Innovation

🍽 Grubhub expands its Campus Dining to over 60 schools, reaching 500,000 new students, totaling over 4.5 million. Partnerships include University of Alabama at Birmingham and Howard University, among others, marking a 21% increase from last year. Robot delivery services, through Cartken, Kiwibot, and Starship, extend to nearly a dozen more campuses like University of Mississippi, with over 20 campuses already served. Ursinus College and the University of Virginia implement Amazon's Just Walk Out technology for checkout-free shopping. Grubhub’s partnership with Topanga.io introduces reusable packaging via the ReusePass program at Virginia Tech and other universities. Grubhub+ Student offers $0 delivery fees and additional benefits for partnered school students.

🍴 Grubhub now serves over 4.5 million students, expanding its Campus Dining to more than 60 schools, reaching half a million new students. The service integrates with campus meal plans and includes the University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Tampa, University of Missouri, Howard University, and Tulane University, representing a 21% increase from last year. Grubhub partners with Cartken, Kiwibot, and Starship for robot delivery on college campuses, now on over 20 campuses with hundreds of thousands of orders delivered. Ursinus College, the University of Virginia, and Lindenwood University implement Amazon's Just Walk Out technology, joining Stevens Institute of Technology, Montclair State University, and Loyola University Maryland. Grubhub collaborates with Topanga.io for a sustainable dining solution with reusable containers, already in use at Virginia Tech, SUNY New Paltz, California Polytechnic State University, Ohio State University, Colorado State University, Boston University, University of Delaware, and Brandeis University. Grubhub+ Student offers free membership to students at partnered schools, including $0 delivery and lower service fees.

📱 Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems in hospitality enable teams across locations to access tools and resources, enhance guest loyalty with personalized experiences, and streamline sales and marketing with centralized content. Boston Harbor Hotel, with Marketing Manager Christine Whitnel and Social Media Coordinator Marc Gonzalez, improved operations with a new DAM, facilitating AI-powered search, tagging, sharing, and rights management, leading to more efficient campaigns. DAMs are integrating AI and ML to become more sophisticated, proving essential in the competitive hospitality market. PhotoShelter CEO Andrew Fingerman highlights nearly 2,000 brands using their DAM software.

📝 FAQ Insights in the Console helps optimize guest communication by showing unanswered questions, negative scores, and topics for chatbot response improvement. Dashboard section provides quick general insights. The Reports section offers detailed data and performance metrics, with access to top 25 priorities for optimizing FAQ topics. Direct access for optimization is available through the platform and a question mark icon next to chatbot responses in conversations. Weekly email reports and Console notifications alert users to unanswered FAQs.

🏨 Ernest Lee, Chief Commercial Officer at citizenM, discusses the "mycitizenM+" paid loyalty program, akin to Amazon Prime, on Aug. 22, 2024, highlighting benefits for customers and the company. The program offers travel, social, and professional perks, reflecting post-pandemic workforce changes with increased flexibility. It impacts key metrics like average order value, customer lifetime value, repeat frequency, app usage, and Net Promoter Score (NPS).

✈ Greater Bay Airlines (GBA), Hong Kong's newest carrier, is now accessible through Travelport+ platform, catering to seven destinations in the Asia-Pacific region. This multi-year partnership aims to facilitate GBA's expansion by connecting it with Travelport’s global travel retailer network. Agencies can book GBA fares and ancillary services, utilizing Travelport’s content and branding merchandising solutions. COO of GBA, Stephen Loh, and Damian Hickey, Travelport's global head of travel partners, emphasize the enhancement of traveler experiences and retailing processes.

💰 Mike Putman, CEO of CTS, credits the success of the e-commerce subscription economy to its global strength, as seen with Amazon Prime Day. The travel industry is adopting similar models, offering monthly or annual subscriptions for services or discounts. CTS's report, "The Age of Travel Subscription," provides eight steps for success in this realm, emphasizing business discipline, value, low acquisition cost, recurring income, market resilience, tailored benefits, customer service, and data retention. With the travel subscription economy's initial phase ending, timely action is crucial for market players.

✈ Sabre has renewed its distribution deal with Delta Air Lines for multiple years, including NDC content. Delta announced its selling and servicing transformation with NDC earlier in the year. Sabre-connected travel agents gain access to traditional EDIFACT and NDC Delta content, with an aim to integrate NDC into Sabre’s marketplace. Delta’s Jeff Lobl and Sabre’s Roshan Mendis emphasize the benefits of the extension and collaboration for optimal travel experiences tailored to customer needs.

📅 In its 25th anniversary month, iSeatz launched LXP, a travel loyalty technology platform designed to enhance agility and efficiency for businesses. LXP, notable for partnering with Delta in 2007 and American Express Travel in 2012, supports bespoke client services with an API-first microservices framework, promising adaptable solutions to meet market demands and improve customer experiences. Founder and CEO Kenneth Purcell emphasizes iSeatz's commitment to customer-centric innovation.