Luxury days are here to stay. After bringing its number of users to more than double this year, ResortPass now raised $26 million in funding to expand to more global destinations in the upcoming year. According to one of the investors, the online booking platform is “pioneering a whole new segment of the $1.5 trillion global lodging industry”. As the name suggests, the startup offers day use of luxury hotels and resorts and now counts on Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba in their team of investors.
Coworking, meeting spaces, and flights. In collaboration with office space provider IWG, Amsterdam’s SchipholAirport has opened a new co-working and meeting space. Featuring six “fully-equipped” work areas with a capacity for more than 100 people, four meeting rooms, and an adjacent restaurant, the spaces are open to the public and can be booked for a fee. Flexible workspaces are taking over the travel industry as well, uh?
Turning data into airport insights.Brussels Airport Company has acquired data analysis and artificial intelligence startup Jetpack. The startup is based in Belgium and has worked with Brussels Airport for several years, helping companies improve processes and speed up innovation by turning data into usable insights. Brussels Airport plans to use the data and AI to optimize and expand its services to passengers.
What’s hot in hotels? The hotel industry has undergone much change in recent years, shaped by constantly evolving attitudes to travel, the rise of workcations, and fresh, innovative thinking. Hotel Nuggets is a monthly newsletter full of practical tips around hybrid hospitality, sharing bite-sized chunks of info about how progressive hotels are leveraging changing attitudes to work as new business opportunities, reinventing revenue management, and more in the hospitality field. It’s crafted by the folks from Surf Office, and we recommend signing up!
Combo tech solution for mobility and tourism. Hitachi Rail launched a new technology letting passengers use QR codes to pay for all travel on trains and buses. The 360Pass mobility app launched this week in Trentino, Italy. This new platform is expected to make journeys easier for tourists visiting the region and to drive innovation by bringing together several previously disconnected features—smart ticketing, traffic flow management, and electric charging stations through one standard analytics engine.
The cheapest European travel destinations. German-based Omio just published a ranking of the best affordable European destinations to travel to so that people can still travel if the times are rough. The online travel comparison and booking website created its list of the best destinations in Europe by considering elements such as activities, transportation, food, and drinks — and spoiler alert: Spain is ranked first!
