flagship conference to source distribution, marketing and operations partners.

For travel sellers, the WiT People's Choice carries weight that extends beyond a standard pitch win. The audience vote is taken by attendees who skew toward vendor evaluation — product, innovation and procurement leads at hotel groups, online travel agencies and destination marketing organizations. Winners effectively receive a live, peer-validated read on which startups have credible product-market fit among the buyers most likely to become reference customers.

What does a People's Choice win actually do?

Winning the audience vote compresses the sales cycle a startup otherwise spends on cold outreach to enterprise travel clients. Trade press coverage that follows a WiT win typically prompts inbound from hoteliers and DMO technology teams who attended the conference, watching for which vendors the buyer crowd validated. Prior editions of the Web in Travel startup pitch have produced commercial pilots and distribution partnerships in the weeks following the conference — though the Hospitality Net source reporting does not disclose whether either company signed pilots on-site or queued pipeline announcements for the coming weeks.

What does the source tell sellers — and what does it leave out?

The Hospitality Net report names the two winners but does not disclose:

• Voting counts or a total attendee figure for the pitch session
• Funding stage, ARR or headcount for Lobby or Crewfare
• Any signed integration, distribution or marketing agreements announced at WiT Singapore 2026
• Commission models, API surface area or the travel-product categories either company serves

Without those data points, the People's Choice win functions as a buyer-interest signal rather than a procurement recommendation for travel sellers evaluating new vendors.

What should travel sellers watch next?

Travel sellers monitoring startup pipeline shifts should watch for three follow-up signals from both companies once post-conference disclosures land:

• Customer announcements — signed pilots or commercial agreements with hotel chains, OTAs, tour operators or DMOs that would move either company from pitch-stage visibility into active deployment.
• Pricing mechanics — published rate cards, commission structures or revenue-share terms that determine whether the platforms compete on incumbent economics or carve out a new cost category.
• Distribution footprint — integration announcements with GDSs, bedbanks or wholesale channel managers that would put the tools on existing travel-agent booking screens.

A People's Choice vote moves the needle on cold-outreach cost for a startup; it does not, on its own, shift the distribution or commission economics that travel agents and OTAs already manage.

Expect follow-up coverage from Hospitality Net and the broader WiT trade press as the conference's enterprise-meeting and matchmaking cycles close. The real commercial test of any pitch-stage award is whether the recognition converts into signed enterprise deals — not whether it produces headlines.