In the news: Lufthansa launches innovation hub in two Asian cities, Softbank invests in handy, FCM and Sabre have new executives
Travel Technology: Lufthansa expands its innovation hub digitisation unit to Singapore and Shenzhen
The innovation hub aims to build a sustainable bridge to the Asian market.
Strong growth in Lufthansa’s business in Asia has prompted the airline group to launch offshoots of its innovation hub, previously only in Berlin, in Singapore and Shenzhen (China).
The hub’s opening in the two cities on July 1 made Lufthansa “the first non-Asian airline group to expand its digitisation efforts into the region”. The aim is to build a sustainable bridge to the Asian market kmown for its massive culture of innovation.
“Not only are the Asian markets showing particularly dynamic growth in our core businesses, but they are now often also leading the way in digital travel and mobility solutions,” said Carsten Spohr, chairman of the executive board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
“With the new locations of the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, we want to learn from the developments in Asia, build specific partnerships in the digital context, and benefit from our experience.”
Gleb Tritus, managing director of the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, explained the new digitisation unit was aimed at generating structured insights along the Lufthansa Group value chain, building concrete partnerships and investments and ultimately developing in-house solutions tailored to local markets.
Founded in Berlin in 2014 as a corporate digitisation unit, the hub scouts and builds startups and digital companies with strong products for travel to jointly co-create innovative offers. It works with a team of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and corporate aviation experts on new digital business models, partnerships and strategic investments along the entire travel and mobility chain.
Experts from the Berlin team are currently working on local network expansion, targeted scouting and partnership initiation in both cities.
The group, in a statement, points out Singapore is particularly important because of its role as a “smart mobility” pioneer. Additionally, the city-state is an established starting point for tapping into other Asian technological ecosystems.
“Singapore is a hotbed for innovation, particularly in the context of urban mobility. Today, we can already see how inner-city mobility will function, be distributed, and consumed in the future. In addition to having some of the most exciting mobility startups, acclaimed local research institutes in the sector are also joining forces,” remarked Tritus.
The lab in Shenzhen will help the team expand the key activities of the Lufthansa Innovation Hub Berlin to the Chinese market.
“The innovative strength of the Chinese technology sector is especially in the travel and mobility tech industry. More than half of the associated global venture capital is currently being invested in China – a growing trend. Having a Lufthansa Innovation Hub team in Shenzhen will enable us to directly participate in this dynamic business environment,” Tritus explained.
Lufthansa notes the Asian startup scene is, more than ever before, driving a technological change along the entire travel and mobility chain. This is reflected in a strong increase in startup and financing dynamics. Last year alone, 55% (approximately US$14 billion) of global venture capital invested in travel and mobility tech went to China. There was also an increase in mega-financing rounds, most recently Grab (Singapore, US$1 billion) and Hellobike (China, US$321 million).
Hotel Technology: Softbank invests in handy Japan
handy is available in 240,000 rooms in 1,700 hotels across Japan. (Image credit: handy)
Japanese multinational holding conglomerate, SoftBank Group Corp (Softbank), is investing in handy Japan Co. (handy Japan) for an undisclosed amount.
In announcing the deal Tink Labs, Hong Kong-based developer of the hospitality technology solution handy, said the investment was through a joint agreement between handy Japan, its Japan-based joint venture, and SoftBank through a third-party allotment.
handy Japan was launched in 2017. Its device is currently available in 240,000 rooms in 1,700 hotels across the country, including Grand Hyatt Tokyo, Keio Plaza Hotel, Royal Park Hotel, and The Capitol Hotel Tokyu.
handy is a free smartphone device docked in hotel rooms and is pre-loaded with local city guides, offers unlimited global calls, data and in-property and inter-device direct dialling. Hotel guests can take handy out of the hotel, allowing hoteliers to stay connected to guests throughout their stay.
According to Tink Labs, the funds from the investment will be used to enhance handy Japan’s product offerings that will leverage SoftBank’s capabilities in Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to provide hotel integration in areas such as Property Management System (PMS), Private Branch Exchange (PBX), keyless room entry, express check-out, and smart in-room controls.
“IoT is one of the major forces driving the future of the hospitality sector and it will play an important role in the travel ecosystem that we are establishing globally,” commented Hiro Katsuse, CEO of handy Japan.
Terence Kwok, founder & CEO of Tink Labs, said SoftBank’s support in handy Japan “is a true testament to our success in Japan and it further demonstrates that handy and Tink Labs’ unique offerings are helping hoteliers in the country drive hospitality sales and revenue through greater customer satisfaction”.
The company’s priority was to build a comprehensive travel platform and hospitality solutions to enhance the end-to-end journey of the world’s travellers, he added.
handy is available in 82 countries around the world, covering approximately 650,000 hotel rooms.
People: New roles for FCM’s Saillet and Sabre’s Iyer
Expanded roles for Sabre’s Iyer (left) and FCM’s Saillet
Bertrand Saillet has been appointed as the new managing director for Asia of travel management company, FCM Travel Solutions, replacing David Fraser, previously managing director of FCTG Asia (Flight Centre Travel Group).
Betrand, who was the general manager of FCM, will spearhead the overall growth of both FCTG and FCM Travel across Asia in his new role.
FCM has introduced technological innovations across Asia to better serve their customers such as FCM Connect that provides a single gateway to connect customers to all FCM’s leading digital tools. This year, the company will introduce a comprehensive version of SAM (Smart Assistant for Mobile), its AI chatbot app, which delivers personalised information to business travellers through a chat-based interface.
Meanwhile, Sabre has announced the appointment of Abdul Iyer as regional director, Southeast Asia. He will oversee business development activities, drive sales and support joint venture market sales initiatives in the Indochina region including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.
Having joined Sabre in 2008, Iyer has taken on several roles leading consulting, strategic planning, and conversion sales. Prior to Sabre he has served as senior consultant at Ernst & Young, managing projects across multiple industries.
• Featured image credit: Lufthansa