Innovation

🛫 Vietjet Thailand partnered with RateGain's AirGain for real-time pricing insights on 28th November 2024 in Noida. The collaboration aims to maintain competitive fares across Thailand and Asia's network, accessing data from over 300 airlines and 50+ OTAs. This helps Vietjet optimize pricing strategies, responding to market trends and passenger demands, while expanding sustainably without compromising on service quality. RateGain, founded in 2004, serves 3,200+ customers globally and aids revenue generation in the travel sector.

📈 Booking.com, in collaboration with HotelTechReport.com, launched its AI Tech Stack Advisor to help hoteliers tailor their digital transformation and growth strategies. This first-of-its-kind tool utilizes GenAI for personalized tech infrastructure assessments, leveraging HotelTechReport’s review database. Hoteliers can directly connect with vendors for informed decision-making and receive a ‘Digital Transformation Score’ for competitive benchmarking. Eddy Veldhuizen, senior director at Booking.com, emphasizes the tool’s role in optimizing business and serving guests better. Currently available for hoteliers, the tool plans to include homes and other accommodations in 2025.

📱 Trevolution Group, with its Dreampass Plus loyalty program, now includes a new eSIM feature for paid members, offering 3GB of internet for 30 days in over 140 destinations. The eSIM, which can be activated by QR code, enhances the travel experience by allowing seamless connectivity and avoiding roaming fees through POND IoT. Future plans include providing the eSIM as a standalone feature. The Dreampass Plus program also presents personalized travel benefits via its app. Alex Weinstein of Dyninno Group comments on the expansion of membership-based travel solutions and the positive impact expected on Trevolution Group's growth beyond 2025.

📈 Boom, an AI Property Management Software provider for hospitality, has appointed Alex Husner, Richard Vaughton, and Chad Blankenship as new non-executive directors. Husner brings over a decade (13 years) of experience from Condo-World Resort Properties and Casago. Vaughton offers expertise in scaling businesses and M&A, while Blankenship contributes 15 years of growth from Southern Vacation Rentals, including a central role in its acquisition by VTrips. The trio's collective experience aims to support Boom’s strategic growth and optimize marketing and operational efficiency through AI innovation.

🎰 BetMGM, a top iGaming and sports betting operator, announced the consolidation of BetMGM Reward Points (BRPs) into a single account, enhancing user experience. BetMGM Rewards now allow points to be used across all states where BetMGM is available, except Puerto Rico and Ontario. In August, BetMGM launched the first sports betting app with nationwide connectivity via a single digital wallet for Nevada. BRPs are earnable and redeemable at BetMGM Sportsbook, Casino, and Poker, as well as for perks like Marriott Bonvoy Points. BetMGM operates in 29 North American markets, with responsible gaming resources, including GameSense, integrated on its platforms.

📈 IDeaS, a SAS company, released "5 Predictions That Will Shape Hospitality in 2025" on 25 November 2024. The report predicts: generational shifts in travel demand, experiential travel opportunities, increased focus on ancillary revenue and events, investment in AI for revenue management, and accelerated cloud migration. Insights were gathered from industry leaders like Amadeus and Sabre Hospitality, aiming to help hoteliers adapt to evolving technology and guest expectations. 📊

📈 Philips Professional Displays' multi-award-winning Philips Tableaux ‘zero power’ ePaper Series is revolutionizing communication at Nenuphar restaurant and hotel in Afsnee, Ghent, Belgium, dating back to 1795. With sustainability in focus, four 25” Philips Tableaux displays now provide information with near zero power consumption. These digital signs, weighing just 3.5kg, showcase content such as menus and specials without using a kW of power for extended periods. The paper waste reduction and branding enhancement deem the project a success.

💰 BetMGM announced a customer experience enhancement by consolidating BetMGM Reward Points (BRPs) into a single account, enabling BRPs to be used across all jurisdictions where BetMGM operates. This follows BetMGM's August introduction of a single digital wallet for Nevada, the first app allowing seamless, nationwide betting. Users earn BRPs through BetMGM Sportsbook, Casino, and Poker, redeemable online, at MGM Resorts, or for Marriott Bonvoy Points. BetMGM serves 29 markets, emphasizing responsible gaming with GameSense integration.