Four events hosted exclusively at US Marriott hotels through December will focus on the needs of digital travelers, and more items in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion on 18 September.
Marriott does a cross-promotion with Wired (US)
The Wired Insider series will be a set of four talks featuring "startup executives, digital game changers, gadget gurus, and culture vultures" at US Marriott properties through December," says a press release today.
For instance, a Marriott MeetUp at Boston Long Wharf on 19 September will be led by reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian and showcase "Five Startups to Watch" from the Boston community, plus an award will be given to fulfilment company Kiva Systems.
Concur and Salesforce.com debut new feature for T&E tool
The travel and expense management offering designed for Salesforce.com's Concurforce has today added a TripMaximizer tool that provides salespeople recommendations for additional sales opportunities on their trip – based on their travel plans – and add them to their calendar and itinerary.
Travelocity launches iPhone app for Lastminute.com hotel deals
Aiming to cash in on the market identified by HotelTonight and Priceline, Travelocity on 11 September launched a free iOS app that lets mobile travelers book hotel stays for tonight, tomorrow, or the day after that for stays of up to seven nights. Says the release:
Hotel Deals by lastminute.com is the first travel app to implement an innovative credit card scan tool that uses the iPhone's camera to capture and auto-fill the billing information fields to save on-the-go travelers the hassle of tapping in numbers on a small screen.
Inmarsat makes huge in-flight market moves with SBTV launch, OnAir dealGlobal Xpress, the first global Ka-band network to promise inflight broadband connectivity, starting in 2014, for the aeronautical market, with "true live TV transmission" in a team effort with OnAir.
SBTV allows airlines to customise content and choice of content providers, allowing unique service offerings and tailoring by region and/or flight route.
MMGY Global and Questex tie up
The world’s largest integrated travel marketing firm, MMGY Global, has formed a partnership with the publisher of media companies like Travel Agent "to develop future tourism industry events and provide thought leadership through industry publications and timely research."
Conferma is to open an office in the US and one in Canada
The T&E company is plotting its international expansion. In another move, its settlement and reconciliation solution with a virtual payment offering is now available through U.S. Bank, Mastercard, Barclaycard, American Express, Airplus and HSBC.
Best Western engages with RateGain to build wider electronic distribution network
The channel management solution works through a SaaS based platform, says yesterday's release.
NB: Images designed by Carrie Hawks courtesy of Wired Insider.