Innovation

🍴 HOTREC representatives Marine Thizon and Jasper Dober visited Thai Café in Belgium, owned by Michel De Bloos. Thai Café, with 22 branches, shifted from single-use plastic to a reusable packaging system using Kiobox - a mix of ABS plastic and wood fibers, lasting five years without quality loss, achieving a 90% return rate, and saving over 5 million single-use boxes. The chain delivers 75% of orders in-house due to limitations of food delivery platforms' support for reusables and faces challenges like high commission charges on refunds by payment processors and ambiguous EU regulations concerning reusable packaging.

🏖 In 2025, the Polish tourism industry saw over 8.7 million customers traveling with tour operators and welcomed approximately 20 million tourists last year. Polish travelers often holiday multiple times annually, boosting the hotel sector, which includes internationally recognized chains and SMEs. SMEs face digitalization challenges, requiring EU and national program support. European policies, like PEF, aim to help businesses document sustainability efforts and compare environmental footprints, enhancing competitiveness in the EU's hospitality sector. Collaboration between national tourism associations and European institutions is key to fostering a fair competitive field, especially for SMEs in the highly competitive market.

🏖️ Travelport, a global GDS and travel technology specialist, partnered with Berge & Meer Touristik, a tour operator in the German-speaking market. Berge & Meer integrated Travelport's air cache solution for dynamic trip package booking, tailoring to customers' needs. The collaboration also enhances group booking capabilities. CEO Marcel Mayer advocates the user-friendly interface and real-time itinerary delivery. Thomas Schillinger of Travelport emphasizes the advancement of group travel and trip packaging strategies for an improved shopping experience.

🏠 Travelport, a travel technology specialist, has expanded its partnership with Chase Travel Group, part of JPMorganChase, via a new long-term agreement. This collaboration provides Chase Travel Group with enriched travel content through the Travelport+ platform, including modern retailing tools and merchandising features. The integration allows for seamless retail-ready content consumption from multiple sources, including NDC, air carriers, hotels, and car rentals, facilitated by Travelport's AI-powered Content Curation Layer for improved trip searches.

📈 Inbsys International launched J-TiBi AI and DATA Room, AI-based solutions for the travel industry to optimize underwriting and data analysis. J-TiBi AI, an intelligent booking interface, facilitates advanced personalization in travel insurance underwriting, integrating multi-vendor management and automates policy issuance, with a 3-day implementation period on websites. DATA Room utilizes Big Data for business intelligence, real-time analytics, predictive modeling, and technical performance monitoring. CEO Dario Cham emphasizes AI's role in redefining travel insurance, while COO Christophe Rencien notes the speed of customized solution delivery to airlines.

📍 TPConnects Technologies teams up with Gerry’s Group for travel distribution modernization in Pakistan. Gerry's selected Iris as their preferred aggregator, enhancing travel service capabilities with a single interface for NDC, GDS, and LCC content management. The partnership aims to improve booking experiences, increase operational efficiency, and boost revenue, marking a key step in Pakistan's travel industry advancement. Iris continues to grow globally, integrating content from top carriers.

🛏 In a Valpas-commissioned study, eradicating bed bugs in a 50-room hotel equates to CO₂ emissions of 229 one-way flights from London to New York. A 50-room hotel typically undergoes one bed bug infestation annually, leading to a carbon footprint of 70.8 tons of CO₂ per year from fumigation and chemical treatments. Conventional methods involve harmful chemicals like sulfuryl fluoride and neonicotinoid-based pesticides, which negatively impact biodiversity. Valpas, after a successful 2024, aims to expand its non-toxic, digital bed bug prevention solution to 2 million hotel beds by 2030, following a €4 million seed funding round.

🌎 INDI, a community for travellers and creators, launched its 'Be You' brand campaign to promote authentic travel experiences. Founded in 2022, INDI is now present in over 50 countries, including Italy, Germany, Japan, the US, Spain, and Indonesia. Their advanced matchmaking system connects explorers with local guides for unique cultural experiences. INDI's 2025 international roadshow will visit major European cities like Naples, Milan, London, Paris, and Barcelona, starting with events in Naples and Milan in February. CEO Luca Di Pierro aims to foster personal growth and authentic connections through travel.

💸 PRAGUE, 4 Feb 2025 – RobosizeME, a hospitality process automation leader, launched the Automated Reconciliation Suite, targeting the hotel industry's payment and commission challenges. The solution automates OTA commissions, Hotelbeds revenue, travel agency commissions, and employee benefit voucher programs from Edenred, Sodexo, and Dimply, reducing manual errors and enhancing cash flow. Stephen Burke, CEO of RobosizeME, highlights the suite's integration with hotel systems, promoting accuracy and efficiency, ensuring timely payments. The company is notable for its AI-enabled process automation, serving top hotel brands like Design Hotels, Dorchester Collection, Kempinski, and Radisson.