News Kayak founder Paul English has just raised $15 million in funding for his Lola Travel Co. is a shot in the arm for a travel tech industry stagnant since months. According to the news, Lola received a fresh infusion of capital from Charles River Ventures, General Catalyst and Accel.. Here’s a brief snapshot of a new company that says it’s going to provide on-demand, personal service to the world of travelers.
Travel Technology
Sabre Labs Reveals Tech Trends a Dozen Years Out
Sabre Labs, a division of Sabre Corporation, has just released research on how the latest technologies that can have a significant impact on the tourism sector. The report unveils the potential for the next twelve years and tells of three major tech trends that will affect the tourism market for 2017.
Russian Railways Launches “Swift” Service Moscow-Berlin
Russian Railways has just commissioned “Swift” express rail services in between Moscow and Berlin. The streamlined new train makes use of Spanish coaches equipped for rapid exchange of wheels designed for Russian-European gauge tracks.
The Power of Platinum Town: Plateno Collection 2017 Brands Well
Last week China’s biggest hotel brand offered up the Plateno Collection Show 2017 at Pazhou Poly World TradeCenter Exhibition Hall in Guangzhou, China. Held in between December 9th and 12th, the unique hotel brand fashion show pushed the envelope where industry perception of what a hotel should be.
Day Three in Athens: Greek Hotel Convergence
Day two of the Digi.travel EMEA Conference & Expo in Athens marked our third day in the Greek capital.
Airbnb to Sell Experiences Now
In the news of Airbnb, the mighty vacation property rental platform is gradually rolling out a new homepage design. Set to coincide (supposedly) with the launch of City Hosts, the new simpler design is said to be focused on experiences as a key message. Whether or not Airbnb’s PR department is working overtime to get “juice” out of the paradigm “user experience” trend or not, this remains to be seen. As for most of the changes rolled out by Airbnb, the new homepage has been released as an A/B tests and thus is not yet live for 100% of the traffic.
Balancing In Between a Rigid and Adaptive Hotel Business Model
The advent of new technologies has brought about a great deal of change for hospitality businesses. The trend has opened up amazing possibilities, while at the same time causing great apprehension.
SnapShot Addresses Multi-Property Functionality in Its Hotel Analytics Flagship Platform
After its successful public debut at ITB Berlin 2016 SnapShot continued developing its highly anticipated analytics platform, and has recently updated it to include multi-property functionality, making SnapShot Analytics the first product of its kind to offer a powerful, yet flexible and easy-to-use dashboard.
Airbnb Loses Biggest Fan With PR Slight of Hand
A scathing revelation about failed communications and a company that may be on the rocks financially. Airbnb cannot even engage in a decent conversation with the media, potential partners, or even award winning Airbnb hosts. What is up with Airbnb?
Searching for Hospitality’s “Holy Grail” – Sustainability
We hear so much about how tourism, hospitality, and especially hotels will ride the wave of Big Data into a revenue sunset. But underneath the hyperbole, there is a certain reality, the realization that sustainable businesses simply must emerge. It is also true that companies that provide the most stunning technological advancements in this field, cannot thrive unless their clients do.
THack Mallorca Hist Mallorca Tomorrow
Coming up in the Baelerics tomorrow, THack Mallorca is a hackathon dedicated to hospitality solutions. THack Mallorca is FREE for professional and student developers and offers the chance for teams of up to five developers to win their share of at least €5,000 in cash and other prizes.
OpenKey Releases Version 3.0 Mobile App
OpenKey has just released its new mobile app Version 3.0, which is a further enhancement for hotels guests to get key amenities.