Melinda Healy

📈 Over 50 tourism leaders will attend the Ministers’ Summit at the World Travel Market in London from November 5-7, 2024, focusing on AI's impact on tourism. The 18th annual event, in partnership with UNTourism and WTTC, will include discussions on ethical AI use and bridging the digital divide, moderated by a BBC journalist. World Travel Market London's Exhibition Director Juliette Losardo highlights the summit's role in shaping the tourism industry’s future.

🏨 Liverpool-based tech start-up Digitaltravel.io celebrated its third year with over £1 million in annual revenue, a significant growth from £250k in its first year. Established from a merger, the company expanded its team from five to 14 and increased its client base to 67, 59% of whom are international. Office space doubled to support growth, reflecting a 98% client retention rate and strategic partnerships, like that with Traveltek. Digitaltravel.io has earned accolades including the Travolution awards and the Tech Climbers list in 2023 and 2024.

🏨 H.I.S., a leading Japanese travel agency, extends its 14-year partnership with IBS Software to modernize air shopping. The collaboration focuses on leveraging AI and Machine Learning for automation to enhance customer personalization and targeted offers. Executive Officer Kiyoshi Takano emphasizes the importance of Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and building lasting relationships. IBS Software's Global Head of Consulting and Digital Transformation, Moizzur Rahman, highlights keeping customers central to the travel experience.

🌍 Global start-up Wanderboat, founded by AI experts from companies like Microsoft and Meta, launches a new AI application to transform travel planning. The app provides personalized journey guidance with intuitive chat and visual travel maps, integrating various content like websites, videos, and reviews. It caters to both early planners and spontaneous travelers, offering detailed itineraries and real-time location-based suggestions. Wanderboat aims to encourage exploration and reduce planning stress, featuring a user community for experience sharing.

📱 Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris, part of Accor hotels, completed a Wi-Fi network upgrade in July 2024 before summer guests' arrival. Over 330 Ruckus access points were installed in 149 rooms and suites, with additional APs in public areas and outdoors, enhanced by two Ruckus SmartZone Wi-Fi Controllers for improved connectivity, speed, and management. The hotel's dedicated 4Gb fiber connection ensures robust, reliable Wi-Fi for guests’ bandwidth-intensive needs.

📱 TripAdvisor partners with HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions) to introduce in-app hotel booking exclusively for logged-in members, enhancing its travel platform offerings. By teaming up with HTS, TripAdvisor leverages robust distribution technology and hotel inventory for an improved travel planning experience. This move, following the AI Trip Builder launch earlier in the year, aims to provide TripAdvisor’s engaged members with more value, in-app rewards, and incentives. The partnership was announced with the aim to make the TripAdvisor app an indispensable tool for travelers.