This is a roundup of product news and announcements for travel MARKETING in tourism and hospitality for May 2014.
Thursday 29 May 2014:
OpenJaw creates redemption platform for Asia Miles
- The Ireland-based retailing technology provider was selected by Asia Miles to build a web service so customers can redeem lifestyle reward points. Asia Miles originally launched in 1999 and counts six million members on its programme. It partners with some 25 airlines around the world and has 300 restaurants on its system.
SpiceJet launches holiday package booking service
MySpiceTrip- India-based low cost carrier SpiceJet has launched a new service by name MySpiceTrip that allows travellers to book holiday packages (with SpiceJet as the flight option) online. This service is powered by TripFactory, the semantic search-based travel search and booking platform.
Wednesday 21 May 2014:Travelport, EAN, and Majid Al Futtaim Finance to launch travel reward scheme in UAE
- Travelport, along with Expedia Affiliate Network (EAN) and Majid Al Futtaim Finance (credit card and prepaid solutions provider in UAE) is set to launch Najm reward card in UAE. This new scheme will enable Najm Voyager Credit Card members to log into a dedicated website to spend their loyalty points on booking flights, hotels and car rentals. Travelport will assist the finance company with its online expertise and technology, and EAN will provide the technology to access its 190K+ properties worldwide.
Tuesday 13 May 2014:Travelport to market Hangzhou destination
- Travelport and Hangzhou Tourism Commission (HTC) have entered into a new destination marketing agreement which will see Travelport assisting and cooperating with HTC to increase destination awareness and promote tourism to Hangzhou. Travelport Partner Marketing helps travel suppliers and organizations increase revenue by maximising communications across Travelport’s global distribution network.
BookIt hires Brian Clark as acting COO
- Clark will work with BookIt whilst remaining as a partner at Hudson Crossing , reporting to CEO Bud Finlaw and overseeing some of his responsibilities for the online travel agency. Clark has previously held positions at Traevlzoo (head of Fly.com), Vayant, US Airways and Virgin America.
Booking.com launches The Booking Truth review service
- The standalone site collects reviews of its properties and filters them by accommodation type, destination or traveller persona. "Millions" if reviews are featured on the site, with the idea that it cuts out the existing process of reading reviews on other sites.
Thursday 8 May 2014:Skyscanner adds bus booking
- India version of the site has added the ability to enable bus bookings online. The feature is powered by redBus, the leading online bus reservation service in India.
Tuesday 6 May 2014:Travelocity CEO Carl Sparks leaves
- The online travel agency's president and CEO has "departed the Travelocity team", an official confirms in an emailed statement. No other details were shared. The departure comes nine months after the Sabre-owned business off-loaded running of the brand to arch agency rival Expedia. The affiliate network part of Travelocity was bought by Orbitz in February this year and BCD Travel snapped up the Travelocity for Business element almost a year ago, effectively ending any major operational responsibilities for senior execs. Sparks became CEO in April 2011 after a short period as president of the Gilt Groupe. Prior to that he held various senior roles at Expedia-owned Hotels.com from 2004 to 2009.
Friday 2 May 2014:
Airline quartet take Amadeus car rental for websites
- Air France, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and TAM have all taken the Amadeus Cars platform to provide car hire services to web visitors. The carriers will be able to secure on behalf of passengers some 33 different rental providers in around 37,000 locations around the world.
- HouseTrip unveils first ad campaign
Love Home Swap creates Swap-Points-Rent system
- The homeowner exchange service (TLabs here), which claims to be the biggest in the world with 54,000 properties in 160 countries, now allows members to either swap their property for a period of time with a fellow user, hire a home or collect points for use at another time.
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NB2: Travel marketing image via Shutterstock.