FutureTravel Newsletter 26 / July 22

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Hi ,

As we head for the weekend, we wrapped up the most relevant news about innovation, trends and startups on the travel industry. Here it goes:  German startup Acomodeo announced a strategic partnership with Booking.com. Their platform now offers accommodation types specifically curated for business travel across 206 countries and territories. Or, as they call it: the world of corporate of accommodation.  Trains, trains, trains: there is so much going on around the European rails lately. And although it’s true that the current pandemic might have encouraged more people to avoid crowded airports and travel by train, it is not the only reason. TravelPerk loves trains <3 and here are more reasons for everyone to hop onboard, too.   After announcing a huuuge funding last week, the UK-based fintech Revolut now launched Stays: a feature that allows users to book travel accommodation directly through the app, and receive up to 10% of their money back. “We’ve built Stays to make it easy for people to find and book their perfect break in their ideal destination. After 18 months of endless restrictions and lockdowns, we want to give people more and make their money travel further.” says Marsel Nikaj, Revolut’s head of savings & lifestyle. Let me tell you: a fintech just found a pretty innovative way to jump into travel and I love it. Oh, and here are other ways in which fintech startups can support the hospitality industry.  Korean giant Yanolja has raised US$1.7 billion from SoftBank. The travel and leisure unicorn keeps profitable amid the pandemic and now looks into a more advanced global travel platform by levering AI and big data to personalize offerings for users. We will keep an eye on this!  Our friends over at EU-Startups just launched a premium report presenting the top 50 European travel startups and our readers can get 20% off with the code FUTURETRAVEL. And... uh… spoiler alert: in a couple of weeks we will be launching our own FutureTravel report featuring the hottest 100 travel startups around the world! If you are curious about the most innovative solutions on the travel industry right now, and would like to have it on your radar, this will definitely be for you -- stay tuned :)   Israel-based startup Bookaway has closed a $46 million investment round. It will now form a portfolio of businesses focusing on ground and sea transportation booking services - first brands to join are GetByBus and 12Go. The funding is aimed at the company’s growth, particularly by acquiring other brands and expanding its global reach.   The Indian startup OYO raised $660 million from global institutional investors such as JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Mizuho Securities. The funds will be used to pay off debt and invest in product technology.   It sounds like a-bit-too-obvious news at this point, but I couldn't close this edition without mentioning Jeff Bezos trip to space earlier this week. From many critics, doubts and insights all over social media this week, I found particularly interesting to read about his "overview effect" and the willingness to take care of the Earth: "This is the only good planet in the solar system (...) We've sent robotic probes to all of them. This is the only good one, I promise you. So we have to take care of it. And when you go into space and see how fragile it is, you want to take care of it even more. And that's what this is about." I'll stay with that. That's it for today, . If you enjoyed this edition of FutureTravel, do consider sharing it with others who you think will enjoy a weekly overview of the main innovations going on in the travel industry. And remember: for feedback, industry news and insights, you can always hit reply and let me know :)See you next Thursday,Ana