The below piece is a reproduced guest-story by Prasanna Vee who is the Chief Product Officer at GoQuo.

I might sound like Jon Snow in the cult show Game of Thrones(for those who have been living under a rock and wondering what this show is about: check this link), but what many folks in the online travel space have not yet realized how Google is morphing into the notoriously scary Night king slowly leading its army of white walkers against a realm filled with OTAs, Suppliers, Travel Resellers and Aggregators.

The fall of the Wall
Just like the great wall in Game of Thrones that stood in the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms, separating the realm from the domain of the wildlings & white walkers,  the only thing that was probably holding Google back from getting into selling travel was the huge paycheck it was getting every year from the two travel giants.  In 2017 alone Google raked in $95.4 billion in advertising revenues, and a big chunk of this likely came from the travel industry. Expedia, for one, spent $5.2 billion on marketing investments (almost half its revenue!) and $3.5 billion, according to Barry Diller, went on Google advertising. Why would anyone mess with a cash cow right?

But based on all the recent feature deployments around their travel products it seems like the G-Mon has thrown all caution to the wind and is finally making a big push into travel! The tech giant has been constantly augmenting its online travel products and infiltrating the travel booking process at every point, clearly demonstrating its penchant for this industry. It has realized this is a deliciously loaded pie and is starting to take one piece at a time!

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled

One of my favorite quotes is from the movie Usual Suspects which goes something like ‘The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist’. No other quote can be more appropriate to define how Google is entering and starting to take control of the online travel planning and booking domain.

A huge majority of the world has not just become dependent on google – to find what they are looking for – but almost addicted to it. And at a time when it needs to be more servient to its loyal users, Google seems to be going the other way – by showing travel planners what it thinks as important to show than what the users really need to see! A good example below where I was searching for a local attraction and Google was dishing out ads and widgets for me to book hotels! #MonetizationMadness

They have slowly started diluting the space that was once spartan and clean – the ’10 blue links Search Results Page’ – with ads, sales pitches and revenue generating widgets and that too without the users realizing them being there most of the times. That is indeed a wicked trick and doesn’t just stop there. Until recently Google’s hotel booking interface merely acted as a quick gateway to a hotel website or to OTAs via Hotel Ads (Google’s meta offering). This has dramatically expanded into a one-stop shop where you can locate a property on map or search, access useful information, see reviews, look at pictures, watch videos and even take virtual tours. It even shows price fluctuations. Unlike hotels and OTA websites, you also get to see pictures posted by other guests. So the users never leave the search pages!

Google search and Maps are so ubiquitous that it is hard for most users not to pass them on their way for a perfect hotel. Because Google does care as much about providing great user experience as they do about monetizing their traffic, the change is significant. Google seems to be taking over the role OTAs have played in the guest journey so far, and are arguably doing a better job at it.

Also, in a world where everyone is starting to get obsessed about ‘Super Apps’ and closely watching the likes of WeChat, Grab, Gojek, PayTM etc. Google is flying under the radar and is boosting some of its own ‘everyday apps’ like the Maps App into becoming a Travel super app without even people realizing they are one.

White Walkers on a Rampage!

Google is slowly encroaching the OTAs’ turf with multiple launches that are clearly taking the business off the OTAs and metasearch rivals, such as a full-fledged site for hotel meta search site and booking engine, “hotel-plus-flight” travel package, as well as a highly appealing Tours & Activity site. .

It is gaining ground, especially in flights, where it has already overtaken KAYAK in overall traffic and conversions. While it is still a relatively small player in the hotel sector – as consumers still turn to TripAdvisor for their hotels –  it is only a matter of time before they begin their hotel booking journey in Google itself. As a matter of fact, a recent report shows it has already overtaken booking.com as the site that generates the highest number of hotel reviews. And the most scary part for other OTA’s is Google makes the entire customer journey effortless, intuitive and fast.

Also, Google is approaching Loyalty from a different angle by tapping into the power and dominance of its other products. One example is hotel discounts that are currently offered only to paying users of Google One, a cloud storage product that offers paid plans starting at $2 a month for 100 gigabytes.

While it might not seem very competitive, nothing stops them from rolling exclusive discounts to users of its other dominant products like Gmail or Productivity suites etc. The OTA’s or Direct suppliers cant compete with that.

Looking through the traveler lens
This might be an arguable point – especially as a huge population is moving more towards a ‘highly-assisted & machine supported’ mode of operation across all aspects of their lifestyle- but this is my viewpoint.  While simplifying a booking experience might be the most obvious thing to do to improve customer delight for most products, in travel it is a slightly different. For a lot of travelers, the fun and excitement they get while researching and planning is almost as much as what they might experience during the travel!

In this light, the much talked about Expedia research that revealed ‘travelers visited 38 sites before making an online travel booking’  might be a bit over-cliched, especially since its been doing the rounds from 2013 and we are in 2019 now! Not many application builders are looking at it from an angle that these online travel bookers might actually be enjoying their planning and scoring a deal as a ‘hunting opportunity ‘

The way things are going, the ‘colorful’ part of travel planning is going to be highly reduced by Google as you will never go beyond a search screen that will hold you captive and control everything across the customer journey – From searching to booking  all within the search canvas! If you get caught in this web Google will eventually convert you into mindless white walkers like how the Night king does!

Time to Unite
Google will not probably take on the full booking and customer service model as its resource intensive and not in their business model. They will mostly stick to the meta model with a ‘Book-on-google’ option built in. However therein lies the rub! Like in its eagerness to ‘make the world a better place’ google might start recommending and picking for you what it believes you would like rather than what you wanted to look for! As always, ‘Google knows everything’ right?! Letting a google or Alexa help users select what they intend to purchase will not only make individual brands disappear in the mix, but also bring in a huge monopoly.

Google has always exhibited its aggressive push to monetize from search users by doing things that are probably not in the best interest of the users. Like pushing down links to direct websites of the products being search for(like hotels, resorts, operator etc) to showcase links to OTA’s who were paying them top dollar. So, if they have ‘inadvertently’ punished Direct suppliers by ranking OTA’s higher for the sake of Ad revenue, nothing would stop them from punishing the OTAs and everyone else (selling what they intend to sell) by pushing them all down the page.

So, like how the seven kingdoms – of the living world – are trying to put their differences aside and  unite against the Night King & his army, it is time for OTAs , Suppliers, Aggregators, Operators, etc. to unite and stand their ground against Google. No matter what kind of Supplier you are(Hotel or Airlines etc.) instead of fighting against the OTA’s for direct traffic and bookings, figure out how you are going to protect your brand, continue getting the traffic and also get a hold of the user instead of loosing it to the Search-Machine that is eating the world!

Author Bio:

Prasanna Vee is the Chief Product Officer at GoQuo – a Travel Technology provider for enabling Airlines, Hotels & OTA’s sell all kinds of travel products that are not their core focus(like Flights, Rooms, Tours & Activities, Transfers, Car Rentals etc) and fulfil needs in all stages in travelers’ customer journey. Prior to this role, he has successfully lead Product divisions at digital travel companies like Cleartrip, KKday and HotelQuickly and has a long track record in the tech industry working for companies like Microsoft and Intel. In addition, He is also an ardent traveller – having visited 500+ destinations in more than 200 countries around the world -that has empowered him with hands-on insights & trends in all sectors of the Travel industry

The post Winter is Coming! appeared first on TravHQ.

During the last couple of years, Taiwan has demonstrated immense potential with its contribution towards the growth of startups in the APAC region. Taiwan, which was once largely recognized as hardware manufacturing hub in Asia, now finds itself in a startup race lead by Singapore and Hong Kong. The boom in growth has been pioneered by Taiwan Startup Stadium, located in downtown Taipei and helping startups to go global.

While KKday has been one of the most famous Taiwanese travel startups, there are other the travel startups too that have been doing the fund raising rounds. Here is a look at some of the prominent Taiwanese travel startups:

MyTaiwanTour

MyTaiwanTour which provides personalized and customized tour packages to overseas tourists from US and Europe markets last month raised US$1.5M from Sanpu Group which would aid in expansion to Japan and China.

KKday

Launched in 2015, KKday operates in the highly competitive tours & activities space. During the beginning of January, KKday had raised a Series B $10.5 million round led by Japanese travel operator H.I.S. In addition, last month the travel startup had raised an undisclosed round by Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba and Japanese chat app company Line primarily to contribute to its growth in China and Japan.

FunNow

FunNow, is another Taiwanese startup in the space of entertainment and leisure activities. It secured a $5 million round in Series A funding led by Alibaba Entrepreneur Fund. With over 500,000 members, FunNow has over 3,000 vendors providing more than 20,000 activities.

AsiaYo

Last week, AsiaYo, a travel accommodation booking platform based in Taipei, Taiwan, raised $7 million Series B round which was led by Alibaba Taiwan Entrepreneurs Fund. With approximately, more than 60,000 rooms listings and over 600,000+ bookings AsiaYo is competing with Airbnb in the competitive alternate accommodation space.

The post The Growth story of Taiwanese travel startups in 2018 appeared first on TravHQ.

Thrillophilia has announced a strategic tie-up with GoPro and launched the GoPro Passport program in India.  As per Thrillophilia, this is not just a coupon code or offer partnership but a much bigger technology, marketing and content integration.

What’s GoPro Passport Program 

1. Any Gopro Hero 7 user can signup on Thrillophilia with the camera serial no.
2. Once he signs in he is taken to a completely different profile section where he can see his Goscore and leaderboards.
3. GoScore can be earned as you buy tours and activities and experience them.
4. Adding further to it as you submit picture reviews, social stories, and create video stories you get rewarded with  Goscore.
5. GoScore is further gamified where you get Thrillcash (wallet currency at Thrillophilia) too to book next activities.
6. Goscore has milestones and every milestone earns badges, total of 10 levels. Each badge gives you free trip, Thrillcash and may be a goodie bag.
7. If you are GoPro user you get discounts on activities, submitting content further gets you GoScore to unlock badges and earn free trips and rewards.
8. Taking each trip under the program, your virtual passport gets stamped.

What’s in for Thrillophilia 

Thrillophilia gets access to all GoPro customers in India as these travellers look for adventure and offbeat travel and where we expertise in. GoPro will also be deployed with many suppliers of Thrillophilia to generate high quality content.

What’s in for GoPro 

A step towards building community.  All GoPro users come under one roof, where they can see who is travelling where and also see content generated by others.  Generated content is also used by GoPro to market the purchase of camera.

The post Thrillophilia announces strategic tie-up with GoPro appeared first on TravHQ.

Imagine you’ve checked out of your hotel and now have a couple of hours to kill in a foreign city before you take the next flight out. But suddenly you realize that you have two heavy suitcases to lug around, and give up on the idea of exploring. Then there is also the hassle of carrying all that stuff for your month-long vacation. What about that extra baggage that you know airlines will charge you for?

Not anymore. A trolley-load of new luggage services have appeared in recent years, trying to disrupt a staid market with promises of revolutionary ways to carry, or not carry, that dreaded suitcase.

Dubz

Dubz is a luggage pickup, storage and delivery service in Dubai, offering travelers time and comfort by getting bags picked up or dropped off, stored, and even checked in! Through the DUBZ website, travellers can arrange a pick-up, and have their luggage checked in and collected by a dnata agent from their home or hotel anywhere in Dubai, allowing travelers to then enjoy their day baggage-free. Users can then save time by skipping baggage drop-off and check-in queues at the airport, with their boarding pass and baggage tags provided on the spot.

Airportr

Based in London since 2014, Airportr picks up luggage anywhere inside the M25, and drops it off at either Gatwick or Heathrow airports. In 2016 in London, they launched Bag Check-In with British Airways. They moved the bag drop desk online, allowing travellers to give luggage to their professional drivers at their front door. So now, when travellers fly with one of their partner airlines, they can check in bags on the doorstep. No time-wasting. No lugging. No stressing.

LugLess

The startup’s tag line “travel without the baggage” is appropriate. LugLess is a travel agent for luggage. They are a door-to-door luggage shipping service that picks up a traveller’s luggage from their home, office, or hotel and sends it directly to wherever they are going ahead of time anywhere in USA and over 200 countries worldwide. They allow customers to bypass baggage fees, waiting in check-in lines, help them go through security faster, and help them avoid baggage claim and prospect of lost luggage. They are also sometimes less expensive that what airlines charge on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th bag for baggage fees.

Bagshuttle

This German startup picks up a traveller’s luggage from their desired address and has it delivered wherever they want. Simply enter your destination, make the payment
and you´ll receive your personal Bagshuttle confirmation. Upon arrival, they pick up your luggage personally or store it at their partners´ storage locations. When departing, they pick up your luggage from the desired address. Travellers can then go on bag-free to a business meeting or on a sightseeing tour. Meanwhile, Bagshuttle picks up your luggage and delivers it to your desired destination.

The post Luggage-pickup startups that are enhancing the travel experience appeared first on TravHQ.

Travel review and booking site TripAdvisor wants to become more social when it launches a new site and mobile experience later this year, enabling members to post photos and videos and get travel recommendations and inspiration from friends, brands and travel experts they follow.

Currently in beta format, the new-style TripAdvisor will look to expand its community beyond travellers leaving reviews to include publishers, such as National Geographic, as well as brands and social media influencers. Travellers will be able to follow and connect with individuals or content creators who share information that is relevant to their interests and travel plans.

Image source: Skift

TripAdvisor said over 500 launch partners have signed up for the new website – currently in beta test – including the Travel Channel, Business Insider, GoPro, PopSugar, Daniel Food Diary, Have Halal Will Travel, Denise Keller and Melissa C Koh.

In addition to the many content creators joining the platform, TripAdvisor’s team of destination experts and TripAdvisor Media Group brands, including Smarter Travel, Cruise Critic and TheFork.com, will also contribute to the site experience through unique profiles and travel content.

TripAdvisor members will be able to create and view new forms of content including photos, videos and articles. Members will also have the ability to create “Trips,” which can be in-depth travel guides, itineraries or simple wish lists of things to do while traveling. Trips can be made private and saved for personal use or shared with the community to inspire and help others.

A “travel feed” will enable TripAdvisor members to discover more relevant information faster when planning travel. Assisted throughout the entire travel planning process, members can draw advice and inspiration from their friends, family and trusted experts.

When a member logs onto the TripAdvisor app or site, their homepage transforms into a personalised feed of information. When searching a particular destination, the feed automatically narrows the scope of the information displayed to that particular geographic location.

Stephen Kaufer, CEO & co-founder of TripAdvisor, said in a statement: “The new TripAdvisor is the one travel site that brings together social-assistive tools, amazing content and our existing booking capabilities to merge the joy of planning and discovery together into a single experience. We are assisting our members at each step of their journey as we become a more personalised, inspirational and useful TripAdvisor.”

The post A revamped TripAdvisor wants to become the world’s first travel news feed appeared first on TravHQ.

Amadeus has agreed to acquire TravelClick from Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity investment firm, for US$1.52bn. TravelClick, which is headquartered in New York City, is a leading global hospitality provider that serves more than 25,000 customers across 176 countries. It provides cloud-based solutions, including an independent and mid-size hotel Central Reservation System (CRS) and Guest Management Solution (GMS), as well as business intelligence and media solutions.

Luis Maroto, President and CEO of Amadeus said, “TravelClick has a great team, great technology and a broad customer base, and we are looking forward to welcoming such a successful business into Amadeus. Our ambition is to provide the hospitality industry with the tools they need to grow their businesses and deliver a great experience to their guests. The combination of our two portfolios will allow us to provide that to hotels of all shapes and sizes across the world.”

While Amadeus already has a strong portfolio of hotels from within the major brands, the TravelClick acquisition gives the company access to a good number of mid-chain and independent hotels that make up almost three-quarters of the market. As part of the acquisition, approximately 1,100 TravelClick employees are expected to join Amadeus.

Image source: Hotel Business

Larry Kutscher, CEO, TravelClick said, “This deal marks the next stage in TravelClick’s incredible journey of success in delivering groundbreaking solutions for hoteliers. I couldn’t be more proud of our team, or more excited about the impact our combined companies will have on the hospitality industry as we begin to deliver the next generation of innovation for hoteliers.”

Amadeus and Thoma Bravo expect to close the acquisition in the fourth quarter of the calendar year 2018, following regulatory approvals. The transaction will be debt-financed and immediately earnings accretive.

Holden Spaht, managing partner at Thoma Bravo said, “TravelClick is an excellent example of Thoma Bravo’s proven investment approach of acquiring a best in class vertical market software company and working alongside talented leadership to implement operational best practices and drive growth both organically and through M&A. We appreciate the outstanding execution of Larry Kutscher and the management team at TravelClick, and believe the company is well positioned to continue delivering innovative software, data analytics and marketing services that maximize revenue for hotels around the world.”

Also read: Amadeus India to groom hotel segment with new tech products.

The post Amadeus to buy TravelClick, in a bid to further foray into hospitality appeared first on TravHQ.

Smart airports are all set to take over the travel industry.

With the advent of the era of robotics, biometric check-in and augmented reality, airports across the world, particularly Asia, are now promising to to make passenger travel experience more efficient and comfortable. According to Zion Market Research, Global Smart Airports market is set for rapid growth, and will reach around $17.19 billion by 2022.

Here’s a list of some of the top and latest technologies in Asia-Pacific airports.

Japan

Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport is already planning to introduce eight fast travel features to provide passengers with better services. These include the introduction of new technology at the check-in and security gates. Haneda already allows passengers to check in and obtain their boarding passes through automated self-service counters, print and attach their own baggage tags, use dedicated bag-drop options, and self-scan their boarding passes at self-boarding gates.

Moreover, a fleet of humanoid ‘Pepper robots’ was sent out among passengers at the airport in February to cope with the surge of Chinese tourists arriving for the Spring Festival holidays. The Pepper robots were programmed to communicate in English and Chinese, and to provide information on access to gates as well as dining facilities, retail outlets and public toilets. Earlier, Haneda had deployed another robot variant, the humanoid EMIEW3, to reply to questions from travellers.

Hong Kong

The Hong Kong airport is seeking to transform the passenger journey into a fully automated and self-serviced process. The self-bag drop service was first introduced in 2016. To date, 120 self-bag drop counters have been installed in the airport.

Since end-2017, the airport has introduced iCUSS mobile check-in kiosks for travellers to complete their check-in procedures anywhere, from the airport terminals to external locations such as hotels, theme parks and conference centres. The entire check-in process is now more efficient for passengers.

It is also set to roll out biometric technology services from late-2018 onwards. By showing their passports and having their faces scanned at check-in, travellers will soon get through security and immigration checkpoints for boarding without having to produce their passports repeatedly. The HKG My Flight mobile app recently added an augmented reality (AR) navigation function, which guides passengers towards facilities at the airport with instructions overlaid in camera view and terminal signage in users’ own languages. It has also launched MyTAG, a smart luggage tag that notifies passengers on their smartphones when their checked bags arrive at the baggage reclaim carousel.

Hong Kong’s MyTAG

South Korea

Incheon International Airport’s new Terminal 2 was opened in January for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, with a focus on technology and innovation to enhance the passenger experience. The latest addition to Incheon is reportedly going to be the Chatbot, which is a talking robot that interacts with passengers, featuring a message programme that enables it to communicate information about the airport’s facilities to travellers.

Image source: TTGAsia

A portable biometric security system was also piloted at Incheon earlier this year, and is expected to be rolled out throughout the airport by summer 2019. Earlier this year, remote check-in facilities at bus and train stations were rolled out in central Seoul and across South Korea. This new system enables passengers to check in their luggage and obtain their travel documents prior to their arrival at the airport.

Malaysia

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad’s (MAHB) digital transformation strategy involves the use of big data analytics and the Internet of Things to improve the passenger experience and operational efficiency at the five international gateways, including Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), and 16 domestic airports it manages.

MAHB is also going to team up with information management specialist OpenText to innovate KLIA and klia2 operations, including developing intelligent automation, predictive analytics and expanded digital services at both terminals.

In early June, MAHB introduced the MYairports mobile app, an airport travel guide, under its Airports 4.0 digital initiative supported with a RM30 million (US$7.5 million) investment. MYairports allows passengers to plan their journey, providing users with real-time flight updates, shopping and dining promotions. Additionally, airport services such as self-check-in and self-bag drop facilities and passengers’ authenticity can be verified as well.

Singapore

The opening of Terminal 4 (T4) at the Singapore Changi Airport last year was a huge deal in the tech space. The terminal debuted the airport’s Fast and Seamless Travel (FAST) system that offers end-to-end self-service options for passengers. This includes automated check-in kiosks, baggage drop using facial recognition and Xbox Kinect-powered 3D modelling technology, as well as immigration and boarding gates that share facial and thumbprint biometric data.

Following T4’s footsteps, Terminal 1’s (T1) departure, arrival and baggage claim halls are also currently being upgraded to replace check-in counters and implement FAST. T1’s baggage handling system will also become fully automated with sorting capability to support automated check-in and automated bag-drop functions. An automated early baggage storage facility will also be implemented.

More work is underway for lifestyle complex Jewel Changi Airport, which will have a range of play attractions, indoor garden trails and F&B outlets. To top this, will be the launch of the Canopy Park that will feature attractions such as sky nets, hedge and mirror mazes, trees and palms, and dining outlets.

The post A round-up of Asia’s smartest airports appeared first on TravHQ.

The airlines industry’s biggest enemy is back again. During the past 12 months, Brent crude price has jumped 54.22% to $76.86 a barrel, while jet fuel prices have risen more than 28%. During the same period, the rupee weakened 3.85% against the dollar.

This has prompted most airlines to raise flight ticket prices, cut non-fuel costs and boost non-aeronautical revenue to offset the impact of rising fuel costs and a weakening rupee. IndiGo (Interglobe Aviation Ltd) was the first to hike flight fares by levying a fuel surcharge of as much as ₹400 on domestic routes from 30 May to offset higher costs.

SpiceJet is also planning to diversify its activities beyond “pure aviation” to protect itself from the high risks associated with the aviation sector, and will soon announce forays into a dedicated freight business in cargo and courier logistics. This could be a first for an Indian airline.The airline also plans to develop digital aviation and travel products. They are both likely to be in collaboration with international partners.

“We believe that we must hedge ourselves from the risk of being in a pure aviation business and find businesses which are connected to aviation but which could be a little more insulated from the high cost of fuel,” said SpiceJet co-founder and CEO Ajay Singh in a statement, adding, “so we are looking at some new areas.”

Jet Airways is seeing worse. The reports of full-service carrier’s grounding in the next 60 days owing to severe resource crunch have stirred the aviation sector. The airline has refuted the reports but the speculations are flying thick and fast. Some reports also suggested that Jet has asked employees to take salary cut of between 5 and 25 per cent to slash operating expenses.

The problem with these airlines is no different from the rest of the industry. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker offered a warning to the flying public – fuel costs are skyrocketing and that extra cost will be passed onto the consumer with more expensive ticket prices. Fuel constitutes 35-50% of an airline’s total costs. Airlines in India also make payments in dollars for salaries of expatriates, for maintenance and overhaul, purchase of new aircraft and for buying jet fuel. However, with India being a price-sensitive market in the commercial aviation segment, airlines often struggle to pass on costs to customers.

According to the fifth annual Global Travel Forecast, published by GBTA and CWT with the support of the Carlson Family Foundation, Asia Pacific expects to see a 3.2% rise in 2019 pricing. Chinese demand remains high and by 2020 the country is expected to become the world’s biggest air travel market. In 2019 the country’s flights are seen going up 3.9%.

But China will not be alone. The vast majority of countries in the region will see price rises, especially in markets like New Zealand (7.5%) and India (7.3%). The latter is expected to be the world’s third largest aviation market by 2025, with airports operating beyond capacity. The only exception in this booming region is Japan. Prices there will likely drop 3.9% due to the country’s added capacity in preparation for the Olympic Games in 2020.

The post Rising fuel costs is a worrying trend for the aviation industry appeared first on TravHQ.

We have all, at some point of time, faced issues finding our way through an airport. Whether it’s because it was our first time, or there were last-minute cancellations, delays, or gate switches; we have all found ourselves running around in circles forever. To avoid the hassle, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has come up with what could possibly be the world’s cutest blue robot that will help make that trip from security to your boarding gate a little less hectic.

The robot, called Care-E, will meet travellers at the security checkpoint and take them wherever they need to go with the carry-on luggage on its back. Though Care-E is the product of a Dutch airline, you won’t need to speak Dutch, or English, to operate the robot.

To start a trip with the robot, it will prompt travellers to scan their boarding pass through non-verbal sounds and cues on its screen. KLM will launch the device at New York’s JFK and San Francisco’s International airports before the company decides if it will provide the service elsewhere.

From there, according to KLM, the robot can carry up to 85 pounds of luggage and travel alongside at about 3 mph (the average human walking pace), so it’s probably not the best if you’re running late and need to dash through the terminal to catch your flight. However, if you’re early, you can use it for free with a two-day demo trial. KLM expects the robot guide to launch in either July or August.

The technology

The AI technology that Care-E deploys will help it access real-time data. For example, it’ll know if your gate changes and be able to redirect accordingly. The Care-E will be looped into a proprietary API for flight info and have access to a full GPS database of the airport as well. That means that if a traveller’s gate changes, the trolley will know and redirect to that location. A LiDAR sensor array provides collision and obstacle avoidance, while also mapping the environment in 2D. And because KLM wanted to make sure the Care-E is a safe trolley, there are a total of 8 Ultrasonic Rangefinder (five on the front and three on the back) for peripheral collision avoidance. An RGB-D Camera acts as the boarding pass scanner and handles the body detection and tracking. A majority of this tech is located on the front piece or the rear bumper.

Check out how it works-

There have been some companies before KLM who have tried to develop smart airport devices, but have repeatedly failed, mostly due to airport policy changes on batteries. For instance, smart luggage startup Raden announced in May that it had shut down. However, Care-E has an entire airport ready to support the device so it could have an advantage over its past competition.

The post Get a glimpse into the future of smart travel, courtesy Care-E appeared first on TravHQ.

The African continent has been home to a growing travel market, and the major disruptions in the region have not gone unnoticed. While a concentrated effort has been on promoting conventional travel and tourism, business trips and MICE events are stealing the stage.

The African economy is on a rise as far the tourism and travel industry goes, and its conference venues are also flourishing, entering a new age of innovation, and representing a fresh image of the continent to travellers.

One such upcoming venue includes The Cape Town International Convention Centre(CTICC), which serves as the host to some of the city’s biggest events, conferences and exhibitions. It is an easily locatable landmark, barely a half hour drive from the international airport, and greeting travellers who are making their way to the spectacular V&A Waterfront and the city centre.

CTICC runs as a partnership between the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape Government and Business Cape. The venue excels in presenting its innovative design and sharing of seminars that focus on idea origination and culture. Within its walls are contained quality 5-star accommodation facilities, attended to by knowledgeable and passionate staff. The large trade and show space can be divided into various banquet and conference venues with catering available.

The venue catered to 482 events in 2017 alone. Some notable occasions to have graced its floors include the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. CTICC has been previously awarded the Best Large Conference Venue by Business Traveller Africa, and is all set to host the World Ophthalmology Congress in 2020, with an expected attendance of more than 15,000 delegates.

With many options to fill up and refresh, including the the Marimba Restaurant and Cigar Bar, an African-themed restaurant with set menus or buffet options, the CTICC lives up to its name as the best exhibition space in Cape Town.

Learn more about the venue, here.

The post Cape Town springs up yet another MICE gem in its International Convention Centre appeared first on TravHQ.