INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
Northstar Travel Group | January 09, 2023
Northstar Travel Group, the leading provider of information services, events, data, and marketing solutions focusing solely on the travel industry, recently appointed Jason Young as its new CEO. Young will replace Thomas Kemp, who served as Chairman and CEO since 2009, while Kemp will be assuming the position of Chairman.
A visionary in advertising technology and an innovative pioneer of the digital transformation of the media industry, Jason Young spent 20 years with Ziff-Davis Media, a leading IT information and media business, climbing to the CEO role. He established Smart Device Media, a mobile advertising network that Crisp Mobile eventually acquired. He then became the CEO of the joint company, after which Quotient Technology acquired Crisp.
Quotient Technology served the packaged goods industry as a data-driven advertising tech company and appointed Jason Young as Chief Media & Marketing Officer after acquiring Crisp. His most recent employment was as President of Chicory, a contextual commerce media company working in the consumer-packaged goods industry. Young has fueled product innovation around new advertising platforms and data-driven media with his 30+ years in the industry.
Alongside the leadership change comes the promotion of Bob Sullivan, a travel industry icon and President of Northstar's Travel Group, who will now serve as the company's Chief Commercial Officer.
"I am thrilled to have the benefit and opportunity to work and partner with a leader like Bob, whose industry knowledge and expertise will be critical as Northstar looks to expand on its leadership position."
-Jason Young, the newly appointed CEO
(Source: Businesswire.com)
Bob Sullivan said about the new CEO, I am excited about the passion, experience and skills Jason brings into the business and am eager to work with him to unlock even more value for our customers and partners. I could not be more excited about the opportunity ahead for Northstar.
About Northstar Travel Group
Northstar Travel Group is the travel industry's premier provider of information services, data, events, and marketing solutions. Its diverse audience encompasses every travel segment, including leisure, sports, business, incentives, meetings, hospitality, and travel technology. The company is also the majority shareholder of Inntopia, the market leader in marketing cloud, e-commerce software, and business intelligence operating in the activities, golf, mountain destination, and hospitality industries. With headquarters in Rutherford, New Jersey, the company operates out of five offices across the U.S., U.K., and Singapore. Northstar Travel Group is owned by funds managed by EagleTree Capital.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
RetailMeNot | February 27, 2023
Trip.com, an international travel services provider, has recently launched its solution TripGen, offering live travel assistance with chatbot-designed AI technology. The solution provides customized options for travel routes, travel booking recommendations and itineraries in real-time on the Trip.com platform.
It offers all the solutions needed for safe travel in one application, making it more accessible and customer friendly. Trip.com is committed to giving personalized all-inclusive search solutions for the best hotels, flights, hotels, and travel guides according to the traveler's desires. Furthermore, with the integration of an advanced context-based Natural Language Processing (NLP) chatbot, it extends its search capability.
This feature responds with exact answers to the user's vague and complex questions. It quickly suggests recommendations to any fragmented travel-related questions related to pre-trip decisions and in-trip arrangements. It also helps travelers at any stage of their travel, from arranging flights and hotels to tours and transportation, making the whole process stress-free.
COO of Trip.com, Schubert Lou said,"The goal of Trip.com is to become your trusted trip companion. The release of TripGen provides real-time, question-and-answer services in the Trip.com app, resulting in greater, faster, and more diverse support for the traveler". He added, "TripGen currently supports English, Japanese, Korean and traditional Chinese. More languages will be added depending on user needs. On the technical side, TripGen has integrated the OpenAI API, which developed ChatGPT based on GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture. In the future, we will consider other NLP model alternatives and continue on our journey to provide the ultimate product experience for the traveler.
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
About Trip.com
Headquartered in Singapore, Trip.com, a global online travel agency, offers services for flights tickets, hotels booking, train tickets, and the internet. It enhances the travel experience from a short trip to a nearby city to a long adventure across the continent, helping travelers at every step of the journey. It has connected about 1.2 million hotels and over 500 airlines in approximately 200 countries to travelers. With a committed customer service team, it offers services non-stop 24/7 and assists travelers worldwide. It also provides an all-in-one travel application with features like trip coins, app-inclusive deals, easy trip planning, the latest travel updates, and worldwide coverage.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY,INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
battleface | January 12, 2023
battleface, a travel insurance provider, recently announced the launch of Robin Assist, a new tech-based platform as a service. It is designed for brokers, carriers, managing general agents (MGAs), and self-employed businesses.
Robin Assist is supported by the global application programming interface-driven (API) insurtech platform through round-the-clock customer service, emergency medical assistance services, and claims. battleface's founders come from a travel insurance background, having worked in the roles of underwriting, claims, customer service, compliance, and emergency medical treatment.
battleface has expanded distribution globally since its foundational days. The company is in the UK, EU, US, Canada, and Australia because of its adaptive technology and network of medical, travel, and security partners.
The Robin Assist platform offers a variety of services, including round-the-clock service in multiple languages, insurance claims management, aid in transit and evacuation in case of medical emergencies, management of medical cases, international systems for controlling healthcare costs, and instant remittances in over 140 currencies.
battleface intends to make its API-driven insurtech platform publicly available for easy product creation, rate administration, policy fulfillment, nation- and state-specific compliance, global distribution, out-of-the-box affiliation, and relationship management.
"battleface was born out of emergency travel and medical assistance, where we saw the need for tech-driven products to deliver relevant services for today's travelers," said Sasha Gainullin, CEO, battleface. He further added, "With the launch of Robin Assist, our team will continue to deliver the same level of excellent service that our customers currently experience, supporting travel insurance brands globally."
(Source: PR Newswire)
About battleface
battleface, Inc., founded in 2017, is headquartered in Columbus (Ohio). It is a global full-stack firm that makes it simple for clients and partners to get the right travel insurance for them. Its custom-built embedded goods, location-independent access to essential benefits, and attentive, around-the-clock customer assistance are only the beginning.
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