Innovation

🛫 Insurtech provider battleface partners with WINGIE, a leading travel marketplace in the MENA region, offering services from over 450 airlines. The collaboration integrates battleface's travel insurance into Wingie's booking process, providing users with the Global Protection Plan, including 24/7 emergency and travel assistance. Michael Barta, battleface's managing director for Europe, highlights comprehensive benefits such as travel medical expense coverage and trip interruption. Orkun Ozkan of Wingie emphasizes enhanced customer travel experience and peace of mind.

📌 Aimbridge Hospitality experienced transformation in 2024, enhancing its leadership, company culture, and commitment to owners. New properties added include TRIBE Manchester Airport (UK), Bloom Tulum (Mexico), Twickenham Stadium Hotel (London), and Ace Hotel & Swim Club Palm Springs (California). Aimbridge now manages Hilton Buena Park Anaheim, Courtyard Culver City Los Angeles, and Wyndham Garden Mazatlán Marina. They launched Aimbridge Intelligence and introduced Aimbridge Commercial to unify sales, marketing, and revenue management for increased profitability and owner revenue.

💰 Choice Hotels International, Inc. partnered with digital platform Bridge for financing solutions, enabling hotel owners to compare rates and terms from over 100 lenders. The service offers various loan options, and emphasizes support for entrepreneurs under the SOAR program. Dominic Dragisich, executive vice president of Choice, and Rohit Mathur, CEO of Bridge, highlighted the benefits of streamlined access to capital and comprehensive deal analysis for developers.

📶 Wi-Fi remains essential for restaurant operations like inventory ordering and emailing. However, Wi-Fi is less optimal for customer services compared to cellular, which doesn't require sign-in and is more secure. With three-quarters of U.S. fast-food diners expecting orders in under five minutes, consistent cellular connectivity is crucial. Restaurants now use smart cellular signal boosters for reliable coverage, offering true carrier channelized performance. These can be managed remotely, ensuring seamless customer experiences and supporting digital transformation efforts.

🏨 Patrick Andres, with 35 years of experience, leads Oracle's hospitality business across APAC, focusing on innovation and growth. In APAC, mobile-first technology and self-service trends are shaping the market. Data plays a pivotal role, with AI's implications varying. For revenue managers, consolidating guest data is key, with Oracle's platform enabling better decision-making and profitability. Oracle collaborates with companies like Duetto, moving from a "do-it-all" mindset to a platform approach. Together, they aim to drive long-term success in the dynamic APAC hospitality industry.

🏨 Stash Hotel Rewards doubled its partner network from 160 to over 320 independent properties in two years. The loyalty program drives direct bookings, reducing reliance on OTAs. Over 90% of Stash partner hotels have a TripAdvisor rating of 4.5 or 5.0. Stash members stay 50% more often and spend $780 more annually than non-members. 82% of guests switched from OTAs to direct bookings after joining. The program compensates partners in full during redemptions, costs less than 1% of fees charged by major chains, and boasts over 1.2 million members.

🔒 Travel booking websites see increased traffic and attacks during holiday months, necessitating enhanced security measures. Key facts include: the average cost of a hospitality data breach in 2024 is $3.82 million, up from $3.36 million in 2023. Businesses are urged to comply with PCI DSS 4.0 standards, which emphasize stronger safeguards for e-commerce and cardholder data. Five protective steps are recommended, including identifying and patching vulnerabilities, enhancing fraud prevention with PCI-3DS, devaluing data through tokenization, avoiding non-tokenized data handling, and enforcing content security policies.

🗺 Gigasure launched a customizable backpacker insurance with Core and Max plans, featuring Search and Rescue and Back to Base cover. Benefits can be added via the app with permanent or temporary Boosts for specific activities. Max policy includes Search and Rescue as standard. The policy also has GigaShield for flight and baggage delays, offering cash payouts for delays over three hours. Claims can be submitted through the app with pre-populated forms, simplifying the process. CEO Ernesto Suarez emphasizes the policy's flexibility and reassurance for travellers.

💰 TravelPerk, a business travel platform, concluded a Series E fundraise of $200 million and acquired Yokoy, an AI-powered European leader in expense, invoice, and card payment processing. The round, led by Atomico with EQT Growth, Noteus Partners, Kinnevik, and General Catalyst, nearly doubled TravelPerk's valuation to $2.7 billion. The funds will drive expansion into the US market, following the 2024 AmTrav acquisition, and enhance their product and technology. TravelPerk reached EBITDA break-even at the end of 2024 after two years of over 50% annual growth. Atomico and EQT Growth will join the Board of Directors.