Travelex boosts your spending power. Travelport’s content search. Byway gets €5.9 million. More.

Travelex adds bahts and krones to its card

Good news for those travelling to popular destinations in Europe and Asia. Foreign exchange brand Travelex has added seven currencies to its pre-paid currency card, the Travelex Money Card (TMC).

Customers can now upload and spend Norwegian krone, Danish krone, Icelandic krona, Hungarian forint, Thai baht, Hong Kong dollar and Singapore dollar on their TMC, taking the total number of currencies available on the card to 22.

Travelex said the seven currencies have been added as a result of growing demand for Asian currencies as travel across Asia continues to rebound post-pandemic.

The launch of the new currencies marks the latest milestone in Travelex’s digital transformation journey.

Last year Travelex introduced an industry-first automated, self-service digital kiosk at London Heathrow, which followed the launch of the retail foreign exchange industry’s first ever ATM click-and-collect product.

Travelex has also been investing in new digital, self-serve concept stores across its international portfolio, as well as upgrading its backend and cloud digital infrastructure.

Content search takes off with Travelport

Drum roll for Travelport’s new Content Curation Layer (CCL), which uses AI to power search while trawling billions of trip options.

Part of the Travelport+ platform, CCL uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) to deliver intuitive search results to its travel agency partners worldwide.

“Travelport’s role in the increasingly complex travel industry is to take millions of pieces of disparate information and make it simple for both travel agencies and providers to understand, search, sell and service,” said Travelport CEO, Greg Webb.

Travelport’s Content Curation Layer identifies the most relevant offers for each traveller to create a faster, more intelligent search experience for the agent, helping agencies to curate options that are most desirable for the travellers.

“Used for all content sources (LCC, EDIFACT, NDC, hotel, car, etc.), the CCL allows agents to compare apples to oranges in an apples-to-apples way,” Webb added.

Travelport’s Content Curation Layer identifies the most relevant offers for each traveller to create a faster, more intelligent search experience for the agent. The technology layer simplifies the delivery of retail-ready content to agencies and helps them curate the most desirable options for travellers.

One of the key features of the CCL is the Content Optimizer, a new Travelport+ product that offers agency customers greater control over all content types, including both traditional and NDC content.

With the ability to apply agency-specific rules, agencies can use Content Optimizer to tailor search options and results, enhance revenue optimisation and mitigate content choice overload.

“Our travel agency partners know their travellers well, and Content Optimizer gives agencies the ability to set their own rules and customize the type of results that are prioritised,” Webb said.

Business in the swim of things in Paris

Big business is heading for Paris, and not just to watch the synchronised swimming or the BMX racing (yes, BMX will be big in Paris this year).

FCM Travel Singapore, the corporate travel division of Flight Centre Travel Group, says it has seen business travel bookings to Paris increase by 54% versus the same period last year.

“Major global events like the Paris Games provide more than just entertainment – they offer a unique chance to connect with influential individuals and industry peers, which businesses highly value,” said Scott Reddie, chief business officer of FCM Travel Asia.

What could be better, we wonder, than sealing a deal over Chablis and oysters on the Boulevard Saint-Michel, then settling back to watch the Games.

Magnifique!

Byway on the road with friends

UK-based travel tech startup Byway, a B Corporation delivering flight-free travel, has raised €5.9 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round led by Heartcore Capital, with participation from Eka Ventures and re-investing Byway angels.

EU Start-Ups reports the funds will be used to accelerate the development of Byway’s journey-planning technology.

Heartcore Capital invests in tech companies, including GetYourGuide, Travelperk, and Fora. Eka Ventures focuses on sustainable consumption.

Byway will shortly launch roles in tech, product, finance, business development and customer support.

“I’m thrilled that in Heartcore and Eka we’ve found partners who believe in the joy of journey-based holidays and the potential of JourneyAI to change travel for the better,” said Cat Jones, CEO and founder of Byway.