TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
businesswire | March 29, 2023
Travel bookings with Boatsetter, the leading marketplace for on-water experiences and boat rentals nationwide, have increased almost 80% year-over-year with renters using the platform’s on-demand “Instant Book” feature, allowing renters the flexibility to get out on the water within 48 hours or less of making the original booking. The growth in reservations follows an early indication of record breaking consumer demand in major hubs such as Austin, Dallas, Phoenix, and San Diego. The company has grown the fleet of boats in each of these locations by more than 100% in the past 12 months, providing renters with an even greater array of on-the-water experiences to choose from.
The company attributes its unprecedented growth in these areas to its success in innovating the platform to meet growing consumer demand driven by popular work-and-play trends, including “bleisure” (business and leisure) trips, “workcations” (trips employees take during working hours with some time leftover to explore new locales), and "staycations" (vacations spent at home involving day trips to local attractions).
“As working consumers continue to take advantage of flexible remote work and hybrid work models, it’s easier than ever to extend a weekend trip with a partial day, full day or multi-day boat trip,” said Boatsetter CEO Michael Farb. “Boatsetter makes it easy for travelers to spend a day working from a boat, enjoy a sunset cruise after work, or even reserve an early morning fishing experience before logging on to the work day.”
Boatsetter has evolved its mobile-app and website experience to offer almost unlimited flexibility and customization options. Prospective renters can find varying trip durations, from half or full-day rentals to 2, 3, and 6-hour excursions, and even multi-day reservations. Multi-day bookings, an ideal option for renters who want to get out on the water for consecutive days in a row, have skyrocketed, with a 70% increase compared to data from this time last year. In addition, Boatsetter observed increased interest in day boat rental styles; the most popular vessels being pontoons, followed by center consoles, and bowriders.
“Our goal is to create a platform that makes getting on the water an accessible option for as many people as possible,” added Farb. “The Boatsetter team is consistently tracking consumer trends and the needs of our renters to innovate and expand our marketplace options.”
With over 1,500 captains to choose from, Boatsetter also offers the largest network of USCG-certified captains, allowing renters to enjoy a stress-free boating environment without any previous experience. To learn more about Boatsetter or book a rental, please visit www.boatsetter.com.
About Boatsetter
With more than 50,000 boat listings available in over 700 locations worldwide, Boatsetter is the leading marketplace for on-the-water experiences and boat rentals. Boatsetter makes it easy to discover and enjoy a wide array of on-water experiences by connecting qualified renters directly to boat owners and licensed captains. Featuring the largest database of USCG-certified captains, Boatsetter makes it possible for even those with no prior boating experience to tap into an incredible array of water activities. Credited with pioneering the first ever peer-to-peer boat rental insurance policy, Boatsetter has empowered boat owners with the tools and support to become entrepreneurs on the water. Launched commercially in 2014, over one million boaters and boat owners alike have turned to Boatsetter to discover the endless possibilities the water provides.
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AIRLINES AND AIRPORTS
prnewswire | March 30, 2023
AMTRAV, the one connected platform for business travel, today announced upgrades to its corporate booking solution to continue delivering travelers and corporate travel customers the full selection of American Airlines' flights and lowest fares, even as American changes how the carrier's flights can be booked through third party corporate booking platforms beginning in April.
In an effort to modernize the shopping experience for travelers, American Airlines recently mandated that all travel agencies use "New Distribution Capability" (NDC) technology to shop and sell American flights by April 2023. NDC was developed by airlines to distribute fares, offers, and other products online faster and with more transparency than the previous travel technology. For those booking tools not connected, travelers will lose access to up to 40% of American's lowest fares and face the tough choice: book higher American fares with their current provider in order to maintain spend and safety visibility or let travelers book lower American fares outside the system, but lose spend and safety visibility.
Although many legacy travel management companies (TMCs) have resisted transitioning – citing the difficulty and complexity – AmTrav has been an outspoken proponent of modernization for many years. In 2019, AmTrav became the first business travel platform to process NDC bookings with American and today is one of a very small number of providers ready to provide uninterrupted access to American's lowest fares.
"Business travel tools already have a perception problem among travelers, because so few corporate travel booking platforms have been willing to invest time and money to modernize the user experience," said AmTrav CEO Jeff Klee. "We've taken a different approach. Because we build all of our own technology with fewer dependencies on slow, legacy third party systems, we can deliver for our travelers the type of shopping experience they get when they book personal travel, while at the same time providing their companies with the visibility, control, and savings they need."
With its latest enhancements, AmTrav's "NDC ready" solution, more than ever, brings business travelers and their companies:
Lower Fares on American: Booking tools that have not tapped into American's NDC content will be more expensive 40% of the time.
Access to All of American's Fare Brands: Compare and choose from the full menu of American's offerings, including the new Main Plus and Main Select bundles which include free extra legroom seats, among other benefits.
Full Choice of Seats: Get access to every available seat, including Preferred and Main Cabin Extra, with perks from your AAdvantage status (if applicable) automatically factored in.
Personalized Comparison-Shopping: A rich, complete comparison-shopping experience to help travelers make smart choices with details, photos, and reviews to inform fare rules, fees, seat size, WiFi, entertainment, and so much more.
Full Visibility and Control: Like any other booking, American NDC bookings work seamlessly with AmTrav's real-time reporting, travel policy and approval flows, unused ticket tracking, and traveler locator services, keeping travel managers and C-suite execs happy.
About AmTrav
AmTrav is an award-winning, modern technology and service platform designed to make business travel personal and productive. Companies of all sizes use AmTrav to book trips, find savings, set travel policies, manage payments and expenses, and keep their travelers safe. Travelers and companies love AmTrav's powerful platform that provides a seamless travel management experience supported by our experts who are always ready to help 24x7. More than 1000 businesses trust AmTrav to go places, meet people, and go further.
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INDUSTRY OUTLOOK, HOSPITALITY TRENDS
PRnewswire | May 16, 2023
Artificial intelligence tools are spreading to every industry, including the hospitality industry, and Tripleseat is putting this technology into the hands of restaurants and hotels that provide catering and events.
Tripleseat, the leading web-based sales and event management platform for restaurants, hotels, and unique venues, announced the launch of ChatGPT artificial intelligence to enable venues to enhance their online presence with EventUp and food and beverage sales with Tripleseat's direct event booking and reservation platform TripleseatDirect.
Integrated into the text editor in Tripleseat's EventUp and enabled on TripleseatDirect forms, venues can receive AI powered by ChatGPT recommendations for updating their venue and room descriptions to better appeal to guests, boosting Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and adding creative event details to attract more planners on EventUp and TripleseatDirect. This not only improves the overall guest experience but also helps venues attract more business.
"At Tripleseat, we believe that incorporating cutting-edge technology into our platform is key to driving success for our customers in the ever-evolving hospitality industry," said Jonathan Morse, CEO of Tripleseat. "With the launch of ChatGPT features, we're excited to offer our customers access to the latest in artificial intelligence, providing them with personalized recommendations to enhance their venue listings and ultimately attract more business. We're proud to be at the forefront of this technology and look forward to continuing to innovate and provide top-notch solutions for our customers."
About Tripleseat
Tripleseat is a catering and event management platform used by more than 15,000 venues each day, enabling them to streamline the planning process and increase sales. To date, the Tripleseat platform has helped venues book over 10 million events and capture $15 billion in event leads. EventUp powered by Tripleseat allows event planners to browse thousands of venues to book the perfect place for their event.
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