This is a roundup for product news and announcements for travel SYSTEMS in tourism and hospitality for August 2016.
Thursday 25 August 2016:
Jambojet departs with 15below
- The Kenya-based, domestic low cost carrier will use the 15below platform to send pre-departure notifications to passengers with details such as check-in schedules and seat selection details. The personalised content will also include information on ancillary services and weather reports for the passenger's destination.
Aeromexico connects digital dots
- The Mexico-based airline has unveiled a revamped website, a mobile app and airport kiosks as part of its customer-centric approach. The website has been optimised for mobile and has the latest payment options while the new kiosks offer check-in and payment for seat selection and bags with additional options to come including upgrades. The mobile app will be available in the final quarter of 2016 and focuses on the day of travel. It will enable travellers to receive flight notifications and tailored offers. A multimedia player for inflight entertainment will be added next year.
Wednesday 24 August 2016:Alpin Rentals taps SiteMinder's channel manager
- The Austrian brand has 15 properties with more than 200 apartments and chalets with varying rates and connections to multiple booking portals. It says it choose SiteMinder's channel manager because the tool streamlines the flow of information and is easy to explain to new staff, among other reasons.
Sabre and
Serko plot new booking system
- The pair, long-standing partners in the Asia-Pacific region, will collaborate on a major upgrade to Sabre Online, a corporate online booking tool for small and mid-sized businesses in Australia and New Zealand. The new system will combine Serko's expense management tools alongside existing Sabre services such as access to air, hotel and car rental content.
Monday 22 August 2016:TrustYou signs new deal with Tripcon
- The guest-feedback platform based in Germany has partnered with Tripcon, a new site based in Japan that uses natural-language search for comparing and booking hotels.
Thursday 18 August 2016:15below zeros in on Edelweiss
- Notifications and workflow provider 15below has signed a deal with Swiss leisure airline Edelweiss Air and will begin the partnership by working on its pre-departure email to passengers. Edelweiss is the fourth carrier of the Lufthansa Group to work with 15below and its 45th airline customer.
Do not disturb - binge-watch in progress
- Enseo, an in-room systems integrator for hotels, has signed a licensing deal with Netflix which sees the online entertainment site added to Enseo-powered hotel television channels. Users can log into their Netflix account or sign up through the screen.
Boxever waves in Mexican LCC
- Data specialists Boxever has agreed a deal with Viva Aerobus. The Mexican low-cost carrier will use Boxever's Customer Intelligence Cloud to capture and analyse its passenger data from a variety of sources and use that insight to personalize its communications with passengers.
Wednesday 17 August 2016:Uber not app-y
- Taxi app Uber is now available for Indian users via a mobile-enabled web site - dial.uber.com. Users can book a cab through the site and will pay the driver in cash. Coverage says that the service is being launched in Tier2 cities where slower connections and fewer smartphones is slowing Uber's growth outside the main cities.
Inspirock finds peace with travellers
- Inspirock is integrating its online trip planner into the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT’s) new website, Travellers For Peace. Inspirock will donate revenue from bookings generated by the trip planner on the new site to the IIPT to help fund the organisation’s work. The announcement coincides with the UN’s World Tourism Day on 27th September, which shares the same objectives.
Tuesday 16 August 2016:DHISCO dances with Plum Accommodation
- The business-to-business travel seller in southern Africa is the first of its kind to connect to travel portals, hotels, agencies and operators through the DHISCO system.
Trisept books in with
Nextrip.com- Nextrip, a platform listing more than a million alternative lodgings, will see its product available on Trisept’s agent portal, VAX VacationAccess. Lastly, NextTrip product offerings will also be fully integrated with Xcelerator, the travel technology solution that allows agents to service their clients and that is powered by WayBlazer, the IBM Watson-related company.
Monday 15 August 2016:Swedish travel company TripX taps ANIXE platform
- The Swedish tour operator uses the Polish travel tech provider's Resfinity Platform to grow its supplier hub. Since the partnership and the summer season, TripX reports an increase of 60% on monthly sales, and a positive booking trend where every week produces around 10% more bookings than the week before.
Thursday 11 August 2016:Icelandair adds another bot
Concur integrates Didi
- Travel and expense management giant Concur has linked up with Didi, allowing its users to link a Didi booking with their Concur account, from where they can directly manage ride expenses and submit for reimbursements. China is the third largest international market when it comes to Concur business traveler spend.
NextPax links up with
RedAwning- Vacation rental tech firms NextPax and RedAwning.com have announced a full integration and partnership, which will allow NextPax clients to have their inventory listed on RedAwning's platform. RedAwning then offers a "one contract and one relationship" way to get their property listed on websites including Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Expedia and booking.com.
Tuesday 9 August 2016:IHG prefers the cloud
- Quore Systems, a cloud-based management software provide for hotels, has been selected by Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) as a preferred vendor for its 3,800-plus hotels in the Americas. Quore was founded in 2013 and is based in Tennessee.
Worldpay lands down under
- Payments specialist Worldpay is expanding in Australia after winning a domestic licence to process payments. It is working with Expedia and Cathay Pacific Airlines in the country where ecommerce spending across all verticals is more than $40 billion, with one in five internet shoppers using eWallets.
Openkey secures new features- Openkey, the technology which allows guests to open their hotel room door with their smartphone, has upgraded its iOS and Andriod apps. New features for consumers in version 3.5 include security enhancements such as two-step authentication and a non-activity log-out feature.
Tuesday 2 August 2016:ARC overhauls payment authentification
- From Thursday 4 August 2016, Airlines Reporting Corporation will implement 3-D Secure as a new messaging protocol for payments. The changes means the merchant, card issuer and consumer can exchange data during an ecommerce-based payment. The 3-D system is backed by Visa, MasterCard, amongst other card providers.
Travelport agrees reseller package in Tanzania
- T P Services will act as a local retailer for Travelport's product range in the country, including technology such as the Smartpoint agency desktop and distribution services. T P's country manager, Sarfarazali Chagani, will oversee the new operator agreement with Travelport.
NB:Travel systems image via Shutterstock.