NAJ’s upcoming RTO Summit East is slated to take place April 24-25 at the Park Central hotel in Manhattan, dedicating its first day to a new feature: the first ever Tour Operator Technology Summit, which is designed to help international, receptive and domestic tour operators take advantage of some of the latest applications that will allow them to design, build, and customize tour packages as well as learn how to use new tools to increase and manage their business.
“The reason we’re creating this event is that, while travel companies have become ever more sophisticated with connectivity and technology, receptive and domestic tour operators have fallen behind and it’s our hope that this will help them stay competitive.” said Jake Steinman, CEO of the NAJ Group, which hosts the RTO Summit Series. “Most tour operators I know don’t have time to attend webinars or schedule Go-to-Meeting demo’s with vendors, so we’re inviting representatives from the following companies that we’ve identified to have product suitable for small and mid-size operators to present so they can see and demo the product in one place.”
The following Companies have been invited to present:
- Cangooroo by Juniper
- Tailor Made Tour by eMinds
- Trip Creator
- TravelTek
- Tour Plan
- eRoam
- Secure Me
- Breakaway Travel
- Derby Soft
- Bokun
- Rezdy
- Jeenie
- Lumen 5
- Eat With
A Note: Space is limited and available on a first-come basis. For qualified receptive and domestic operators, registration for the Technology Summit is $199 and covers the full day session and demo lab.
To Register click here.
Provisional Agenda Tour Operator Technology Summit
April 24, 2019, Park Central Hotel, New York City
(i=invited but not confirmed)
9:00-9:15 am Introductions and Overview Jake Steinman, Founder and CEO, NAJ Group
The following 12 companies have been invited to present:
9:15-10:00 am: Tour Operator Tech Panel: A panel of small and mid-size receptive tour operators will discuss their needs, frustrations and experience in their quests for the front and back end technology vendors. Companies that we plan to invite include: New World Travel, AlliedTPro, and TourMappers.
10:00-10:20 am: Cangooroo by Juniper. “Front end CRM system and back end booking system that allows you to manage online-inventory of your own product and external-supplier product, offer your full inventory via XML to clients all over the world.” Marianna Manigold, Juniper., (i) See website here: https://cangooroo-booking-engine.ejuniper.com/index_pt.html
10:20-10:40 am: Tailor Made Tour. “Thanks to a simple, intuitive and appealing interface, you can create your TailorMadeTour starting from default but customizable itineraries or from start.” Roberto Di Leo, eMinds (i). See website here: http://www.eminds.it/en/eminds-tailormadetour.php.
10:40-11:00 am: TripCreator Builds Travel Packages, and complete itinerary booking in one place. See website here: https://www.tripcreator.com
11:00-11:20 am: TourPlan “We offer modest, practical solutions for small and medium size tour operators. Tourplan is the world’s best tour operator technology platform. It is designed as a comprehensive solution for quoting and operating tours.” Craig Gray, TourPlan (i) https://www.tourplan.com/
11:20-11:40: MORNING BREAK
11:40 am: eRoam Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Solutions for the Global Travel Industry— eRoam technology that allows operators to take their current client’s data to predict future travelers (of the same “look alike” peer group) and provides the best recommendation for itineraries. Bob Gilbert. North American Representative, eRoam
11:50 am: How We Built a Booking Engine Free using Google Drive … Breakaway Tours, a domestic tour operator near Pittsburgh, developed their own booking technology using the tools on Google Drive-FREE. Charley Troggio, Breakaway Travel.
12:00 noon: TravelTek. Traveltek’s dynamic packaging iBOS Back Office systems was created to help tour operators. Rosen Sweeney, TravelTek. (i)
12:20 pm: Secure Me A real-time APP is designed to place location based, real time situational awareness that places the location of each member of the group tour operator and group leader’s hand. Robert Aromondo, Interelgroup (i)
12:40-2:00 pm: LUNCH ON OWN
2:00-2:20 pm: Eat With. This app is like an Airbnb for hosts who wish to prepare meals for groups in their own homes. Tech Summit will show you how you can connect with these epicurean enthusiasts to offer your clients a “dine with a local” experience. www.eatwith.com. James Selich, Eat With Host (i)
2:20-2:40 pm: Lumen 5. This app uses AI in a simple way that can transform your itineraries into videos to enhance sales materials as well as explain tour options. (see an example here). Mike Chung, Lumen 5,Founder (i)
2:40-3:00 pm: Channel Manager Presentation. Channel managers offer software connection that allow receptive and domestic tour operators to connect directly to inventories of thousands of hotels and attractions. Examples of channel managers are: Derbysoft, Rezdy, Fareharbor and Bokun.
3:00-3:20 pm: Jeenie. Jeenie is a mobile app for Independent travelers who may need language assistance. Think of it as an “Uber for live translators through your phone” who can be summoned through Facetime video or audio. Kirsten Baker, Founder and CEO, Jeenie.
3:30-5:00 pm: TOUR OPERATOR TECH SUMMIT DEMO LAB Each technology provider will be assigned a roundtable from which they will demonstrate their product in minigroups.
