HOSPITALITY TRENDS
Plusgrade | February 01, 2023
On January 31, 2023, Plusgrade announced the acquisition of UpStay, a fast-expanding provider of upgrade and auxiliary revenue solutions for the hospitality industry.
UpStay helps hundreds of hotels in 17 different countries make more money by giving their guests more value. Meanwhile, this integration strengthens its five global travel ventures, adding hotel upgrades and other innovative ancillaries to its ancillary revenue and loyalty products. As a result, it expects to generate about $5 billion in new revenue opportunities for its partners in 2023.
Ken Harris, CEO of Plusgrade, said, "The acquisition of UpStay is another step forward for our vision and mission of becoming the Global Ancillary Revenue Powerhouse. We have been accelerating this mission through a series of innovations, launches and acquisitions, and have come into 2023 as a powerhouse for the global travel industry. We are thrilled to have the UpStay team join us, and look forward to tapping into their expertise and innovative technology to bring even more value to our now 200+ airline, hospitality, cruise, rail and financial services partners around the world."
(Source - Cision PR Newswire)
Tzafrir Blonder, CEO of UpStay, expressed, "This is an exciting day for UpStay. After 4 years of incredible growth and success, we are thrilled to be joining forces with Plusgrade to invest further in our product offerings and enhance our ability to drive ancillary revenue for our partners through upselling additional on-property amenities and services. I look forward to continuing to lead the hospitality ancillaries vertical in the company, as we grow with Plusgrade in 2023 and beyond."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
About Plusgrade
Plusgrade, one of the leading technology companies providing ancillary revenue solutions in the global travel industry, has partnered with about 140 airlines, hotels, cruise lines, financial services companies, and passenger rails worldwide since 2009. Headquartered in Montreal, it assists companies in creating new revenue streams and travel experiences for their guests and passengers. It maximizes the return on unsold premium inventory through the customer journey. The company provides travel partners with incremental ancillary revenue and merchandising strategies by introducing new products, loyal branding, and customer satisfaction.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY,INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
Sojern | January 11, 2023
On January 10, 2023, Sojern, a pre-eminent digital marketing platform developed for travel, and PUSHTech, a multichannel platform including CRM, marketing automation, sales, and support, announced a partnership to assist hotel partners in making the most of their first-party data.
Sojern and PUSHTech will help the travel industry with data strategies in the cookieless age. Around 81% of hotels increase revenue using first-party data. However, staying ahead of digital landscape changes requires a well-planned strategy. Sojern's travel marketing platform offers unparalleled visibility into travel demand and intelligence to assist partners in augmenting their budgets and establishing long-term plans. With the aid of PUSHTech, hotels may improve client relations, control their database, and boost direct sales.
"Our mission is to help businesses generate more effective, efficient and valuable communications with their customers through the use of automated and intelligent solutions. With a collective goal of better serving the hospitality industry we are pleased to announce our partnership with Sojern, Working together means we can better maintain our philosophy of continuous innovation in the development of an automated marketing, sales and management platform."
-David Ezquerro, Chief Revenue Officer, PUSHTech
(Source: PR Newswire)
First-party data is fundamental to the hotelier's toolkit. This unification will help integrate Sojern's innovative travel marketing and PUSHTech's platforms while taking a privacy-forward approach to the safe and guarded management of partner data. As a result, hotel partners will achieve escalated campaign performance, solid customer relationships, and boosted revenue, leading to direct sales growth and driving profitability.
About Sojern
Sojern is a top digital marketing tool for travel marketers. Multichannel marketing from the company boosts direct demand. AI and traveler intent data enable these solutions. It is the leading travel marketing tool designed to help marketers overcome travel buying cycle challenges. It provides unparalleled traveler information and automatic optimization to match its clients with the right travelers. In addition, the company optimizes across the platform to help clients grow and profit.
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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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