Travel Technology, Business Travel, Airlines and Airports
PR Newswire | August 23, 2023
TravelBank is now offering New Distribution Capability (NDC) booking features with American Airlines through the TravelBank platform. The investments in technology made by American Airlines and TravelBank, which is now part of U.S. Bank, provide customers an enhanced shopping experience with more access to fares and greater availability of services and benefits offered by American Airlines through the TravelBank platform.
TravelBank users are now able to use credits from a canceled or changed flight to keep everything in one place. Now, American Airlines makes legacy EDIFACT tickets exchangeable through NDC-based connections. It is the first airline to have this type of functionality. Users can expect a consistent and seamless experience booking, canceling, and rebooking any American Airlines flight booked on TravelBank regardless of the content source.
"American Airlines is focused on providing a modern retailing experience and this is just one more initiative that gives customers access to enhanced content and functionality," said Neil Geurin, managing director of Airline Retailing, American Airlines.
American Airlines makes it easier for its fliers using TravelBank to:
Reschedule flights and turn canceled flights into new flight fares;
Use existing tools and browse the ecosystem on their own, shortening processing times and
Benefit fromNDC options, resulting in a more seamless experience with relevant, tailored content via modern retailing channels.
"American Airlines is helping us maintain our mission of bringing customers a best-in-class experience and the most up-to-date technological advancements," said Duke Chung, co-founder and CEO of TravelBank. "Customers booking on American Airlines will now have the most seamless experience from pre-booking to post-booking."
About TravelBank
TravelBank is an all-in-one travel, expense, and corporate card management platform acquired by U.S. Bancorp, parent company of U.S. Bank, in 2021. TravelBank powers data-backed financial decisions for more than 15,000 companies. TravelBank helps reduce company expenditure by 30% on average while improving the employee experience through a user-friendly design, fast expense reimbursements, and travel rewards program. Businesses can design and deploy custom travel and work from home expense policies with ease, and create a baseline for spend that matches the needs of an organization. TravelBank's platform guides employees to stay within their company budget, so financial admins and decision-makers can focus on the core business, not the nuances of a company policy. Organizations of all sizes can harness the experience of TravelBank's in-house travel team alongside a dedicated customer success team for 24/7 concierge-level support, available by phone, email, or chat. Learn how to better manage your company's business spend by visiting travelbank.com today.
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Destination and Tourism
globenewswire | July 24, 2023
Treasure Global Inc an innovative technology solutions provider, today announced that the Company has signed a collaboration agreement with VCI Global Limited (NASDAQ: VCIG) (“VCI Global”), a multi-disciplinary consulting group focused on business and technology, for the development of an artificial intelligence (“AI”)-powered travel platform as a new offering for travellers in Malaysia.
VCI Global has selected TGL to develop the AI-powered platform to function as a high-tech portable concierge App, utilizing the latest advanced technologies to provide relevant travel recommendations in real time. By leveraging advanced AI-powered solutions, the app will aim to revolutionize the travel experience, assisting users in planning travel and related activities, such as suggesting places to explore, dining during their travels in Malaysia and to improve on seamless bookings for flights, hotels and car rentals. The platform is designed to break down language barriers as well, with advanced translation functions.
As part of the agreement, VCI Global will pay a service fee to TGL worth USD$1 million. TGL will develop, design and produce the integrated software platform and provide ongoing maintenance for the AI-powered travel app, which is targeted to launch next year. TGL and VCI Global will share ownership and profits generated from this collaboration on a 50:50 basis.
“We believe that global tourism has returned to its pre-pandemic levels, and we are well-placed to capitalize on the post-pandemic 'revenge travel' phenomenon through our collaboration with VCI Global. Our partnership to develop this app will leverage our combined resources and expertise, namely VCI’s technology experience with TGL’s software development skills, extensive user base and connections with merchants and underscores VCI’s trust in TGL's capabilities. The Malaysian digital economy is projected to grow to USD$34 billion by 2025, of which USD$8 billion1 is expected to be related to online travel-related activities. Our AI-powered travel platform will be a catalyst for growth, unlocking tremendous opportunities in the online travel sector. TGL’s unwavering focus on cutting-edge technologies and strategic partnerships solidifies its position as a trailblazer in the travel industry, strongly positioned to meet the evolving needs of modern travellers,” said Sam Teo, Chief Executive Officer of Treasure Global.
“As in our previous collaborations, I am humbled that once again we are able to play our part by offering our expertise in enhancing the landscape of the travel industry as global tourism migrates itself to high-tech platforms to maximise travellers’ experience. I am very confident that this AI-powered travel platform will act as a growth catalyst for Malaysia’s tourism industry. As these (tourist) arrivals numbers are still below the pre-Covid level, we strongly believe that visitors to Malaysia will increase exponentially in the near future, especially as travel is made easier,” said Dato’ Victor Hoo, Group Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of VCI Global.
About VCI Global Limited
VCI Global is a multi-disciplinary consulting group with key advisory practices in the areas of business and technology. The Company provides business and boardroom strategy services, investor relation services, and technology consultancy services. Its clients range from small-medium enterprises and government-linked agencies to publicly traded companies across a broad array of industries. VCI Global operates solely in Malaysia, with clients predominantly from Malaysia, but also serves some clients from China, Singapore, and the US.
About Treasure Global Inc
Treasure Global is a Malaysian solutions provider developing innovative technology platforms. Treasure Global has developed two technology solutions: the ZCITY App, a unique digital ecosystem that transforms and simplifies the e-payment experience for consumers, while simultaneously allowing them to earn rewards; and TAZTE, a digital F&B management system providing merchants with a one-stop management and automated solution to digitalize their businesses. Treasure Global also acts as a master franchiser in SEA for popular restaurant chains, while providing them with the TAZTE solution. As of March 31, 2023, ZCITY had over 2,400,000 registered users.
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Business Travel, Hospitality Trends
Globenewswire | August 01, 2023
Cloudbeds, the hospitality management platform powering more reservations and happier guests for lodging businesses around the globe, announced its integration with Vrbo. Through a full API connection, owners and operators can manage all aspects of their Vrbo listing through the Cloudbeds platform. The integration creates a superior user experience with automation in onboarding, managing rates and availability, reconciliation, and more.
As one of the world’s premier channels for vacation rentals, Vrbo will enable Cloudbeds customers to maximize bookings by connecting them to its massive base of travelers seeking family-oriented travel and prime leisure experiences.
The integration solidifies Cloudbeds’ channel and distribution management solution as an industry leader, offering its lodging customers easy access to the world’s top distribution channels in order to maximize their visibility, reach new markets and different types of travelers, and ultimately increase bookings.
Richard Castle, Co-founder and COO of Cloudbeds, shares, “Our mission at Cloudbeds is to power all segments of hospitality, delivering owners and operators technology capable of competing with the big brands. It gives us great pride to be one of the few official software partners of Vrbo, and we’re excited to provide even more opportunities for our properties to reach new travelers.”
ABOUT CLOUDBEDS
Cloudbeds is the platform that powers hospitality, enabling tens of thousands of lodging businesses in more than 150 countries worldwide to grow and thrive. The award-winning Cloudbeds Platform brings together technology solutions to increase revenue, delight guests, and streamline operations into a single unified system, enhanced by a curated marketplace of third-party integrations. Founded in 2012, Cloudbeds was named No. 1 PMS, No. 1 Hotel Management System, and No. 1 Guest Messaging Software by Hotel Tech Report in 2023 and was recognized as a major player in the 2022 IDC Marketscape Report.
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