The weekly news roundup: Bridge Rentals and Ctrip new partnership, Allianz Global Assistance’s revamped mobile app, Travelport Business Insights launched
HOSTPITALITY: Bridge Rentals, Ctrip join forces to offer vacation rentals to Chinese travellers
Short-term rentals is increasingly popular among Chinese FIT travellers. (Image credit: Bridge Rentals)
Bridge Rentals, a non-hotel inventory connectivity solution, has partnered with Ctrip, China’s biggest OTA, to provide a global selection of instantly bookable vacation rental accommodations outside of China to Chinese outbound traveller,
“This partnership provides Chinese travellers with options such as apartments and villas in popular destinations including Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. It also reflects our continued interest in strengthening our presence in Asia,” said Nina Kubik-Cheng, Bridge managing director.
She added the collaboration was also aimed at the growing demand of Chinese international travellers seeking new and interesting travel experiences.
The trend of private short-term rentals is increasingly popular among FITs – now a majority of the 120 million Chinese outbound travellers who went abroad in 2015.
Bridge Rentals, which was launched in July this year and headquartered in Singapore, connects non-hotel inventory worldwide to a global network of distribution channels. It is currently one of Ctrip’s biggest international non-hotel inventory supply partner.
MOBILE: Allianz Global Assistance releases enhanced TravelSmart app for Android devices
TravelSmart app now available for both Apple and Android devices.
Allianz Global Assistance, a leading provider of travel insurance and travel assistance, has launched an Android version of its TravelSmart mobile app.
The app has been available for Apple devices since May.
New features in version 2.0 of the app include:
- Access to insurance policies: Includes the ability to store policies, review coverage and benefits (can be reviewed without Internet access), as well as manage the policies.
- Real time flight status tracking: Allows users to track their flight either by entering their flight number or by using the search function, as well as provides on-time status and gate information.
- Database of 2,000 hospitals in 129 countries: Allows travellers to find the closest Allianz-reviewed healthcare provider and view the phone number, address and website includes
- Country information database: Includes three digit emergency phone numbers for 200 foreign destinations, with each listed country linked to a Wikipedia entry.
- Medication dictionary: For users to store a photo of their prescription label and find international names for common drugs; makes refilling prescriptions faster and easier while travelling.
- First aid terms translation feature: For common illnesses, injuries and first aid needs.
- TravelSmart hotline button: Located on the home screen for travellers to reach Allianz Global Assistance medical assistance or customer service from anywhere in the world.
Joe Mason, chief marketing officer at Allianz Global Assistance USA said the TravelSmart app solved important issues that consumers face when travelling abroad.
“Now anyone can use their smartphone to quickly and easily navigate first aid and medical issues and reach our travel assistance department with the touch of a button.”
The TravelSmart app is free to download at the Apple App store and Google Play.
TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY: Travelport launches Business Insights tool in APAC
Travelport Business Insights benefits agencies and business corporations.
Travelport Business Insights, which delivers travel agencies and corporate organisations near real-time access to actionable insights from a vast range of data sources, has arrived in the Asia Pacific region.
The travel commerce platform said the new solution “brings a range of benefits including the ability to optimise supplier contracts, enhancing customer service and improving the agency’s operational efficiencies.”
It uses data from traditional and non-traditional travel sources, augmenting it with predictive and forward-thinking analytics, then presents the output on easy to understand dashboards, which call out key insights and indicators.
According to Travelport, the product removes the reliance on manually sourcing, organising and interpreting data and delivers the information via any device and in near real-time.
Some of Travelport Business Insights’ benefits include:
- Attracting and retaining customers by adding value
- Maximising sales and consultant performance and productivity
- Real time visibility on productivity versus supplier contracts
- Analysing customer account performance to focus account management resource and improve negotiations
- Duty of Care and Traveller Tracking.
“We have developed Travelport Business Insights to help our customers make key business decisions that can improve revenue, enhance customer service and reduce operational costs by not only aggregating travel data from multiple sources, but transforming the information into insights, providing businesses with a competitive edge,” said Mark Meehan, managing director Asia Pacific at Travelport.
The solution is available in three packages, making it suitable for all sizes of operations. The flexible platform also allows for customisation and branding opportunities.
• Featured image credit: Bridge Rentals
