Edition #118, August 10th

View this email in your browser

Reading time: 4 minutes Click here to read our past editions

Hi ,

Every summer, our team gets the chance to work remotely. This year, I'll be spending most of the summer in the South of Germany with my family. Today, we finally got a taste of some sunshine - I have to admit, it's been chilly and pretty grey here. Definitely not the typical Brazilian summer I grew up with, but you know what? It's been great to be able to dive into work mode and take long walks in nature - gotta make the most of it!

We are delighted to announce that Airwallex, a leading global payment and financial platform for modern businesses, will be joining us as a sponsor of our upcoming FutureTravel Summit. Airwallex's commitment to removing barriers and simplifying financial processes aligns perfectly with how we believe travel should be. As a trusted partner for leading brands worldwide, they offer solutions to manage everything from payments, treasury, and spend management to embedded finance. With their international presence across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America, Airwallex empowers business of all sizes to expand their horizons and achieve global success. We are honored to have their support and expertise contributing to making the FutureTravel Summit happen! 🎉

Secure your ticket

Here is this week's curated selection of the top news in innovation, trends, and startups that are shaping the travel industry.

• Halal travel made easy. The UK-based startup HalalBooking has secured $2.5 million in angel investment for its Series B round. The travel platform offers over 500,000 halal-friendly accommodations across 100+ countries, allowing travelers to filter properties based on specific needs such as halal food and prayer facilities, for example. HalalBooking's July sales achieved a record-breaking $10 million and, looking ahead, the company plans to achieve $75 million in sales this year and has its sights set on reaching $600 million within the next four to five years.

• Instant payouts for hotels. In partnership with global financial platform Stripe, OYO is ready to enhances payment convenience for US customers and hotel owners. The integration offers seamless in-person payments via Stripe Terminal and real-time payouts through Instant Payouts, improving cash flow for OYO hotels. The collaboration also provides secure online payment options with robust fraud protection, reducing processing charges. OYO aims for higher payment success rates, ensuring efficient bookings and check-ins, delivering an enhanced guest experience.

• Group bookings for hotels. Emerging from Vienna, the group travel booking platform Tripmakery.com has has secured a significant seven-figure investment in its latest funding round. The platform ddresses the challenges of group hotel bookings through a unique API, simplifying the procedure for travelers organizing trips with over 10 people. With steady user growth and plans for European, North American, and Asian expansion, Tripmakery.com intends to use this investment to boost its growth and establish itself as leading solution for group bookings.

• Qantas loyalty revamp. Australian airline Qantas has revamped its Qantas Business Rewards platform for small and midsize companies, partnering with Spotnana to enable seamless booking of flights, hotels, and rental cars. The platform offers travel management features, policy setup, real-time data reporting, and flexible payment options using points or cards. The integration with Spotnana's travel-as-a-service platform is part of Qantas bet to simplify business travel and reward utilization, positioning itself as a comprehensive travel management solution for its clients.

• Connecting guests and gastronomy. Not exactly a travel startup, but interesting for many of those business working in the space between hospitality and travel innovation. German restaurant app Neotaste has secured €5.9 million in its Series A funding round. While subscribers benefit from offers such as ‘two main courses for the price of one’, restaurants can use Neotaste to promote themselves, generate new customers and receive customer reviews. With presence in 13 cities across Germany, the startup plans to expand domestically and internationally, enhancing its offerings. 

👀 Spoiler alert: next week we will announce the 10 finalists of this year’s Pitch Competition, happening at this year’s FutureTravel Summit. I can’t wait! See you next week, Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

If you are looking for the most disruptive startups in the travel industry right now, check out our Premium Report: “Top 100 Travel Startups” which might be relevant for you.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 21k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry.

Subscribe now

Copyright (C) Want to change how you receive these emails?You can update your preferences or unsubscribe