TECH HOTLIST The 2023

In no particular order, here’s our pick of the top tech innovators and innovations shaking up the business travel industry

Spotnana

In a world where access to content is well and truly king, Spotnana’s open Travel-asa-Service platform is emerging as a strong contender for next in line to the travel throne. Designed to replace legacy travel industry infrastructure, which it argues is “ancient and has been stifling innovation for decades” its open platform allows customers to access content that other platforms cannot reach. And those customers are coming thick and fast – recent biggies include Solutions Travel and CWT, who were especially enticed by Spotnana’s deep direct NDC integrations, which come with full support for self-service changes and cancellations, as well as comprehensive servicing. spotnana.com

Personalisation is also a priority, and Spotnana’s online booking tool and agent desktop seamlessly accesses profiles, policies and more. Working directly with corporates, TMCs, suppliers and also financial and technology providers like Brex, Spotnana is hitting all parts of the travel ecosystem, backed by enthusiastic investors and a heavyweight (and often outspoken) executive team.

Katanox

Based on a proven model from fintech and other industries, Amsterdam-based Katanox is promising to bring some much-needed cohesion to the fragmented world of hospitality distribution. In a nutshell, its platform allows hotels and other accommodation to connect directly with travel sellers like TMCs, cutting out the usual 'gatekeepers' or 'middle men'. By enabling direct partnerships and payment processing in one place, it aims to create a simpler and more transparent process, saving hoteliers time and money, giving them more consumer insights and more control, in turn encouraging innovation. On the buyer side, Katanox provides data streaming access and the availability to directly search, book, pay and modify bookings at any time. For both sides, it can also throw in useful, tailor-made extras like price freezes, the option to travel now but pay later, or cancellation and change fees as new revenue opportunities. katanox.com

SNOWFALL’S JUNCTION

After a bit of a wobbly start (its initial owner ran out of cash, but thankfully Snowfall saw its potential and quickly snapped it up), this online booking tool is now back on track. Following a refresh and a rebrand (with a much better name, in our opinion), Junction is designed to meet the expectations of digital-native generations as they become the dominant consumer segments. The cloud-based B2B travel platform allows users to create, book and manage multi-modal trips, from the first to the last mile, all in one tool. It’s also a future-fit experience for all parties – corporates, TMCs and suppliers, which include airlines, rail, bus/coach operators, rental cars,

Mobility Iq

shared and micro-mobility providers and even ferries.

Stand-out features include an intuitive storefront, TripBoards, for collaborative trip planning, and AI-powered predictive, automated assistance and disruption management technology. Payments are integrated too, featuring enterprise-level foreign exchange rates, instant payments and seamless reconciliation snowfalltravel.com

Ground transport is sometimes dismissed as the poor relation in the business travel ecosystem and has consequently been wrongly overlooked by the technology innovators, but it’s now attracting the interest and investment it deserves.

One example comes from The Miles Consultancy in the shape of its so-called ‘super app’, Mobility iQ. It’s a B2B2E digital SaaS platform which can be used by travelling employees for pre-trip and in-trip journey planning, booking, travelling and expensing, and can be configured by a corporate to include suppliers, policy and users. Right now, it’s live and available across Western Europe and is being rolled out to the US in the third quarter. Its mission is to promote more responsible traveller behaviour when booking ground transportation, including car rental, ride, taxi and rail, based on company preferences surrounding the four ‘Cs’ – cost, calories, carbon and clock (time). Meanwhile, integrated AI delivers real-time traveller recommendations in the event of travel disruption, such as strikes, traffic or weather. Its creators expect travellers to like it so much, they use it for their personal mobility needs too. themilesconsultancy.com