AIRLINES AND AIRPORTS
World Travel & Tourism Council | March 14, 2023
World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), a travel arrangement services company, has recently announced the Hotel Sustainability Basics (Basics) at ITB Berlin. Basics help tourist accommodation providers with their sustainability journey.
Basics is a set of globally accepted criteria that hotels should implement at least to generate a responsible and sustainable business in Travel & Tourism. The industry supports it and compiles all tourist accommodation providers, regardless of their size and location. A group of influential global hotel brands came together to demand it. It emphasizes a possible starting point over other sustainability initiatives. It will inspire accommodation providers worldwide to start their sustainability journeys and fulfill the fundamental standards of the sector.
It compromises 12 essential criteria and is available to all hotels. This endeavor aims to build a strong base for complex sustainability schemes and enhance sustainability across the industry. It got recognition from the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance as a starting point for the net positive industry. This alliance is the one that announced the latest version of the 'Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality.' WTTC has partnered with Green Key and SGS to design an online verification system to ensure the program's validity.
President & CEO of WTTC, Julia Simpson said, "We are incredibly proud to launch our Hotel Sustainability Basics and its verification scheme. The initiative is a response to the sector's need for a baseline for hotels and other tourist lodgings to introduce the exacting sustainability standards." She added, "Our research shows that most business owners are aware of their responsibility to the environment but need a step-by-step guide that is scientifically verifiable. It is a testament to the need for such a scheme that already thousands of hotel properties from around the world have committed to implement Basics, and from today can begin the verification process."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
About World Travel & Tourism Council
Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is a non-profitable and non-government organization dedicated to travel and tourism, founded in 1990. It specializes in the authority on world travel & tourism, travel, tourism, research, economics, private sector, government policies, economic impact, Covid-19 recovery, sustainability, and crisis preparedness. It represents the travel & tourism private sector at a global level. It connects industry experts, CEOs of travel & tourism companies and organizations worldwide. Its focuses on Security & Travel Facilitation, Crisis Preparedness & Management, and Sustainable Growth in the travel field.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
SUNRATE | January 10, 2023
SUNRATE, recognized as a leading financial solutions provider, collaborated with Visa, a world leader in digital payments. The partnership is to enhance the travel solutions offered by SUNRATE.
In the past, SUNRATE's stakeholders had only one way to pay for travel-related expenses with their travel partners. Now with the partnership, they will have a virtual corporate card that makes this process much easier and more streamlined.
SUNRATE, at the end of last year, shared news of a strategic alliance with Agoda, the world's largest online travel agency. In 2021, the company was accepted into the Visa network as a primary participant.
SUNRATE’S corporate cards will help its travel partners to have control over spending track and allocations. In addition, a corporate card will ensure the security of the transactions and the data for the users. Technologies like Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have made it difficult for shared card information to be misused by imposing a time limit on each transaction.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Level 1 is an international standard for financial data security. SUNRATE has been certified to meet this standard.
"The launch of Visa virtual corporate cards is a monumental step for SUNRATE as we cement our leadership as a one-stop B2B payment partner, especially for the travel industry. Since our partnership announcement with Agoda, we have worked with many other travel stakeholders, including other OTAs and we take pride in being able to solve their overall business needs. The Visa virtual corporate card will be a key solution for our customers and beyond,"
-Shawn Qin, Head of Card Business, SUNRATE.
(Source: Cision)
About SUNRATE
SUNRATE is an advanced global payment and treasury management platform for international businesses. Having global headquarters in Singapore and offices in China, Indonesia, Japan, and the United Kingdom, SUNRATE collaborates with Citibank, Standard Chartered, and Barclays and is the leading member of MasterCard and Visa. The company has facilitated local and global growth for over 130 firms since its establishment in 2016.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
Plusgrade | February 23, 2023
Plusgrade, the global travel industry's premier provider of ancillary revenue solutions, recently announced the acquisition of UpStay, a growing upgrade and ancillary revenue solutions provider for the hospitality industry. UpStay supports hundreds of hotels throughout 17 countries by aiding hoteliers in growing ancillary revenue by delivering numerous value-added revenue streams to their guests.
Since its inception in 2019, UpStay has been acknowledged for its innovative technology, receiving the 2021 People's Choice Innovation Award (Phocuswright Travel Awards) and the 2022 World's Best Hotel Tech Startup (World Travel Tech Awards).
Plusgrade's acquisition of Points, the global leader in powering loyalty commerce, brought together two of the largest ancillary revenue solutions under one umbrella. Now, the company has initiated a new phase of rapid expansion. By adding UpStay, which provides hotel upgrades and other ancillary revenue solutions, to its portfolio, enhances its ability to deliver comprehensive and diverse services to its global customer base.
This move positions Plusgrade to make a more significant impact on travel businesses worldwide, ultimately leading to increased customer satisfaction. UpStay will be incorporated into the Plusgrade brand over the next few weeks and will operate as Plusgrade going forward.
Ken Harris, CEO of Plusgrade, shared, "The acquisition of UpStay is another step forward for our vision and mission of becoming the Global Ancillary Revenue Powerhouse." He adds, "We have been accelerating this mission through a series of innovations, launches and acquisitions, and have come into 2023 as a powerhouse for the global travel industry. We are thrilled to have the UpStay team join us, and look forward to tapping into their expertise and innovative technology to bring even more value to our now 200+ airline, hospitality, cruise, rail and financial services partners around the world."
(Source – PR Newswire)
About Plusgrade
Plusgrade offers a portfolio of premium ancillary revenue solutions that power the travel industry. With over 200 clients from various sectors, including airline, cruise, passenger rail, hospitality, and financial services, the company creates new, meaningful revenue streams by delivering exceptional customer experiences. As an ancillary revenue powerhouse, it has created new revenue opportunities worth billions of dollars across its platform, enhancing travel experiences for millions of passengers and guests. Founded in 2009 with headquarters in Montreal, the organization has a global presence with offices located worldwide.
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