FutureTravel Newsletter 39 / October 28

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Hi ,The application phase for the FutureTravel Pitch Competition closes this week and to be honest I'm looking forward to review all applications next week! If you know someone who should apply, you are still on time to forward this e-mail. If not, just continue reading for your weekly overview of the top news on travel innovation, trends and startups. Here we go: 

- Bordeaux and Valencia are 2022 European Capitals of Smart Tourism. This is a recognition for their great performance in four categories: accessibility, sustainability, digitalisation along with cultural heritage and creativity. Ok, let's say they are the new role models - at least in Europe. Is there any other destination we should keep an eye for good practices when it comes to smart tourism, ?- Would you like to have someone in charge of designing the perfect trip for you? Well, let me tell you about a startup that offers pretty much that: My AI is a global startup building a next-generation ‘reverse' marketplace, leveraging the best of AI and humans to solve hyper-personalization in travel. And also, they just won the ESADE Travel Tech and Hospitality Challenge. - Trusted Housesitters just raised $10M to expand their business in the US. The UK-based company connects travelers with plans to leave their pets behind to other travelers who will housesit both the property and the animals.- For everyone who is interested in going more in depth of what’s going on in the travel industry, our friends at Travel Tech Essentialist have just launched two interactive datasets which might be relevant for you. One dataset is focused on startups and investors, bringing an overview of the travel tech ecosystem around 70+ countries; The other, focusing on research and insights, lets users easily search, find and discover relevant content. This is pretty good. You can read more about each dataset here.- Founded in September 2020, Selfbook has raised $25 million to operate in the intersection of fintech and travel, giving hotels a way to accept one-click payments directly on their websites. They can implement the technology "with a single line of code”, according to Selfbook. - And as we are talking (once again!) about this interesting wave of fintech and travel: this week the Swedish fintech unicorn Klarna has announced the acquisition of Inspirock, an AI-based solution that personalizes itineraries for travelers. The deal will bring smoother experiences for planning the trip, as well as great ads and marketing opportunities for Klarna's partners.  We are pretty much one month away from the FutureTravel Summit. Do you already have your ticket, ? Click here to know more about the event. And hey, let me know if you have any questions.

See you next Thursday,Ana