Pata launches digital showroom
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) has launched Pata Marketplace, a digital showroom exclusive for PATA members and an online community for all travel industry stakeholders. Pata members are invited to showcase their company profile and products at the marketplace by creating a complimentary exhibitor profile in the digital showroom. It only takes a few minutes to set up a profile and exhibitors can update their own profiles anytime; publish news, products and services, and videos; and connect with visitors via one-to-one chat, audio or video calls in a single click. The Pata Marketplace allows exhibitors to keep its “followers” updated on news, announcements, and blog posts; get notified of customers’ requests that match their profile; easily share exhibitor profiles with relevant stakeholders by email or social media; showcase their products year round as a Pata member, and increase their brand exposure. Hotelbeds signs deal with Flight Centre Hotelbeds, the world’s leading bedbank, has announced a preferred deal with Flight Centre, one of the largest retail travel agencies in Australia, with more than 550 stores spread across 10 countries. Thanks to this partnership, Hotelbeds and its retail channel Bedsonline – that exclusively caters to retail travel agents – will increase distributio n reach in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, South Africa, Canada, the USA, India, Hong Kong, and Dubai. As part of the partnership Flight Centre will connect to Hotelbeds’ product portfolio via the API solutions offered by Hotelbeds. Flight Centre will gain full access to Hotelbeds’ extensive portfolio of 180,000 hotel properties in 140 countries worldwide providing breadth and depth of range globally – many of which are contracted under special terms and conditions – supplementing Flight Centre’s own direct range. In addition, Flight Centre will also now offer its clients ancillary services from the Beyond The Bed portfolio of Hotelbeds, which comprises 25,000 transfer routes, 18,000 activities in more than 680 destinations, and 30,000 pick-up locations in 170 countries. Travelport launches hotel Stay Safe feature Travelport has added a new Stay Safe feature for agents connected to its API or industry leading Smartpoint agency desktop solution. Stay Safe is a searchable amenity, which enables hotels to highlight to travel agents that they have signed up to industry-wide safety initiatives, within the agent’s booking workflow, making it easier for travel agents to share information important to travellers in their hotel shopping decisions. Jason Toothman, Global Head of Agency Sales at Travelport, said, “The information travellers want about the properties they’re considering hotel stays at has changed through the course of 2020. Adding a way for hotels to clearly communicate with travel agencies, who can then share this information with their customers, is a simple but important way for Travelport to make the agency workflow more efficient and less frustrating.” The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have issued guidelines to support recovery in the hotel sector after the pandemic. These initiatives focus on enhanced hotel cleaning practices, social interactions, and workplace protocols to meet the new challenges and expectations for health and safety. Thales introduces touchless Ready to Fly Thales has introduced the Ready to Fly portfolio of solutions to help airline customers restore passenger confidence in air travel during the crisis and in a post-pandemic world. With Ready to Fly, Thales InFlyt Experience is focused on expediting the industry’s digital transformation through passenger-centric solutions and integrated products as well as services that increase crew efficiency. Ready to Fly solutions enable cabin innovations that reduce touch and mitigate passenger congestion. The Ready to Fly touchless solutions allow passengers to safely control the inflight entertainment system with their personal phone or tablet for a full IFE experience, including digital versions of onboard paper menus, magazines and important safety and health information. To reduce physical interactions with the crew, while maximising services, the Thales Travel Assistant solution will enable passengers to request and receive automated information on the seatback monitor. The crew will also have the ability to gather information, receive notifications and control the cabin from their own secure personal phone or tablet.