Travel Technology, Hospitality Trends
PR Newswire | July 05, 2023
Today, Collinson, a global leader in the provision of airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement solutions, and owner and operator of Priority Pass, announces a new partnership with Blue Sky Group, a hospitality provider in Indonesia that manages premium executive lounges in airports across Indonesia, alongside hotels and restaurants.
This partnership will allow Priority Pass Members to access 13 airport lounges, eight of which are exclusive to Priority Pass Members, in Indonesian airports. This includes Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK), Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan International Airport (BPN), and Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport (PLM).
Blue Sky Group's airport lounges offer comfortable spaces for travellers to relax pre-flight, as well as VIP rooms for informal meetings. Lounges at Balikpapan (BPN) and terminal 2 of Soekarno-Hatta (CGK) airports provide complimentary buggy services that transport guests from the lounge to immigration. In addition to curated lounge spaces, members will be able to enjoy Ippolito coffee – Blue Sky's in-house brand, roasted locally – as well as sample Indonesian cuisine, such as Pisang Goreng and varieties of Jajanan Pasar.
"This is an exciting time for the travel industry in Indonesia, as the country has set a goal of attracting nearly 7.4 million international arrivals in 2023; almost double the number of arrivals when compared to last year," said Todd Handcock, Global Chief Commercial Officer and Asia Pacific President at Collinson. "We are delighted to partner with Blue Sky Group, one of the top hospitality providers in Southeast Asia, to vastly enhance our Priority Pass Members' experience when visiting Indonesia, through inventory that both provides a taste of the local culture, and a memorable airport experience."
Linan Kurniahu, CEO of Blue Sky Group said, "We are thrilled to partner with Priority Pass to provide their members with access to our premium airport lounges in Indonesia. Our airport lounges combine the best of local culture and cuisine with the highest levels of international travel service. This partnership represents a significant milestone for us as we continue to expand our footprint across Asia Pacific's travel industry."
Indonesia has a rapidly growing economy and is fast becoming a major international business and leisure travel destination. Recognising the importance of this market to Priority Pass Members, together, both partners will make travel to and within the Indonesian archipelago more comfortable and relaxing than ever before.
About Collinson
Collinson is the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence.
We work with the world's leading payment networks, over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide. We deliver market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over 400 million end consumers.
About Priority Pass
Priority Pass is the world's original and market-leading airport experiences programme. We provide travellers with access to 1,300 airport lounges and travel experiences in over 650 airports in 148 countries. Members can access an ever-growing range of premium experiences – from spas to sleeping pods to dining – that help elevate every journey into something special. By building partnerships with other leading brands, we help to bring a better travel experience to the world.
About Blue Sky Group
A nationwide company focusing on hospitality, property services and restaurant management, Blue Sky Group started in 1973 as one of the few hotels in Balikpapan, Indonesia. Since 2003, Blue Sky Lounges serve in major cities in Indonesia, such as Balikpapan, Jakarta, Pekanbaru, Pontianak, etc.
We are the sole privately owned brand with multiple outlets that have partnership with major banks and corporate & government entities in Indonesia. Our aim is to continue to be the destination for travellers before their journey, with the goal of going to international market in the future.
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Travel Technology
prnewswire | August 14, 2023
ALTOUR, one of the world's largest travel management companies and a division of Internova Travel Group, is launching an innovative new product, ALTOUR Capture, that will help corporate clients keep better track of their employee travel.
Even the most well-managed business travel programs experience some leakage — with employees booking trips outside the TMC of record. That can lead to a loss of savings acquired through negotiations with preferred suppliers and a breakdown in duty of care obligations.
ALTOUR Capture solves the leakage problem by allowing travel managers at companies that are ALTOUR clients to view all travel bookings made by employees, whether or not they go through the TMC of record. Travel managers can then leverage that information for use in negotiations, conduct a price comparison and wrap duty of care to ensure travel notifications and traveller safety. This real-customer data will help drive change in one of business travel's thorniest issues.
"Capturing all travel bookings is crucial for providing proper duty of care to employees," said Dr. John Rose, Chief Risk & Security Officer for ALTOUR. "It enables the company to proactively manage risks, respond to emergencies effectively, comply with legal requirements, and foster a culture of safety and employee well-being."
With customer data driving change, ALTOUR Capture is the result of a partnership with three leading technology companies in the travel industry: CapTrav, capturing and aggregating off-channel booking data to populate ALTOUR's reporting environment; Prime Numbers Technology, providing best-in-class travel management reporting; and Oversee (formerly Fairfly), providing re-shopping for off-channel bookings when it makes sense for the client. Under the direction of Dr. John Rose, ALTOUR is committed to ensuring a more holistic duty of care program, no matter where the traveller books.
Brandon Strauss, CapTrav President and a partner and cofounder of KesselRun Corporate Travel Solutions, says KesselRun has been studying the problem of off-booking for more than 20 years across clients of all sizes and industries. He estimates airline leakage at 15 percent or more and hotel leakage at 40 percent or more.
"Even with world-class best efforts, there will always be off-channel bookings for a travel manager to deal with," said Lee Thomas, ALTOUR's Chief Operating Officer and President, Business Travel. "Road warrior preferences, loyalty incentives, supplier encouragement, travel disruptions, last-minute changes and moderate travel policies all contribute to off-channel booking. By connecting the travel manager to this off-channel world, ALTOUR Capture closes the loop on managed travel."
"We are thrilled to announce the seamless integration of CapTrav's data into the Prime Analytics platform," said Mark Bresnahan, President, Prime Numbers Technology. "This partnership empowers ALTOUR clients with an unparalleled wellspring of travel data reporting. By combining off-channel booking data, GDS itinerary information, TMC data, and post-trip expense details, we offer a comprehensive solution. Clients can effortlessly oversee their travel program, accessing real-time reports, dynamic dashboards, and automated stakeholder presentations directly to their inbox."
"Oversee is proud to partner with ALTOUR on launching ALTOUR Capture," said Aviel Siman-Tov, cofounder and CEO. "Our partnership expands upon our mission of leveraging technology to deliver cost and operational efficiencies for our partners and customers. We have consistently achieved significant savings for our clients that allow budgets to be stretched while optimizing their overall travel program."
About ALTOUR
With sales of more than $3 billion, ALTOUR is one of the largest travel management companies in the United States and around the world. Serving the corporate and leisure luxury and mid-markets and entertainment community, ALTOUR has over 43 offices and nearly 700 travel professionals worldwide. In addition to travel management services, ALTOUR companies include ALTOUR Air, ALTOUR Leisure, ALTOUR Entertainment, ALTOUR Meetings and Incentives and ALTOUR Global Network.
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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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