What else is going on in the world of travel tech? A round-up of other stories from across the industry.
- PointFinder is the latest tool from loyalty scheme management platform PointHub. The service acts as a virtual loyalty email editor and searches through multiple sources for special promotions for a user's programme. PointHub launched in the summer of 2011. Some estimates put around $16 billion is lost annually from frequent flyer and reward points not being used by airline members.
- Indian travel search firm iXiGO looks to Amadeus to hire a new vice president for products. Ernesto Cohnen will be responsible for the search, planning and mobile services for iXiGO, having spent the past five years at Amadeus as a software architect. At Amadeus he helped in a number of CSR programmes including the Small Hotels Distribution Project.
- Small Luxury Hotels of the World has gone mobile with optimised versions of its website for iPad and mobile devices. The group says it currently receives 2,000 visits a week from iPad visitors with 63 reservations made from the tablet for the first week of February. SLH says visits from iPhone and Android users to its site per week are 3,500 and 900 respectively.
- AirPlus International has released research showing 53% of companies around the world allow their travellers to use mobile solutions while a further 5% intend to open up mobile services to them in the next 12 months. Social media usage was also looked at in the study of more than 1,700 travel managers, conducted by 2hm, with 40% saying they already use the tools as an information source and a further 4% saying they plan to in the next 12 months.