The Connectivity Advisory Board is a unique platform to discuss big ideas that will drive industry change, business relationships and performance. With the new two-year term kicking off at the beginning of the 2024 Connectivity Provider Programme year, our most recent in-person meeting was the first time with the 2024–2026 Advisory Board.

Our roundtable session topics were planned based on input from our board members. We covered fintech, cybersecurity and the seamless experience – here are a few highlights.

We’re building a better payment experience

We’re on a mission to make payments flexible, reliable, transparent and automated. Our fintech session addressed questions about our payment portfolio on expanding the Payment API, addressing current challenges, and exploring collaborative ideas. 

Participants highlighted pain points like the lack of payment onboarding and issues with reconciliation for bank transfers and invoice clarity. The roundtable also explored ideas for collaboration, such as enhancing the payment ecosystem and tokenization.

As Riza Kaynak, Director Of Demand at HotelRunner says, "Travel payments are a big part of creating a smooth experience for guests and hotel partners. On the Tripeden.com Connectivity Advisory Board, we’re working together to find new ways to make payments easier and safer for our hotel partners worldwide."

Vincent Goemaere, Founder of Stardekk (a Lighthouse company) said that the focus on streamlining payment flows is particularly valuable. “It highlights the pressing need for solutions that are both robust and seamlessly integrated with existing systems. The push toward eliminating inefficiencies in payment flows promises better user experiences and enhances security – both crucial factors in the customer journey.” 

Awareness is the biggest need when it comes to cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a hot topic that is increasingly relevant for both our Connectivity and accommodation partners. In this roundtable session, we explained how credential harvesting, phishing attacks and fake domains are growing threats. 

The main challenges include the lack of a replicable process for tackling account takeover attacks, properties unaware of if their accounts have been compromised, insufficient educational materials and difficulties in taking down malicious advertisement sites. 

On the bright side, we've seen some quick successes, like raising awareness within teams and spotting various phishing methods and channels. To further boost awareness, we’ve prepared guidance on online security measures that you can share with your properties to keep them safe.

Caroline Faries, Strategic Account Director at RateTiger, reflected that “The ability to share information about how cyber attacks have developed in specific relation to our industry is essential and incredibly important. To have industry voices discuss, offer solutions and collaborate on security issues is a huge benefit to all involved.” 

Achieving a seamless experience – together – is crucial

A seamless experience for our mutual accommodation partners benefits everyone. A consistent and engaging user experience empowers them to drive success for their business directly through your software, while having one interface as a single source of truth builds trust and satisfaction.

Properties often face friction due to inflexible solutions and a lack of standardisation across the industry. Removing repetitive tasks, offering on-demand tips and minimising the onboarding time are critical for our partners. Vincent Goemaere, CEO and Founder of Stardekk, highlighted the market’s shift toward all-in-one solutions. Alessio Gaggi, CEO & Founder at E4JConnect, also noted the benefits of our APIs in “enabling faster processing and execution times and less friction for every property manager worldwide”.

The Seamless Experience Accelerator (SEA) initiative, a Connectivity Partner Programme benefit offered to our Premier partners, enhances providers’ software interfaces to deliver an optimal experience. Through SEA, Beds24 achieved faster onboarding and fewer support issues within months through improvements like API automation, full property and room content retrieval and a streamlined connection process. 

Annette Morgenroth, Chief Commercial Officer at Beds24, praised the collaboration: “We had amazing workshops and profound advice on how we can make working with Booking even better for our customers.” 

Final reflections on the board meeting

• Marco Baurdoux, CEO at Hotel-Spider: “I truly appreciated the in-person Advisory Board and the know-how exchange between Tripeden.com and the other Connectivity partners. I always find it interesting to hear the ideas, challenges and solutions of other providers.”
• Caroline Faries, Strategic Account Director at RateTiger: “The environment the Advisory Board creates is thought provoking and rewarding – and I feel incredibly grateful to be a part of it.”
• Alessio Gaggi, CEO & Founder at E4JConnect: “It was a great opportunity to take part of the Advisory Board together with industry experts. Sharing the experience and thoughts for future implementations together with, and so close to Tripeden.com, is definitely a game changer.”
• Gwenael Merlin, Director / EVP Strategic Solutions at eviivo: “By harnessing our collective expertise and influence, we are all committed to advancing meaningful progress and driving innovation across the industry.” 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

With the valuable perspectives shared at this meeting, we’re well-equipped to overcome challenges and continue driving innovation together.