Innovation

📈 IATA developed the NDC (New Distribution Capability) in 2012, aiming to replace EDIFACT used by GDSs like Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport. NDC promises direct airline-agency connections, eliminating GDS intermediary costs and offering personalized content. However, GDSs have integrated NDC content into their PSS. Newcomers like Metis (founded in 2021) provide platforms aggregating GDS and NDC content, targeting businesses without TMCs. Other aggregators include Amadeus, Air Gateway, Navan, and WonderMiles, the latter claiming unique post-issuance modification capabilities. The sector still evolves, awaiting IATA's One Order standard.

🧠 Signicat's "Battle Against AI-Driven Identity Fraud" report shows 42.5% of fraud attempts in finance and payments involve AI, with 29% success rate. Financial institutions are responding to advanced AI-powered fraud techniques, including deepfakes, synthetic identities, and sophisticated phishing. Cybersecurity in the financial industry faces unprecedented challenges due to the rise and complexity of AI-enhanced fraud tactics.

📦 Console SecretBox utilise l'intelligence artificielle pour faciliter et optimiser la création d'offres de coffrets cadeaux, incluant des expériences gastronomiques, des séjours à l'hôtel et des activités diverses, en améliorant les descriptions pour augmenter les ventes.

🏫 Ursula von der Leyen, re-elected as European Commission President in July for a second term, tasks Apostolos Tzitzikostas to develop and promote Hyperloop technology as the new European Transport Commissioner, pending a hearing by MEPs. In 2020, the European Commission's "sustainable and smart mobility strategy" aimed for carbon neutrality by 2050, including Hyperloop development. Virgin Hyperloop closed on December 31, 2023, while Hyperloop TT moved from Toulouse to Italy in March 2024. Transpod's Paris-Limoges project is delayed due to funding issues. Hyperloop faces challenges in regulation, public funding, and securing test land as per Roland Berger's report.

🏨 HappyCulture, part of Honotel group, launched the HappyCulture Académie YouTube channel, offering free online continuous training in hospitality. In 7 months, over 130 videos were posted, reaching 300,000 views. The program highlights 5 key roles and aims to add more by year's end. A notable success is a 71% turnover reduction for receptionists in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

💻 Amadeus initiated a task force in February 2023 to explore generative AI potential for pre-travel inspiration and research, now counting 15 researchers. Rodrigo Acuna Agost leads the team as Head of Research. They're developing a chatbot using OpenAI's LLM (also open to Google, Amazon, or Mistral platforms), aimed at leisure and business travelers, currently not capable of altering trips. Amadeus handles 30,000 search queries per second, aiming to display the top 200 flight combinations based on price and directness. Internally, since March, Microsoft Copilot is integrated with Microsoft 365 to assist employees.

🏨 HappyCulture (part of Honotel group) launched the HappyCulture Académie YouTube channel for ongoing free online training, addressing recruitment and retention challenges in the hospitality industry exacerbated by the pandemic. Since its start, over 130 videos have been posted, amassing nearly 300,000 views. The platform highlights five key hospitality professions and aims to expand its range by year-end. Notably, the initiative has cut receptionist turnover by 71% in the first half of 2024 and has seen a 188% increase in job applications.

💾 RoomRaccoon, a cloud-based hotel management software, has acquired Belgium-based Lobbi PMS to expand its presence in the Benelux market. The acquisition adds over 300 establishments to RoomRaccoon's clientele. Founders of Lobbi—David De Windt, Philippe Mangé, and CTO Geoffrey De Muer—will ensure a smooth transition. The deal includes integrating Lobbi's team and headquarters in Ghent, Belgium, into RoomRaccoon's ecosystem. CEO Tymen van Dyl aims to become the market leader in the Benelux and ultimately the top hotel management software globally.

📈 The article provides French translations for various English terms related to artificial intelligence. Some key translations include "adversarial machine learning" as "apprentissage antagoniste," "AI text generation" as "génération automatique de texte," and "large language model" as "grand modèle de langage (GML)." Other terms like "generative model," "diffusion model," and "pretrained model" are translated to "modèle génératif," "modèle à bruit statistique," and "modèle préentraîné," respectively. Instructions for AI are termed "instruction générative," and "text token" is translated as "jeton textuel.

🏡 Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) has launched a data cloud specifically for the tourism and hospitality industry, enhancing operations and customer experiences with AI capabilities. The platform assists airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and tourism tech providers by leveraging data and AI for five-star customer experiences and addressing the challenges and opportunities as the industry shifts from recovery to steady growth. Snowflake offers a unified AI and ML development platform with top-tier security, governance, and data democratization, enabling companies to fully utilize their data potential.