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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HOSPITALITY TRENDS
Olo Inc., | February 13, 2023
Olo Inc., a renowned open SaaS platform for restaurants that facilitates hospitality at every guest touchpoint, recently announced the availability of Borderless functionality for all customers of Olo Pay. This unlocks the advantages of streamlined payment across a larger set of 600 brands in Olo's network to improve the checkout experience for guests. This feature and several other product innovations are now available to aid its restaurant clients in providing superior hospitality.
Borderless, which was offered only to customers using Olo Pay's white-label interface Serve, is now available to all Olo Pay customers, including those with custom ordering websites and apps, allowing more brands to increase revenue and gain actionable guest data. For example, its capabilities eliminate the need for guests to remember passwords or enter credit card information at every transaction, simplifying the checkout process. It also lets restaurants increase guest retention, basket conversion, and visit frequency, improves the guest experience and de-identifies guest data to guide high-level business decisions.
Olo also introduced QR Code Ordering and Geolocation Partner Notifications this quarter. The new QR code ordering capability lets guests update their table numbers quickly and easily from their mobile device, allowing them to dine where they want and connecting guests to servers, thereby enhancing on-premises dining.
Expo, Olo's tablet-based software solution for restaurant front-of-house workflow, now displays guest arrival and approaching notifications for restaurants using Geolocation Partner Notifications. The feature's automation solves the need for multiple tablets and facilitates quick and fresh food preparation for guests.
About Olo
New York-basedOlo is a major on-demand commerce platform driving the digital transformation of the restaurant industry. The platform provides the infrastructure to capture consumer demand and manage orders across all channels. Through integrations with over 300 technology partners, its customers can create digital experiences with the industry's most robust and adaptable restaurant commerce ecosystem. Over 500 restaurant brands utilize Olo to increase digital sales, maximize profitability, and maintain direct customer relationships.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY, AIRLINES AND AIRPORTS
Breeze Airways | February 10, 2023
On February 09, 2023, Breeze Airways, a domestic airline, announced that it now works as a launch customer for Staqpay, an incentive-based online checkout platform, to offer additional rewards over payments with brands that customers desire.
This mutually beneficial online payment platform will reward Breeze customers with more than 50% BreezePoints on the base fare by selecting StaqPay, whether through ACH, credit, debit, or cryptocurrency, at checkout. In addition, it also benefits the merchants by saving them a considerable amount of money compared to any other typical payment processor.
StaqPay is a financial technology company offering digital payment solutions and money transfers within money collection services, disbursements, and e-wallets. It has the support of institutional investors like Pelion Venture Partners, Peterson Ventures, and Kickstart Seed Fund and the license of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Breeze Chief Commercial Officer, Lukas Johnson, said, "This is just a nice solution all the way around because it gives us the ability to reward our Guests while saving Breeze money on merchant fees. By helping reduce costs, StaqPay is supporting us in our mission of providing our special brand of high-flex, low-fare service. It's truly a win-win."
(Source – Business Wire)
StaqPay President and Chief Technology Officer Dee Evans said, "I can't think of a better launch customer for StaqPay than Breeze. Just as Breeze disrupted its industry by creating an entirely new category of air travel, StaqPay is similarly disrupting the online payments world by offering a new and innovative solution built to benefit both businesses and their customers."
(Source – Business Wire)
About Breeze Airways
Breeze Airways, an airline and aviation company, offers flights over about 121 nonstop routes between approximately 35 cities in 20 states. Since 2021, it has provided low-cost flights between secondary airports while avoiding hubs for faster travel. In addition, it gives booking, no change or cancellation fees, and about 24 months of redeemable flight credits with complimentary family seating through simple application interactions. It was named the second-best domestic airline in the United States by "Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards." It operates a fleet of Airbus A220-300 and Embraer 190/195 aircraft. Aviation entrepreneur David Neeleman founded it in Salt Lake City, Utah
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