Amadeus Next wants to grow and expand into new markets in Asia Pacific including China, where “tech companies are leading the charge for entrepreneurship”; and Indonesia and Vietnam, two of the most promising markets for the startup ecosystem.
“Our key focus for next year will be expanding into new countries to improve our understanding of market specificities, alongside strengthening Amadeus’ footprint in the startup ecosystem across Asia Pacific. We will also continue to explore other verticals such as fintech, insurtech and IoT to discover emerging technologies and trends before they reach the travel sector,” said Simon Akeroyd (left), vice president, corporate strategy and business development, Amadeus Asia Pacific.
Marking a two-year milestone, Amadeus Next also revealed its latest community residents – Xank, CarePod and Global Himalayan Expedition, “innovators in shaping the future of travel and driving travel tech innovation forward”.
Its new Amadeus Next collaborations Xank explores the effect of blockchain on the Southeast Asian travel sector, a key area of focus for Amadeus in 2018, it said.
CarePod, another new Amadeus Next collaborator, is all about new enterprise solutions that are created to boost airline ancillary, seeking to improve the experiences of “pet owner” passengers and their pets throughout the entire air travel process.
The third, Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE), is a social enterprise focused on providing energy, education, connectivity and livelihood access to remote Himalayan villages, and is the latest to join Next.
“Working with GHE proves sustainable development and cultural tourism can go hand in hand. We are always on the hunt for interesting start ups with a CSR or sustainability angle. This will be another priority in the coming year,” added Akeroyd.
“We are proud to have achieved these milestones over the past two years. The tech startup scene in Asia is booming, with nearly a third of the world’s private unicorns valued at US$1 billion headquartered here,” said Akeroyd.
“With more travel startups in Asia Pacific achieving Unicorn status, such as China (Tujia) and Indonesia (GO-JEK), Amadeus is committed to propelling the travel tech startups in these markets, on their journey to becoming the next big thing.”
Amadeus Next will work actively with relevant stakeholders to support start ups on the ground.
