hotel | William Mungall

Brand New Travel StartUps

In today’s world a new startup becomes public knowledge every 5 minutes. It’s a very exciting time in the world when a young and innovative company comes out of nowhere and disrupts all kinds of industries and levels out the playing field. The innovative solutions to life’s most frequently asked questions and necessary products/services have truly become revolutionary. I love to travel and regularly keep up with new products or information on how to travel better, smarter, more efficiently, and save as much money as possible all while maximizing relaxation and fun. The companies listed below are brand new and definitely set to make some pretty big waves in the travel industry.

Absoludata:

Absoludata is an analytics based service that provides hotels offering products for customers and various analytics related to their marketing such as research and gathering all the data needed to visualize their marketing efforts. The company aims to help hotels increase non-room revenue and determine the best possible mix of digital and traditional media investments.

Nueva Hospitality:

This new company is “an all-in-one suite” of cloud based solutions designed for small hotels. Yes, the smaller hotels still need to compete against the bigger players in the hospitality industry. Nueva Hospitality helps hotels integrate with online travel agencies and other search sites to provide a solid platform for guests to research and book their time.

UpsellGuru:

UpsellGuru sells a proprietary software to hotels to allow guests to bid for room upgrades and book reservation add-ons prior to their check-in. The company has implemented a strong email based information system to allow users to know what is going on in their intended hotel during each week. It sounds like a new and interesting way to interact with customers before they check-in and make for a more communication based business. It will be interesting to see how the hotels take to the bidding process for additional amenities.

Tengwirth:

Tengwirth allows hotel employees to better receive, record, and respond to hotel guest’s various requests. The system appears to be rather advanced as it also helps employees to learn waht certain guests do and don’t like. Tengwirth seems to aggregate a ton of information so that employees have the most up-to-date information for guests at all time to enhance the time guests stay at the hotel.

HelloTel:

There is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and now HelloTel, the social network for hotel guests. For the first time hotel guests can communicate with each other a lot easier with digital assistance. HelloTel allows hotels guests to interact with each other through various means and also allows for nearby hotels to engage in conversations and events as well. Although it seems like a lot of this information could be found via Yelp, Facebook, and more it will be interesting to see how HelloTel differentiates itself and grows.

Thanks for reading!

-William Mungall

Travel Trends of 2015

Each and every year with the dawn of new companies, new offerings, and changes in industries, travel changes among many other things. People are traveling and experiencing the world in new and exciting ways that are unlike anything before now. The good news of this ever changing landscape means that more exciting things are bound to occur and interest people from all around the world. Below you will find some of the most news-worthy trends that have already taken shape in 2015 when it comes to travel.

Rental Properties or Hotels:

Its getting harder and harder to tell if the rental property you booked is part of a large hotel company or chain. With the massive surge of AirBnB and other residence renting services people are able to rent out apartments, lodges, vacation sites, etc. for less than hotels while offering more amenities. It has become much more affordable to rent out a beautiful beach home right on the water rather than staying at the Marriott 4 blocks away from the beach’s parking lot. The competitive landscape is ever shifting and it will be interesting to see what comes next.

Sleeping Better:

New and innovative apps are hitting the digital markets each day and provide users with tailored solutions to help them track and modify their schedules both awake and asleep to maximize their energy levels as well as overall health. User now know when they can take a nap and for how long without risking grogginess and wasted time. There have also been breakthroughs in furniture, like beds and chairs, all the way to wearable technology to shut you off from the world, just for a little while

Increasing Your Phone’s Abilities:

Your phone will sooner than later consume your wallet and include all your credit cards and information that you’re generally keep in your back pocket. Apple Pay is on the upswing, Google Wallet is available, and Apple’s Passbook for iOS serve as great examples for the digital transformation of the leather pouch that used to carry tangible currency, business cards, and more.

Give a Vacation:

There have been new companies recently that are partnered with existing and established travel companies that put some of your dollars, used on your vacation to use to help provide others with a nice vacation as well. Other companies take the money you used for your travel plans and re-invests it into local communities by helping fund local projects, donate school supplies, or run charity drives. If that isn’t a reason to book new travel plans today, then I don’t know what it.