Innovation

📈 Saladplate, part of Informa Markets, serves as a content and engagement hub for the hospitality, food, and beverage industry. It offers weekly news updates, a monthly newsletter, and a bi-monthly e-magazine. The platform grants exclusive access to over 10,000 brands and companies and provides updates from over 35 international trade events.

📌 QuoteAwayAI, a travel tech platform, launched in January and onboarded 350 UK travel agents from 40 Consortia within one month. Co-founded by Paul Stanyer and Sam Lupson, the platform partners with five major UK tour operators and generated 8,000 holiday quotes. Brad Bird joined as CTO and co-founder, enhancing the platform with his AI, EV solutions, and payment technologies expertise. The AI-enabled service delivers quotes in 20 seconds and offers a 7-day free trial, with a subsequent monthly cost of £14.99.

🏨 Apaleo launched Agent Hub, the first AI agent marketplace for hospitality, enabling hoteliers and tech developers to build and share AI solutions. The platform fosters industry collaboration, allowing integration without system overhauls and avoiding vendor lock-in. AI agents can be deployed in hours, with use cases like digital twin and email booking. CEO Ulrich Pilau emphasizes innovation, flexibility, and accessibility. VP Florian Montag highlights the importance of adapting to AI advancements in hospitality.

📌 eviivo, a booking and property management platform, has partnered with Breezeway, an operations and guest experience platform, to create a seamless integration aimed at streamlining property operations and enhancing guest experiences. The integrated solution enables property managers to automate workflows, improve efficiency, and elevate service quality. It connects eviivo’s booking management and AI tools with Breezeway’s expertise in cleaning, maintenance, and safety. The partnership targets operational headaches for scaling property management companies, allowing them to manage inventory, feed booking information from multiple sources, and coordinate cleaning and maintenance tasks in real-time, ensuring units are ready for guests. This collaboration leverages eviivo’s all-in-one platform and real-time integration with major booking platforms to facilitate a frictionless experience for guests and property managers alike.

📍 Industry expert Jon Pickles launched consultancy Sygnifiq to optimize tech for travel firms. The current chairman of Travel Technology Initiative, Pickles, offers AI, CRM, and system advice for sustainable growth. Sygnifiq provides tech audits, strategic planning, and implementation support to guide travel companies through innovation and customer engagement.

📍 British Airways revamps its Executive Club to "The British Airways Club," shifting to a spending-based points system. Personalized loyalty experiences show a Return Acquisition Percentage (RAP) of 22.9% in travel and hospitality. The industry trend emphasizes high-value customers, potentially alienating budget-conscious travelers. Loyalty program innovation, like subscription-based models and sustainability-linked rewards, is essential for customer satisfaction and engagement. Communication of these changes remains a critical challenge for airlines.

🏖️ Extended stay demand increased by over 20% since 2020, driven by remote work and cultural immersion desires. Stayforlong, founded by Luis Osorio Solé, capitalizes on this trend by offering a user-friendly platform specializing in long-stay hotel bookings. A strategic partnership with PKFARE expands Stayforlong's inventory with access to 650,000+ global properties and enhances booking with real-time data, boasting a price availability rate exceeding 90% and a hotel mapping rate of over 95%. PKFARE's commitment to excellence supports Stayforlong in meeting the 68% of travelers' demand for personalized, flexible services.

📡 WorldVue partnered with UK-based HOSPA, aiming to share hotel technology advancements and support digital transformation, sustainability, and personalised guest experiences in hospitality. HOSPA CEO Jane Pendlebury welcomed WorldVue's expertise in guest-facing technology. Dean Wood, senior director at WorldVue, looks forward to fostering industry collaborations and driving innovation across the UK hospitality sector.

✈ iCoupon has partnered with Navitaire, an Amadeus company, to provide digital and contactless vouchering technology to Navitaire’s low-cost and hybrid airline customers. The partnership, building on iCoupon's collaboration with Amadeus since 2020, aims to eliminate paper vouchers and manual processes in flight disruptions. CEOs Richard Bye (iCoupon) and David P. Evans (Navitaire) emphasize the benefits of seamless travel experiences and streamlined, efficient solutions for airlines.

📌 IDeaS launched an API data integration developer portal for hospitality technology providers, aiming to streamline data integrations and boost collaboration across the ecosystem. Bijal Shah, VP of product development, emphasizes the portal's role in accelerating the delivery of innovative features, reducing time to market, and enhancing decision-making. The platform offers technical documentation, testing capabilities, and ensures scalability, transforming the connection process with IDeaS' revenue management system.