Hugo Pellegrin

🏆 On April 3, 2025, François Bitouzet, VivaTech's General Manager, welcomed Travel to the event with 30 industries in its ninth edition. The Canada-focused event highlights its production of 50 unicorns in 5 years and its recognition as an AI stronghold. From June 11-14, 2025, VivaTech anticipates over 14,000 startups, 3,000 investors, 400 speakers, and 4,000 partners. Travel Tech Village, organized by Travelsoft and featuring Club Med, Accor Hotels, and partnerships with platforms like Expedia and Booking, marks its introduction with Henri Giscard D’estaing's first speech at VivaTech. Up to 81% of leaders see technology as a competitiveness vector, with plans to boost tech investments. Maurice Lévy announced the creation of the European Centre of Excellence on AI in collaboration with the World Economic Forum.

📲 Unravel, a travel video and conversational booking platform, secured €6.9 million in a Series A round led by Nauta Capital, with former Booking.com executives Kees Koolen and Olivier Bisserier, Slingshot Ventures, Active Partners, Antler, Nodes, Upscalers, and athletes Ben Stokes and Anthony Joshua through the Players’ Fund participating. The London, New Delhi, and Dubai-based startup, which leverages AI for personalized video feeds and booking assistance, has seen a sixfold increase in annual revenue since its initial funding in October 2023.

💰 In October 2024, Cryptorefills added a Travel vertical to its crypto marketplace app, enabling users to book flights and hotels with cryptocurrencies. By November 2024, Cryptorefills integrated 1 million hotels and offerings from 300 airlines, handling up to 10,000 transactions daily. They focus on "super adopters" in crypto hubs and digital nomads using stablecoins, with 80% of crypto holders preferring stablecoin transactions. Cryptorefills relies on a certified IATA partner's API for reservation management while taking care of payments, marketing, and customer service.

🧠 Icelandair surveyed 1,000 French travelers, revealing 54% wish to ban AI use in destination marketing. The study shows 81% worry about encountering AI-generated or fake reviews online. 57% distrust AI-generated travel images, while 53% actively check image authenticity before booking. Icelandair commits to using authentic Icelandic visuals in ads, responding to 27% who've felt misled by deceptive travel photos. ????

📈 In a March 2025 survey by TravelTech Show, 52% of 94 tour operators plan to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) within the next 12 months. Additionally, 64% of tour operators intend to increase their technology investment in the same period, with AI being the priority for half of them. Reservation systems and mobile apps follow, each targeted by 22% of travel producers. Despite the interest in AI, 24% hope to improve customer experience, and the same percentage expect cost reductions, 15% express concerns over data privacy and security, and 34% doubt the content accuracy generated by AI. Errors in AI-generated infographics include title inaccuracies and omitted data, like the 14% who fear not keeping up with AI advancements. ????