Ει βούλει καλώς ακούειν, μάθε καλώς λέγειν, μαθών δε καλώς λέγειν, πειρώ καλώς πράττειν, και ούτω καρπώση το καλώς ακούειν. (Επίκτητος)
(Αν θέλεις να σε επαινούν, μάθε πρώτα να λες καλά λόγια, και αφού μάθεις να λες καλά λόγια, να κάνεις καλές πράξεις, και τότε θα ακούς καλά λόγια για εσένα).
The weekend wrap-up: AI in the airline industry / Expedia, Amadeus on travel tech’s future / AirAsia MOVE CEO Nadia Omer
Artificial intelligence has, of course, been employed by companies across every sector of travel for many years, but interest in it has certainly accelerated since late 2022 with the debut of generative AI. As part of our ongoing efforts to share stories of how various parts of the industry and specific brands are using generative AI, this week senior reporter Morgan Hines did a deep dive on AI in the airline industry. Read what experts from Lufthansa Group, Finnair, United Airlines, Sabre, FLYR and IBS Software as well as consultant Eric Leopold had to say about how the technology is impacting their operations.
The impact of travel tech was the focus of a wide-ranging discussion on Center Stage at Phocuswright Europe with participants from different markets sharing different perspectives. Read – and watch - what Expedia Group’s Karen Bolda, Amadeus’ Wolfgang Krips and Caravelo’s Iñaki Úriz had to say in this thought-provoking panel discussion. Also from the event, we heard from three leaders in the packaged travel and multi-day tour market – Exoticca CEO Pere Valles, TourRadar CEO Travis Pittman and Dietmar Gunz, chair of Falk Travel – about growth of the sector, customer acquisition strategies and customization.
For a CEO Spotlight this week, I talked to Nadia Omer, CEO of AirAsia MOVE – the online travel agency that is part of the AirAsia ecosystem. The OTA offers bookings from more than 700 airlines and more than 900,000 hotels worldwide, plus ride-hailing, insurance, dining and financial services through BigPay. Omer joined as CEO last fall – find out about her plans for the company and how they are using AI, blockchain and other innovations. We have the transcript and the full audio of our discussion as part of our In Phocus podcast.
And finally we had an opinion piece from Serko CEO Darrin Grafton. Read what he had to say about challenges facing corporate travel managers and how they can effectively adapt.
