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Travel tech this week: Ride-hailing companies grow and expand worldwide
Ride-hailing companies worldwide are having a moment recently. With investments poured into companies to fuel growth and expansion as well as drivers’ fear of coronavirus. Wheely plans to raise USD 30 million “Luxury” alternative to Uber plans to raise USD 30 million to fuel its expansion overseas. The start-up currently operates across three European markets - London, Paris and Moscow. Founder and CEO Anton Chirkunov said that it is seeking extra funding next year to expand into either the US or Asia. The company has its sights on three major cities in America — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — and four across Asia — Tokyo, Seoul, Osaka and Shanghai. It is allotting USD 10 million on each new city expansion. Grab raises USD 850 million for fintech Singaporean unicorn Grab just secured a USD 850 million investment from investors to boost its digital payments and financial services. Japan's largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MBFJF), put up more than USD 700 million, with the rest coming from TIS, a Japanese IT solutions company. So far, Grab has secured more or less USD 1 billion to achieve its super app ambitions. "Ensuring greater access to affordable and accessible financial services and products is key to growing financial inclusion in Southeast Asia," Grab president Ming Maa said. Uber drivers avoid airport pick up because of coronavirus Due to fears or coronavirus and lack of guidelines from Uber, some drivers are taking the matter into their own hands by avoiding picking up passengers from airports, cutting down their hours, and cleaning their cars more frequently. US health officials have warned companies to operate under the assumption that an outbreak could occur in the United States in the near future. Drivers said they haven't heard any official communication from Uber about best practices for avoiding transmission or how the company planned to act in the case of an outbreak. Spin is coming to Europe Electric scooter company Spin is expanding beyond the US. Reports claimed that the company is launching its electric scooter rental service in Cologne, Germany this Spring, with launches in other German cities planned to follow. However, the scooter-sharing company will face stiff competition when it launches in Germany. In Cologne alone, Spin will be competing against three other ride-sharing companies; Bird, Lime, and Circ. Beyond Germany, the company is also interested in entering other European markets and has reportedly applied for a permit to operate in France. Although it is also exploring ways of entering the British market, this will be difficult while electric scooters remain illegal for use on public roads in the country. There are indications the law could be changed in the UK, but for now, the plans are in their preliminary stages.
Travel tech this week: Book your flights on WhatsApp and plan your trip on KAYAK
This week in the travel tech sector, DiDi will launch electric vehicles in Mexico this year. Meanwhile, EaseMyTrip makes flight booking easier via Whatsapp and Kayak makes trip planning easier via TripBuilder. DiDi introduces first EV fleet in Mexico Didi Chuxing will launch Latin America’s first shared electric vehicle (EV) fleet through its app in Mexico, as the company further invests in sustainable transportation innovations in the region. In 2020, DiDi Mexico plans to roll out a number of new initiatives on smart and sustainable urban mobility. As the first new energy initiative for ride-hailing in Latin America, DiDi will introduce a fleet of electric and hybrid vehicles to its platform in Mexico. In phase one of the initiative, over 700 units of EV/HVs from major international OEMs, including BYD and Renault, will be available on the app through cooperation with local leasing partners and drivers. 200 EVs are exclusive for DiDi drivers. DiDi already operates the world’s largest EV fleet, with nearly one million EVs available on its platform in China, accounting for over 40% of all EV miles driven in the country. “We are inspired and humbled by what we have learned in Mexico, which is one of the world’s most complex and exciting transportation hubs,” said Martin Mao, General Manager for DiDi Mexico. “We will continue to invest in building a fair and sustainable ecosystem for new transportation together with all our users, driver-partners and community stakeholders.” Book your flights on Whatsapp EaseMyTrip has announced integration on WhatsApp messenger to book flight tickets. The integration will allow customers to book flight tickets at competitive rates for their desired destination through WhatsApp itself. This association with WhatsApp is significant for EaseMyTrip to further develop its market in India in online air ticket bookings. For activating the autonomous interactive program, customers need to send a message on Whatsapp on 9990330330. The collaboration is expected to bring about convenience to the customers in a variety of ways, such as: They don’t even have to visit any website/app to book flight tickets; they just have to send a message on WhatsApp. They will keep receiving price drop/increase alert on their WhatsApp related to the flight they searched. EaseMyTrip bot will also provide users with suggestive dates when they can get relatively lower prices for the flight-route they enquire for. KAYAK launches ‘Trip Builder’ feature KAYAK is testing its new ‘Trip Builder’ product feature that makes planning your next series of trips even easier. The helpful tool designed for anyone travelling to more than one destination will calculate the cheapest routes between multiple cities for the biggest savings. As the first and only metasearch to support this product globally, KAYAK is giving travellers more options to design a trip that best fits their needs and their budget. The initial launch is powered by Kiwi.com, the online search engine that combines flights and ground transportation options. The new tool takes the pain out of planning multi-city journeys by finding the cheapest route possible. For example, now travellers considering a trip from the UK to New York, with stops in Dublin and Paris can easily view the most cost-effective way to get from one city to the next, in one simple search. To book your next multi-city trip using ‘Trip Builder’ on KAYAK, travellers can take the following steps: Head to www.kayak.co.uk and switch the dropdown menu from ‘Return’ to ‘Trip Builder’. Browse other popular multi-city trips or start creating your own. Choose the starting point, what places you want to visit and for how long you want to stay in each of those places. From there, KAYAK will do the work for you and calculate the cheapest route.
Travel tech this week: Aussie founder dedicates start-up to support bushfire-affected businesses
For travel tech this week, speaking of making lemonade out of lemons; one start-up in Australia has transformed itself into a travel tech platform that aids businesses affected by the fire to attract customers. In other travel tech news, know how much digital skills are required in a job in the travel industry and Europe-based ride-hailing Bolt adds a new feature on its app. Start-up supports bushfire-affected businesses Inspired by people who want to support fire-stricken communities, Zoë Manderson, co-founder of travel start-up Alpaca Travel, has turned her travel tech platform to highlight businesses affected by the bushfires and encouraged tourists to take their dollars there. Alpaca allows brands and tour operators to create maps and plot routes, tours and itineraries for prospective travellers. The site, Roadtrip for Good, also invites people to plot their own journeys, based on the information. Roadtrip for Good is partly intended as a way for them to show they’re open for business again. While seeing the platform make a difference in the short term is satisfying, Manderson stresses this is a long-term solution. In the coming weeks and months, she will be working on directing people to Easter and winter roadtrips. Roadtrip for Good will try to encourage people who had summer trips planned in January to re-book their travel in autumn and beyond. Digital skills required (not much) For many, the start of a new year is the perfect incentive to make important changes in their life. One aspect a lot of Brits will tend to focus on is their job – as they look to move to another company or even pursue an entirely new career path. In fact, recent research by workplace accreditation body Investors in People found that 24% of Brits will actively seek a new role in 2020. Interested in the employment market, The Knowledge Academy analysed the latest findings from Gov.uk, who analysed over 8 million job adverts, to discover the UK industries that most and least require job applicants to have specific digital skills. The research found out only 27% of roles in accommodation and food services need applicants to have specific digital capabilities. In order to land a job of your dreams, look at the required digital skills on the job specification of the roles you are interested in and then list them – this provides a focused approach towards what you should be aiming to learn. Bolt adds stops Bolt has announced the addition of new functionality in its ride-hailing app allowing users to request rides with stops at up to three locations with an estimated fare for the entire journey. The multiple destinations feature is being rolled out globally to Bolt users on Android and iOS this month. It caters especially to groups of passengers requiring different final destinations along a route and for customers collecting people on the way to a shared final stop. Bolt offers an XL category in London with access to vehicles suitable for groups of up to six passengers. Customers create additional stops by selecting the small plus sign on the right side of the address box when searching for a destination in the latest version of the app. The driver will see the route with all the stops in their Bolt driver app after the ride has commenced.
Travel tech this week: Flying taxis by 2023 and more
For this week’s travel tech stories, Uber and Hyundai showed a glimpse of the future of transportation with flying taxis. Companies strive for expansion with start-up The Guild raising new funds and OYO Vacation Homes appointing new chief operating officer. Flying taxis by 2023 Uber and Hyundai showcased a full-size mock-up of a flying taxi at CES 2020 that the companies hope will take off by 2023. The electric plane, called Uberdai, will carry a pilot and three passengers up to 97 kph. Eventually, the plane will be automated. This technology will offer faster transportation, especially in gridlocked cities. Uber has been aiming for the skies for several years now, teaming up with various aerospace companies to build a fleet of mini aircraft. At the Uber Elevate Summit in June 2019, it revealed a concept created in collaboration with Jaunt Air Mobility – a business that's aiming to create a fully autonomous aircraft by the end of 2029. This design was a cross between a helicopter and a plane, with a rotor to get it off the ground, and wings for gliding once airborne to conserve power. Uber intends to launch its first swarm of flying cars in the US and Australia in 2023, with schemes planned for Dallas, Las Vegas and Melbourne. We'll keep you updated as we learn more over the coming months. The Guild raises USD 25 million Austin-based hospitality tech start-up The Guild just raised USD 25 million to fuel its expansion in several markets by 2021. The Guild partners with apartment building owners to provide short-term rental units to travellers. However, what sets it apart from its competitors is that it gives guests a lot of techy touches, like personalized text communications for check-in and check-out procedures and the ability to have food and other travel items ready for you when you arrive. Since co-founders Brian Carrico and Chris Herndon launched The Guild in 2016, the startup has expanded from seven apartments at the Corazon on East 6th Street in Austin to more than 800 units in Austin, Dallas, Cincinnati, Denver, Miami and Nashville. The new round came from traditional venture capital firms Maveron, Convivialite Ventures and ATX Venture Partners — and from strategic real estate partners RXR Realty, Corigin and Nicol Investment Group. That comes after a USD 8.5 million Series A led by Maveron in 2018. In addition to its market expansion, Herndon told Inno that The Guild generated USD 10 million in revenue in 2018 and more than USD 20 million in 2019. He expects that 100% year-over-year growth to continue as the team adds new features and new markets. OYO Vacation Homes has a new COO OYO Hotels & Homes has announced the appointment of Raj Kamal as Chief Operating Officer of OYO’s Vacation Homes business in the UK and Europe. The appointment comes as part of the company’s efforts to continue to invest in and attract world-class leadership, to drive innovation and growth in the company. OYO Vacation Homes offers beautiful private homes in great locations, which are fully managed by OYO and make for a perfect choice for staycations. OYO Vacation Homes comprises multiple brands, including OYO Homes, Belvilla, Dancenter, Danland, and the Germany-based Traum-Ferienwohnungen. OYO Vacation Homes offers international and domestic travellers, as well as city dwellers access to over 125,000 homes around the world. The company manages over 35,000 homes and services 90,000 homes through its digital services business, in over 50 countries. OYO Vacation Homes is also present in Asia and North America. Raj comes with 25+ years of rich experience across financial services, investments, strategy and consulting domains. Prior to OYO, he was Global Head of Investments at PayU, the payments & fintech arm of Naspers Limited. Prior to this, Raj was a Partner with McKinsey & Company for over 12 years and, as the head of the Payments practice for APAC, he served banks, insurers, payments companies and asset managers across Asia-Pacific. “It's inspiring to see how a truly global brand from India is reinventing living spaces. The company has achieved great heights in a short time; its leadership is among the finest in the Indian start-up ecosystem. It will be my honour and privilege to work with the team. I look forward to the opportunity that lies ahead for the OYO Vacation Homes business in the UK and Europe, which are critical growth markets for the company. I am deeply energised by the dedication of thousands of OYOpreneurs who are driving guest and homeowner delight every day, and I hope to make a meaningful contribution to the business’ growth,” Kamal said.
Travel tech this week: Start-ups raised millions for expansion
For travel tech news this week, it is indeed happy holidays for some start-ups as they raised millions to fuel their expansion. TravelFlan raises USD 7 million Travelflan team TravelFlan, a Hong Kong-based travel and lifestyle AI digital solution provider, has announced a USD 7 million Series A investment led by Sogong PinPoint Kclavis AI Travel Tech Fund (SPK Fund), with the participation of Artesian Capital, Linear Venture, Construction-Radiant Tech Ventures Fund, Hong Kong Government ITVFC Fund, SOSV and its accelerator Chinaccelerator. TravelFlan provides AI chatbot and backend simultaneous auto-update data processor (SADP) services for its clients. Its core solutions include text-based/voice-enabled AI personal concierge, supply chain or inventory management system, big data analytical engine and inventory aggregator/processor. “Closing this round will put TravelFlan to a new level of commitment, and to motivate the team to strive more. Since we launched our B2B2C-focussed AI digital solutions at the beginning of 2018, we have seen an increasing demand in the region. TravelFlan aims to bring their solutions to a much broader audience and adopt in-depth local strategies to provide more high-quality service to our clients,” said Abel Zhao, CEO and co-founder of TravelFlan, in a press statement. Currently, the start-up is working with industry leaders including China Mobile, Samsung Group, SITA, Hong Kong Airlines and many more to tackle their revenue and customer experience issues. Yanolja eyes IPOs in Korea, Singapore Kpop idol Hani South Korea-based unicorn Yanolja is considering listing in Seoul and its Singapore operation abroad over the next two years. Yanolja chief Lee Su-jin was quoted saying that the listing of its Singapore unit could take place in 2021 on the back of the high growth potential in the global market. The listing could be followed by IPO of the company’s Korean headquarters. Lee said Yanolja is valued higher in the overseas market than the local market, thus the decision to list the Singapore unit first. The firm, whose name means “Hey, let’s play”, aims to generate about USD 60 million in global sales in 2020, more than twice as high as this year’s USD 26m, Lee said. Yanolja will use the proceeds from its planned IPOs to ramp up research and development in technology, such as Internet of Things and artificial intelligence. Yanolja joined the unicorn rank in June after securing USD 200m in its Series D funding round backed by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd and Booking Holdings Inc, a US firm that operates in the hotel booking space. The firm started as an online search portal for love hotels, guest house rooms, pensions, and small hotels in 2005 with just USD 42,000. Yanolja raised USD 8.5m in its venture round in 2015, led by South Korean investor Partners Investment. In 2017, the firm raised USD 51m in private equity from Sky Lake Investment, an alternative asset management firm based in Seoul. A decade later, Yanolja claimed to be the first company to offer a reservation platform for mobile phones for its own and others’ love hotels, a major shift in an industry which relied on walk-in customers. Pluto raises USD 1 million Pluto founders James Birch (left), Alex Rainey (middle) Harry Williams (right). Travel insurer Pluto has announced the launch of their mobile app after completing its beta trial with a limited customer group. Customers with an active policy will now be able to: Easily check their cover and policy online and offline Make instant changes to their policy Submit claims in minutes when something’s gone wrong Speak to a human around the clock for support and assistance. CEO Alex Rainey said: “We’re super excited to share this with our new and existing customers. The Pluto app allows our customers to manage, check and change their TravelTech Pluto, launches industry-leading mobile app 2 policy quickly straight from their phone. “Most insurance is buy and forget, and if you do want to make a change, get help or make a claim, then good luck! Insurers aren’t known for their leading mobile apps or allowing their customers to do everything in minutes from their phone. This is us starting to change that.” Pluto has closed over GBP 830,000 (USD 1 million) in investment in 2019 alone, with over GBP 660,000 coming from a recent crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs. This investment will be used to expand the London team, launch new travel services via their mobile app and to grow their customer base.
Travel tech this week: Alexa, pack my bags!
For this week, technology proves to make it easier to book accommodations and activities. Now, new tech makes it easier to pack your bags for a trip with the help of Alexa and Contiki. EaseMyTrip adds “Activities” EaseMyTrip.com has launched ‘Activities’ on its platform that allows travellers to book tickets on various attractions and activities like amusement park, staycations at resorts, cruises, boat tours and microlight flying. This new service will also allow users to book travel experiences from on our website through their desktop/mobile site or the mobile application. Customers visiting domestic destinations including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa and international destinations like Dubai, Prague, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Singapore, London, Paris and New York are able to get information about major tourist attractions of these cities. They have an option to choose from a variety of activities at these locations including adventure sports, water sports and cruises. Prashant Pitti, Executive Director, EaseMyTrip, said, “We have added ‘Activities’ in our array of service for allowing the travellers visiting a place to explore some of the best and most popular attractions. These are fit for those visiting a place for either business or personal purposes with little time to spare without having to wander at places and rely on tour guides. Such activities can offer travellers experiences at their destinations and aim to enhance their trip.” He further said, “All the activities available on our platform can be booked separately but can also be clubbed with the tour packages provided by the Company on special demand of the customers.” Alexa, pack my bags! It can be hard to know what to pack sometimes. But don't panic, Contiki has sorted out the packing checklist with simple and environmentally sustainable lists that go straight to your phone. Contiki is the first travel operator to team up with Alexa to launch an Amazon Alexa Skill that creates bespoke holiday packing lists. Contiki: Pack My Bags is now available to download on Amazon, and was designed in response to the rising use of voice-enabled technology, with 45% of millennials using voice-assisted technology and 47.4% of the smart home market comprising of 18 – 34 year-olds2. The Contiki Alexa Skill will make packing a breeze by creating personalised packing lists that are perfectly tailored to traveller’s holiday destinations. Alexa then collates your packing list into an interactive list within the Alexa app, as well as sharing via email to the account attached to the user’s Amazon ID. As part of the Contiki Cares initiative, the skill encourages users to think about environmentally conscious travelling with advice on how users can pack more sustainably. The “Pack My Bags” voice skill recommends products that are more sustainable, such as ocean-friendly sunscreen and discourages the use of single-use plastics. Air Peace of Mind home rentals now listed on Marriott’s Homes & Villas Air Peace of Mind, the short-term rental property management company which manages hand-picked properties across central London, has announced today that select home rentals are now available on Homes & Villas by Marriott International. The home rental offering, launched in April this year, provides travellers with access to unique villas and private residences in exceptional destinations around the world. Members of the travel programme, Marriott Bonvoy, can earn and redeem points at all homes including those offered by Air Peace of Mind. Before being launched to the platform, a selection of Air Peace of Mind home rentals in London were audited and reviewed by Marriott International to meet the company’s high standards in quality, safety, design, service and amenities. Air Peace of Mind was founded in 2016 by Emily Bruce-Watt with the intention of creating a professional management company for carefully curated homes across West and South-West London. The company now manages more than 180 properties and has grown organically, through providing exceptionally high standards of customer service to both owners and guests. A strong value for the company is transparency, and owners are charged a fixed commission fee for the management and marketing of their property.
Travel tech this week: The ‘Everyday Essential’ app and more
This week in the travel tech sector, Meliá Hotels took its commitment to combat climate change a bit further by allowing Meliá Rewards members to redeem points in exchange for internationally certified carbon credits and use them to support a choice of sustainable projects which help develop, protect and conserve natural ecosystems. Meanwhile, Omio is awarded by Google as 'Everyday Essential' app. An ex-Googler created a car subscription start-up, Carasti. Environmental blockchain Melia Cam Ranh Bay Meliá Hotels International has partnered with Climatetrade, a leading Spanish start-up in carbon-credit management, to allow customers to get directly involved in combatting climate change. Climatetrade has become an international leader in environmental blockchain, allowing companies to offset GHG emissions online in a very simple and direct way. Starting in 2020, MeliáRewards members will be able to redeem points in exchange for internationally certified carbon credits and use them to support a choice of sustainable projects which help develop, protect and conserve natural ecosystems. Both the carbon credits and projects are certified under the highest standards of the UN CDM Registry and Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). Meliá Hotels International thus becomes the first hotel company in the world to offer loyalty programme members the chance to become directly involved by acquiring carbon credits to assign to certified projects. The project reinforces the company’s commitment to combatting climate change, along with other initiatives such as the use of science-based targets (SBTi) to calculate its carbon footprint, the optimisation of resource management and energy use, the monitoring of hotel facilities and the acquisition of renewable energy with a guarantee of origin since 2014, among others. All of these initiatives aim to encourage more ambitious emission reduction targets in the business world and hasten the transition to a low-carbon economy. The 'Everyday Essential' app In Google's annual ranking of the best apps, Omio was highlighted as an award-winner “designed to make your life a little easier each and every day”. Providing paperless ticketing across Europe and the UK, Omio is the only platform to offer one-call troubleshooting with live e-chat and 24/7 English-language phone customer support with direct access to major supplier systems. The Omio app exists to ensure an uncomplicated travel experience for explorers, eager to focus wholly on the journey rather than the jargon. The calm colour palette and uncluttered interface encourage a simple search process filtered by starting point and destination; travel mode; departure time; and price that leads to a summary and comparison of the possible routes. For each option, the app notes whether print-free mobile ticketing is available and then enables secure payment via PayPal or credit card. Users can save payment method and currency options in their app profile for ease, and the app collates mobile tickets for upcoming travel connections in one place. Bertrand Etienne said: "When searching, Omio suggests routes between destinations by different modes of transport so the user can see the best value options, based on cost versus duration, for example, to ensure they're getting the best deal on the best route. Over 18 million active users have downloaded the Omio app so far and ever-increasing levels of European cover means there are always more destinations on offer." Own, rent, or lease a car A new player in the market has stepped up in Dubai to take away the hassle from UAE residents of owning, renting or leasing their car. Founded by Ex-Googler, Claudio Esposito-Aiardo, the car subscription start-up, Carasti, makes getting your next car as easy as 1-2-3. Through Carasti, there are no more long-term commitments, large down payments or onerous paperwork. Users can subscribe to a car suited to their needs from an ever-growing fleet of cars just for a monthly fee. “A Carasti subscription ultimately gives subscribers freedom, flexibility & peace of mind in one monthly fee covering your Car, Insurance, Maintenance and Roadside Assistance. All you have to do is add fuel and drive! The process is simple. Select the car you want, upload your documents, select your delivery time-slot and location, and you’re done. No need to worry about deposits or paperwork - it really is as easy as ordering your favourite pizza on Deliveroo!” Esposito-Aiardo said. Car ownership is on the global decline. In fact, McKinsey predicts that by 2030 almost 30% of the automotive industry's revenue will come from subscriptions and other shared mobility recurring revenue models. The truth is that the modern-day consumer does not view car ownership as a symbol of success or necessity anymore, but rather as a costly, depreciating burden. Claudio explained the conception of Carasti, “I have always struggled with the concept of owning a car: I love driving and am passionate about cars, however, is limited to one car for a long period of time and realising the real cost of ownership, I knew there had to be a better way to have the car you want, when you want it, with no strings attached. From there, Carasti was born!”
Travel tech this week: The first airline ticket on the blockchain and more
This week in the travel tech industry, the first airline ticket through a blockchain has been issued. TripAdvisor has launched self-service advertising and Amadeus for Developers offers Artificial Intelligence APIs to stimulate the next wave of travel tech innovation. First airline ticket on the blockchain Hahn Air becomes the first airline to fly a passenger holding a ticket issued via the blockchain using Winding Tree's open-source travel distribution platform on a scheduled flight from Dusseldorf to Luxemburg. The first “blockchain passengers” were Maksim Izmaylov, founder of Winding Tree, Davide Montali, CIO of Winding Tree, and Frederick Nowotny, head of sales engineering at Hahn Air. Using the Winding Tree platform, Hahn Air is able to list inventory, manage the reservation requests, and receive payments once the booking process is complete. Accepted payment methods are cash, credit card, or cryptocurrency (LIF token or Ether). Blockchain technology holds many advantages for the different parties involved in the process of booking an airline ticket: It is open-source, meaning all market participants such as airlines, travel companies and distribution systems can easily connect and exchange transactions. All market participants can directly interact with each other and perform transactions without intermediaries thereby reducing costs. It is 100% secure. All of the necessary information is stored in a decentralised ledger which is verified by millions of sources and therefore cannot be changed or tampered with. “We at Hahn Air are constantly exploring new technologies and we are proud to now demonstrate our technical capability to issue blockchain-powered Hahn Air tickets. We are pleased to be partnering with Winding Tree, the most established company when it comes to distributing travel inventory in the blockchain. Our goal is to investigate and monitor the opportunities this technology holds for travel distribution, even if widespread acceptance is still a vision of the future,” Nowotny said. Self-service advertising TripAdvisor Media Manager is a self-service platform that empowers small and medium-sized businesses and agencies to control their own cross-platform advertising campaigns on TripAdvisor. It is available to global advertisers, supporting more than 15 currencies, and offers a wide variety of targeting options to reach their core customers. The launch of TripAdvisor Media Manager follows the introduction of a suite of new-to-market advertising services and solutions that enable tourism and non-endemic advertisers to reach more relevant, high intent audiences on and off the TripAdvisor platform. “We’re excited to enable local and small businesses to easily and quickly create and upload their own campaigns that they can push live on TripAdvisor in a streamlined way. The real benefit is the ability to quickly grow a business by reaching nearly 460 million loyal, engaged and connected travellers who want to hear from brands that are relevant to them,” said Christine Maguire, vice president, advertising revenue for TripAdvisor. Designed to help individual suppliers, niche partners and advertisers reach qualified audiences, businesses can ensure their content reaches consumers through three targeting options: user location, browsed destinations or recent travel planning activities on TripAdvisor. The intuitive, automated platform lets advertisers upload their own creative for fast TripAdvisor review and approval. The native listing format enables advertisers to build their ads directly in-platform to seamlessly fit in with the TripAdvisor mobile experience. Advertisers can set their own campaign budget and schedule, and then monitor results and adjust as needed in a real-time dashboard. Amadeus for Developers In an industry first, Amadeus makes ready-to-use, AI-driven insights and functionality available to innovators and developers, helping them create exciting new travel solutions. Amadeus is empowering start-ups and independent developers to gain an edge by launching a new set of AI Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) as part of the Amadeus for Developers program. These APIs will allow developers to build solutions that can predict travel intent, traveller behaviour, and flight delays, amongst others - without needing any prior background in AI or data. This is the first time in the travel industry that AI capabilities are made available to start-ups and independent developers via open APIs. Amadeus is providing ready-to-implement predictive models based on valuable insights and functionalities fed by Amadeus’ vast sources of travel data. These APIs enable travel innovators to create exciting AI-based apps with brand new features and disruptive business models that can transform the travel experience. The insights are offered under Amadeus’ Self-Service API catalogue for partners, and any developer can start testing the APIs in less than three minutes. Early adopters already demonstrated the value of these AI APIs at Amadeus’ hackathon in London on 9-10 November 2019. The hackathon showcased experimental uses of the APIs which include a ‘buddy’ app to reduce travel stress, and solutions to help travellers find activities to do at their destination and during flight layovers. “At Amadeus, we constantly look for opportunities to take friction out of travel. That’s why we’re very excited to make these ground-breaking AI-driven insights and tools available to the travel industry for the first time. They will empower innovators to create amazing applications thanks to the power of AI and simplify the traveller’s journey” said Stefan Ropers, president, strategic growth businesses, Amadeus.
Travel tech this week: Ready to do business
In travel tech this week, Google Maps launched a new feature, while Hotelbeds announced good financial year and that they are now ready to do business. Lastly, a new study revealed the "future of meetings". Google Maps’ speaks the lingo Google Maps has made travel easier than ever before. You can scout out a neighbourhood before booking a hotel, get directions on the go and even see what nearby restaurants the locals recommend thanks to auto-translated reviews. Google Maps and Google Translate will come together in one app. A new translator feature that enables your phone to speak out a place's name and address in the local language will be added in Google Maps. Simply tap the new speaker button next to the place name or address, and Google Maps will say it out loud, making your next trip that much simpler. This text-to-speech technology automatically detects what language your phone is using to determine which places you might need help translating. The new feature will be rolling out this month on Android and iOS with support for 50 languages and more on the way. We are now ready to do business Hotelbeds reported a strong financial year. For the financial year ended 30 September, the company demonstrated strong performance with EBITDA of EUR 233.5 million. The company had a strong cash position of EUR 498 million. The newly consolidated company is now well-positioned, as the leader in its segment, to provide its 180,000 hotel partners globally with incremental, high-value bookings via the company’s portfolio of over 60,000 travel trade buyers, including retail travel agents, tour operators, airlines and points redemption schemes. Post-year-end and following the completed integration, Hotelbeds is focused on becoming the most efficient bedbank player in the industry. To achieve this, the company has identified significant new opportunities to optimise its footprint, operations and commercial model, by investing in automation and cutting-edge technology to improve both the customer experience for its partners, as well as better utilise the scale of its recently combined operations. Hotelbeds’ target is to lower the ‘cost-per-room-night’ from its current EUR 6.30 level to EUR 4.90 by year-end 2021. This level of efficiency is achievable as the stand-alone Hotelbeds business in 2016, prior to integration, was already achieving a EUR 5.40 cost-per-room-night without the scale and expertise of the newly combined company. As part of this post-integration, optimisation plan, Hotelbeds has today informed staff that there will be some departures, representing a reduction in the global workforce by about 5%. This will take place in stages over the next 12 months resulting in the scaling down of hubs in Tel Aviv, London, Dubai, Orlando and Zurich. At the same time, Hotelbeds is announcing that it is investing in the opening of a new technology hub in Valencia, Spain that will drive the future development of the automated platforms, processes and technology that aims to make working with Hotelbeds more seamless and cost-efficient for partners. Joan Vilà, Executive Chairman at Hotelbeds, said: “These results represent a remarkable achievement in what has been an intense year for our teams worldwide as they have worked incredibly hard, in a complex context, to integrate the top three leading players in our segment. I thank all our employees for the level of commitment and initiative they have shown during this period. “Post-integration, we can focus once again, without distraction, on managing the day-to-day operations of our business to deliver increased value for our travel trade partners. This is also the perfect moment to optimise our operations and fully utilise our strong position to deliver the level of efficiencies our scale and combined capabilities. “As a fully integrated company and the biggest independent bedbank worldwide, coupled with the financial strength and resilience of the business, we are now well-positioned, with a clear strategy and focus, to deliver on our ambitious growth plans.” “Future of Meetings” New-age collaborative technology is at the core of stronger business relations and improves turnaround for enterprises by minimising the waste of time and human resources during inefficient meetings. Indian meeting rooms and professionals are more adaptive to disruptive technology compared to the global scenario according to “The Future of Meetings” white paper launched by Barco ClickShare, in association with independent research agency Savanta which shows that 83% of Indian employees carry at least two devices into the meeting room as against 72% globally. The research found that the most ardent users of technology, in India and globally, include Baby Boomers and Millennials and that the laptop is the most common device in use. The survey saw participation from over 1,500 white-collar professionals across Europe, the US, China, India and the Pacific, aged between 21 and 65, and emphasized that technology is at the heart of great meetings and the arena is set to be revolutionised with further innovations. The clear preference for technology becomes even stronger when it comes to smaller organisations in India, with 100% Small and Medium Enterprises and 97% of mid-sized and large firms adopting technological innovations in a big way. In comparison, 78% of employees at SMEs and 89% of those who work for large firms, globally, prefer technology in meeting rooms. Technology is a major boon to smaller businesses, such as SMEs as it enables them to manage their business efficiently through better collaboration and faster turnaround time.
Travel tech this week: DiDi, Rapido, and WeTravel launch new services
DiDi Chuxing is launching its food delivery in Mexico City, while Bangalore-based Rapido is expanding in New Delhi by offering free rides. DiDi Food arrives in Mexico City Didi Chuxing has announced today it will start offering DiDi Food, its food delivery service in Mexico City, after successful launches in Guadalajara and Monterrey, the country’s 2nd and 3rd largest cities. DiDi Mexico has expanded its ride-hailing operations to 32 cities in Mexico since April 2018, covering over 50% of the nation’s population. Earlier launch campaigns of DiDi Food in Guadalajara and Monterrey in April and October 2019 were met with enthusiastic restaurant sign-ups and user downloads. Martin Mao, general manager of DiDi Mexico, said, “We are very excited to expand our service from ride-hailing to food delivery in Mexico, where its cuisine is celebrated as a UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Building on AI capabilities and the deep expertise of our local team and partners, we will make continuous investments in DiDi Food to enable a broader selection and competitive prices for consumers, and fairer, transparent earnings for restaurateurs and couriers.” DiDi Food brings to Mexico innovations and service features tailored to the local marketplace. Each restaurateur is equipped with a free personal tablet to create their own promotion menus and supported by a designated DiDi business advisor to help provide operational analysis and growth planning through continuous offline communications. DiDi Food provides 24/7 live human customer and delivery partner support. DiDi also plans on launching more Couriers’ Clubs and benefit programs. “We believe our success depends on how we create unique value for our users, partners, and the local economy,” said Mao. WeTravel Card now available Payment and booking platform for travel companies WeTravel has launched the WeTravel Card, the first prepaid credit card available for all travel operators in the US. Using the card, they can tap into the funds and pay their vendors, without having to transfer the money to a separate bank account first which would normally take about 3 days on average. The brand new WeTravel Card enables online and over the phone payments anywhere where Visa® is accepted, without the actual need for a physical card. Now, WeTravel users can enjoy real-time access to any funds collected on the WeTravel balance by a simple transfer to their card within seconds, instead of waiting for days for bank payouts. An approved WeTravel user can create a WeTravel Card in no time for free and without any application procedure. While using the card, travel operators do not have to pay for any monthly, sign-up, or annual fees. Moreover, they can pay vendors overseas without any foreign transaction fees. In case a payment is made in a currency other than USD, the merchant will be paid in their local currency. According to Johannes Koeppel, CEO and co-founder of WeTravel, “For multi-day travel companies that already collect payments and manage bookings with WeTravel, paying their vendors directly from the platform is the natural next step. Using this brand-new card, our users can now easily pay vendors the moment they make a sale." WeTravel is offering virtual cards to all users today, while physical cards will start shipping in the coming months. All the odds are in your favour during odd-even scheme With the odd-even scheme right around the corner, Rapido is all set to make their grand entrance and winning hearts of people in the capital by offering free rides. Rapido is now available in New Delhi. With the launch mainly set to all the areas of Delhi, the prime focus is within central and south Delhi, targeting areas like Vasant Vihar, HauzKhas, Paharganj, Saket, Kamala Market, Tilak Marg, Rajiv Chowk, Chanakya Puri Tuglak Road, etc. to bring in the solution for last-mile commutes, especially the ones who use the metro services as frequently as every day. When Rapido extensively started their services back in 2016 around Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad & Faridabad, they offered free rides all through-out the odd-even rule. With an innumerable number of bookings they saw, they had a clear vision of what’s next in the pipeline for them. Currently, the services are spread across all tiers of the country targeting all niches of commuters and making commute the least of their worries. Nirmal, senior expansion manager for Rapido, says, “Rapido’s concept is based around providing convenient and high-quality transport facilities for solo commuters, especially those who need to travel far or have to get somewhere quickly.” With over 10 million happy customers and their presence spread across 90 cities, Rapido is striving hard to reach a number of people every day and bring happiness in their lives by providing a fast and affordable source of transport.
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