Kate Harden-England - 10 Minutes News for Hoteliers - Page 30

2 min

Tech-led tour operator Exottica bags £60M…

🚢 Exoticca, a travel tech platform, closed a €60 million Series D round led by Quadrille Capital, with participation from All Iron, ICF, and existing investors 14W, Mangrove, Bonsai, Sabadell, and Aldea. The investment will advance Exoticca's technology, including AI, to enhance customer experience and partner profitability, aiming to make multi-day tours—worth over €100 billion—more efficient and affordable, cutting booking times to minutes and offering prices about 30% lower than competitors. The company, led by CEO Pere Vallès, is focused on global expansion and digitizing the multi-day tour space.

2 min

IHG Hotels & Resorts industry first Low…

🚧 IHG Hotels & Resorts launched the Low Carbon Pioneers programme, aimed at energy efficiency and renewable energy use. The pioneering community includes properties like Holiday Inn Express Madrid Airport and Kimpton BEM Budapest, using high-efficiency heat pumps and electric kitchens. Properties must have sustainability certifications like Green Key or LEED and use IHG’s Green Engage platform to monitor energy. The programme marks a significant step in IHG's sustainability efforts and industry-wide carbon reduction.

2 min

Vibe adds Danny Girling to team for EMEA…

🏨 Vibe, a travel technology provider, appoints Danny Girling as the new business development & head of partnerships for EMEA, signaling a new phase of expansion in EMEA and APAC. Girling, with 14+ years of experience from Travel Counsellors and Inspiretec, joins other 2023 hires like CEO Steve Barrass and non-executive Director Stephane Durand. Vibe has recently invested in customer service, software development, marketing, and design to set the stage for growth.

2 min

Guestline integrates ResDiary and AI to…

🏨 Guestline, part of Access Group, enhances its GuestStay offering with self-service options and AI integration, easing hotel staff's workload and elevating guest autonomy. The portal allows guests to manage reservations, add services, and make restaurant bookings via ResDiary. Notably, properties report 25% of table bookings through GuestStay, with more upsell features in development. GuestStay aids in increasing Total Revenue per Available Room (TRevPAR) and improving guest experience, particularly for room-only OTA bookings. Further updates to the portal are expected later in 2024.

3 min

Travelport publishes first annual 2024…

🛫 Travelport's 2024 State of Modern Retailing Report shows a 1,900% increase in air travel options since 2010, with over 10,000 options now available. 58% of travelers are overwhelmed by choice, 56% find offers harder to understand, and 61% think there are more penalties for flight changes. Most travelers (71%) feel anxious about getting the best deal, while 80% find fare comparison time-consuming. Travelers prefer to see all options on one screen (88%), and many use OTAs, especially Millennials (70%) and Gen X (64%). Key amenities include luggage allowance (63%), cancellation policies (50%), and seat selection (50%). In contrast, US travelers struggle more with flight shopping (49%) than hotel, car rental, or restaurant comparisons.

2 min

Vayu Robotics debuts the world’s first…

🤖 Vayu Robotics, founded in 2020 and having raised $12.7 million, launched the first on-road Delivery Robot using AI and passive sensors, eliminating costly lidar. The robot can carry 100 lbs at under 20mph, navigating autonomously without pre-mapping. Vayu recently signed a deal to deploy 2500 robots for a major e-commerce company, aiming to revolutionize goods transport and expand into other robotic forms.

2 min

Amadeus drives corporate travel value with…

💸 Corporate travelers can save up to 20% on travel expenses with Emburse Reshop's integration with Amadeus Cytric, announced at the GBTA Convention 2024 in Atlanta. Emburse Reshop allows users to rebook hotel reservations if a better deal is found, potentially for nearby hotels as well. This integration provides analytics and reporting for travel managers to optimize hotel spend and policy compliance, offering enhanced visibility and control over travel programs.

1 min

Former Vrbo Global CMO now Civitatis’ new…

🏆 Mariano Dima named new chairman of Civitatis, a Spanish-speaking tours marketplace, taking over from Sophie Bower-Straziota. With over 20 years of experience at Visa and Vrbo, Dima aims to spearhead growth in Latin America. Civitatis recently received a $50 million investment after a 2022 investment. CEO Alberto Gutiérrez continues to lead the company, focusing on expanding the online presence of tours and activities in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions.

1 min

Ride hailing app FREENOW adds Incognia…

🚀 Ashu Singhal, FREENOW’s chief product and technology officer, commits to enhancing urban mobility in Europe. Partnering with Incognia, they aim to bolster platform trust, focusing on fraud prevention without customer friction. Incognia's CEO André Ferraz emphasizes this collaboration's role in FREENOW's secure service delivery and customer satisfaction growth.

2 min

Thrust Carbon becomes first firm to be…

🌍 Thrust Carbon is the first company globally to align with the ISO 14083 carbon accounting standard for the travel industry, released last year. The standard, which has become the global benchmark, ensures clear and repeatable carbon calculations for travel and transport. The European Commission has adopted it for the CountEmissionsEU initiative. Thrust Carbon's alignment affects $100bn of annual global travel spend and includes multiple methodologies for emissions calculations. LRQA has assured Thrust Carbon's compliance with the standard, validating their carbon calculation methodologies and boosting client confidence.

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