Hi Alicia, | If your December looks anything like mine, chances are you're wrapping up the year with lots of open tabs on your browser, a Christmas playlist on repeat, industry trend reports flooding your inbox, a few spreadsheets waiting for those final numbers, and a hundred "Spotify Wrapped" posts dancing across social media. | Everywhere else, people are sharing best-of lists and year-in-reviews. We've all got plenty of our own data to sort, too - numbers that say more than just "this many bookings" or "that many guests." No one can resist a good story about data. | As you sip your holiday latte and face your spreadsheets, take a moment to consider what those numbers on dashboards might really mean: how far you've come this year and where we could be headed next. | In the meantime, here's this week's roundup of the top news on innovation, trends, and startups in travel. | Oui to more villas. Luxury holiday rental firm Oliver's Travels keeps growing with its 3rd acquisition this year. Adding over 100 Provence villas from Charming Houses, the company now offers 1,300 French holiday homes. After acquiring Menorca Private Owners and Homes & Provence, Oliver's Travels plans to keep expanding, delivering more exceptional getaway experiences in the luxury travel rental market. Touring through headsets. Great piece from LinkedIn's news team featuring five big ideas that could shape tech in the near future. I'm sharing it here because their second point suggests AR/VR could play a huge role in travel next year. I'm curious: what's your take? Will immersive tech support real-world travel in the years ahead? I'd love to hear your take. Rethinking routes. Reservation tech provider Kaptio, specializing in multi-day travel bookings, has secured $2.5M and welcomed a major investment from VEX. With new partners, the Icelandic company plans to scale, enhance product development, and boost global growth. Kaptio will focus on innovation-driven clients, expand its product suite, and strengthen its presence in key markets worldwide. Like a treasure map for travelers. KKday is set on connecting travelers to unique, local adventures, and has locked in $70M in fresh funding. With plans for M&A across Asia-Pacific, bigger AI investments, and a stronger footing in Japan, the company is gearing up to deliver more authentic travel options. Its B2B platform and top partnerships will boost inventory management and broaden product availability across global markets. The kids are online. There's plenty of talk about kids and social media - and like it or not, they're online, finding the same algorithms as adults. Thinking about the future of travel, I look to the next generations. Though this story mostly focuses on social media, it also offers valuable industry insights. As the article says, Gen Alphas are digital natives, but they still crave in-person experiences, and their demand for e-commerce isn't as high as older generations. So, how are we factoring Gen Alpha into our strategies? Back at the spotlight. I had to look twice when I first saw this chart. It's clear that travel is back and bigger than ever. It's exciting to witness from within how, after a pause, the travel industry is now outpacing tech and finance. With this growth comes many stories of innovation, new opportunities, and big wins. Stay tuned! :) Live choirs at the arrivals gate? With holiday vibes in full swing and everyone traveling just to be together, airports (especially their arrivals areas) take on a special role. Heathrow's going all out to welcome travelers from around the world with a live choir. Too much? Well.. isn't that what the holidays are all about? I can't help but think of this: "Whenever I get gloomy about the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport…" and of course of the good old days of flash mobs like this one.
| Quick heads-up before signing off: use the code BLINDBIRD to get your ticket to FutureTravel Summit 2025 at the largest discount you'll find! This deal is exclusive to readers and ends on December 24th 🎄 | 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.
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