Travel Technology
prnewswire | July 21, 2023
Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), invites travelers to discover Azerbaijan in all seasons.
The two companies will join forces for a new campaign aiming to showcase Azerbaijan's incredible attractions to MENA travelers. Building on the successful previous partnership, this collaboration will leverage Wego's extensive reach and innovative marketing strategies to showcase Azerbaijan's rich cultural heritage, diverse landscapes, and warm hospitality.
In Azerbaijan, both summer and winter offer a wide range of exciting activities for each type of traveler.
Mamoun Hmedan, Chief Commercial Officer and Managing Director, MENA and India, Wego, said: "As we renew our partnership with Azerbaijan Tourism Board, we aim to inspire and guide travelers to explore the wonders of Azerbaijan and create a seamless and inspiring travel experience. We recorded over 830,000 searches globally to Azerbaijan this year and we are expecting to see an increase in the searches towards the summer."
During the summer months, the country's beautiful coastal areas become a haven for beach lovers. Travelers can indulge in water sports such as jet skiing and parasailing. Additionally, the picturesque mountainous regions of Azerbaijan, such as the Greater Caucasus range, provide fantastic opportunities for hiking, trekking, and exploring scenic trails that lead to breathtaking vistas and hidden waterfalls.
Florian Sengstschmid, CEO, Azerbaijan Tourism Board, said: "In winter, Azerbaijan transforms into a winter wonderland, providing excellent opportunities for winter sports enthusiasts. The country has premier ski resorts and offer world-class skiing and snowboarding facilities with a range of slopes suitable for beginners to advanced skiers. Additionally, the picturesque village of Gabala, located in the Tufandag Mountains, offers a charming winter retreat with opportunities for skiing, snowboarding, and even enjoying horse-drawn sleigh rides through snowy landscapes."
About Wego
Wegoprovides award-winning travel search websites and top-ranked mobile apps for travelers living in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East regions. Wego harnesses powerful yet simple to use technology that automates the process of searching and comparing results from hundreds of airlines, hotels, and online travel agency websites.
Wego presents an unbiased comparison of all travel products and prices offered in the marketplace by merchants, both local and global, and enables shoppers to quickly find the best deal and place to book whether it is from an airline or hotel directly or with a third-party aggregator website.
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Hospitality Trends
prnewswire | August 29, 2023
Quark Expeditions, the global leader in polar adventures, announces the launch of a new Partner Portal for travel advisors and their firms—including an industry-first AI platform that will make every advisor a polar expert.
"Our Partner Portal for travel advisors offers unmatched, industry-leading innovation and efficiency," said Wendy Batchelor, Vice President of Marketing for Quark Expeditions. "Anchored by the best team and the deepest experience in our sector, our blend of one-stop digital resources and lightning-fast AI tools will fuel sales success for our polar expedition partners—and this is only phase one; look for more exciting developments soon!"
From customizable promotional and marketing materials, to the latest polar news and incentives plus Quark Expeditions' learn-from-anywhere PolarPRO training platform, the Partner Portal provides both inspiration and education—along with Parker the Polar Bear, the industry's first real-time, AI-driven virtual polar resource!
"Our new AI-enabled virtual assistant leverages secure, cutting-edge language models trained by our own technology team using extensive in-house knowledge repositories," said Rajesh Thiagarajan, Director of Digital Products with Quark Expeditions' global development team. "Parker, together with the full suite of digital resources on the Partner Portal, will reduce time demands for advisors through fast and accurate answers to every polar client's questions."
To learn more about the Partner Portal and its AI capabilities, travel advisors can contact the Quark Expeditions sales team—or click here to register and launch their polar expedition sales journey today!
About Quark Expeditions
The global leader in polar adventures for more than 30 years. The most passionate and seasoned team in the industry, taking explorers to the ends of the earth. Going where few ever dream, and walking where few ever will. Delivering extraordinary experiences and enriching lives through travel, Quark Expeditions is a Travelopia specialist company.
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Business Travel
globenewswire | August 17, 2023
Mondee Holdings, Inc. the high-growth, travel technology company and marketplace, with a portfolio of globally recognized platforms in the leisure and corporate travel sectors, today announced the acquisition of Skypass Travel, Inc. (“Skypass”), a global full-service retail and wholesale provider of corporate, leisure, and humanitarian travel, based in the Dallas, Texas area.
The acquisition of Skypass supports Mondee's ongoing expansion and diversification endeavors, encompassing markets that serve both personnel and affiliates from international corporations, small and midsize businesses (SMBs), as well as humanitarian organizations. Skypass maintains domestic offices in the Dallas, Texas area and Austin, Texas. Furthermore, it boasts a global footprint through its international offices located in Latin America (LATAM), Mexico, Canada, and India.
Skypass achieved a gross revenue of $45 million and adjusted EBITDA of $4 million, representing a margin on net revenue of approximately 60%, in 2022. At closing, Mondee paid a consideration of approximately $15 million, comprised of cash and Mondee common stock priced at $10 per share. Additionally, the agreement allows for a potential future earn-out opportunity of shares of Mondee common stock, contingent upon the achievement of specified annual adjusted EBITDA growth targets.
With a 35-year operating history, Skypass enjoys a leading position in the international corporate travel sector. Its focus is directed toward providing travel services to sizable international consulting firms and SMBs. In addition to air travel and lodging, Skypass extends its services to encompass cruises, vacation packages, and humanitarian travel, catering to the personnel, associates, and the wider retail travel demographic.
Following the successful acquisitions of Consolid, Orinter and Interep, Mondee is poised to strategically advance the distribution of Skypass's travel-related offerings. Skypass’s expansion may be facilitated through Mondee’s extensive network, which comprises over 65,000 travel experts and a membership of 125 million individuals within closed groups. Furthermore, the acquisition increases Mondee’s reach of local, regional and global content.
Mondee's strategic approach involves harnessing its exclusive AI-Powered Travel Marketplace and cutting-edge technology. Simultaneously, the Company intends to introduce enhancements in services that may target Skypass’s clientele and generate additional revenue, including FinTech solutions and supplementary services. Moreover, Mondee is committed to streamlining expenditures across its global operational framework, with the aim of realizing substantial synergies in both top-line and bottom-line performance.
Mondee’s Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Prasad Gundumogula, stated, “We are thrilled to extend a warm welcome to Victor Abraham, CEO of Skypass, and his experienced management team as valued members of the Mondee family and look forward to helping provide their customers with access to our AI-Powered Travel Marketplace, as well as additional products and services. We have every confidence they will continue to grow the business actively within their served markets. This acquisition underscores our commitment to diversifying our distribution to SMBs and international corporate accounts along with geographical expansion into India, Mexico, and LATAM.”
Skypass’s CEO Victor Abraham, shared, “The entire Skypass team is excited to join the Mondee family and work towards unlocking the global growth potential of our combined offerings and capabilities. We look forward to leveraging Mondee's cutting-edge AI-Powered Marketplace and industry-leading expertise to enhance our customers' travel experiences. With our shared commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction, we are confident that together we can redefine the travel industry.”
About Mondee
Founded in 2011,Mondeeis a travel technology company and a modern travel marketplace based in Austin, Texas. The Company operates 17 offices across the United States and Canada and has core operations in India, Thailand, and Greece. Mondee is driving change in the leisure and corporate travel sectors through its broad array of innovative solutions. Available both as an app and through the web, the Company’s platform processes over 50 million daily searches and generates a substantial transactional volume annually. The Mondee Marketplace includes access to Abhi, the most powerful and only fully-integrated AI travel planning assistant in the market. Mondee’s network includes approximately 65,000 leisure travel advisors, freelancers and influencers, 500+ airlines, and over one million hotels and vacation rentals, 30K rental car pickup locations, 50+ cruise lines. The Company also offers packaged solutions and ancillary offerings that serve a global customer base.
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