Edition #55 (Mar 24th)

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Dear ,

It seems like there is something unusual about European weather these days: I heard from a friend who enjoyed a beautiful sunny day in London yesterday, while here in Barcelona the skies have been grey and heavy for the last couple of weeks. But… yes: spring is officially here! I’m looking forward to spending more time in terrazas in the upcoming months.

Here is your weekly wrap-up on the top travel innovation, trends and startups:

• For those who have been on top of the latest tech news, you’ve probably seen different kinds of businesses exploring the potential of NFTs for their business. So here is a good read if you are wondering how hotels can start experimenting with NFTs too.

• As Ukraine’s invasion continues to go on, it is now estimated that the conflict could cost $10.6 billion to international tourism. Among so many great initiatives to support Ukraine and refugees fleeing from the country, I’d like to highlight two: Hotelbeds launched “Make room for Ukraine”, and Booking.com deployed a tech solution to find rooms for Ukrainian refugees.

• Week by week we keep bringing facts and figures about the investment sums in travel tech all over the world, so you wouldn’t be surprised if I tell you that 46% of travel app venture deals in 2021 involved ridesharing, rental, or hailing companies. Well, I’m happy to see the trust from investors being reestablished - and I’m already looking forward to seeing wider diversity in travel tech investments this year.

• Many of us wondered about how the “new normal” would be, and if our future would be “masked” or not. It seems that the time has come for some airlines to decide if it’s time to drop the masks when flying. To give you an overview: this week KLM, easyJet and American Airlines have announced their standpoint on the topic. For more info you can click on the name of each airline.

• We have been talking about place branding quite often in this newsletter, so I really enjoyed seeing that Geneva Tourism launched the Choco Pass. I mean, together with the Alps, this is veeery spot-on with the Swiss brand. Bravo! And if you are interested in reading more about place branding and the travel industry *|FNAME|*, make sure to check out our latest report, which is available for download here.

• OYO is the pioneer in the hospitality sector to launch a play-to-earn game as part of their business strategy to boost and retain customer engagement. Rewards include Amazon gift cards and hotel amenities such as stays of up to 20 free nights. And seems like it’s working: their mobile app is currently the third most downloaded travel app globally with over 100 million downloads. Not bad!

• London-based mobility company Skyports has raised $23 million to expand its operations. With the new capital, the startup will step up its work with electric air taxi manufacturers and operators to provide take-off and landing infrastructure in key launch markets.

This is it for this week. If you enjoyed the content of today’s newsletter, it’s always much appreciated if you share it forward with your network - it really helps us to grow :)

Quick note: Next week you won’t hear from me, but the next edition of the FutureTravel newsletter will hit your inbox on April 7th, .

See you soon,Ana

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

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