Immfly and GetYourGuide Partner on In-Flight Booking Tool for Destination Experiences
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Immfly and GetYourGuide’s new service is designed to operate without the need for in-flight Wi-Fi.
Airline passengers seeking an experiential fix when they reach their destination can now book walking tours by top local experts, immersive food and beverage tours, skip-the-line tickets to iconic attractions and other experiences, following the launch of a collaboration between digital cabin services provider Immfly and travel experience platform GetYourGuide.
Berlin-based GetYourGuide’s chief marketing officer, Emil Martinsek, said the company, which offers a catalogue of over 60,000 travel experiences, is “on a mission to give the whole world access to incredible experiences,” though to do so he said “it’s critical we effectively leverage every stage of our customers’ journeys to engage and inspire them.”
Since GetYourGuide’s launch in 2009, travelers have booked more than 43 million tours, activities, and attraction tickets for experiences worldwide, and the collaboration extends the company’s footprint while opening up new ancillary channels for airlines.
“Immfly integration means the service is available to airlines both via wireless and seatback systems,” Barcelona-based Immfly’s marketing director, Sotiris Damianos, told APEX Media. “With wireless systems [it] is available across all personal devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops.”
Damianos said that “the service is specifically designed to take bookings without reliance on in-flight internet connectivity,” and in the event an aircraft is out of range or Wi-Fi is not available, “the booking can be made and processed and the customer is advised upon booking that they will receive their voucher in their personal email as soon as they land.”
When the aircraft touches down at the airport, “4G cellular connectivity is established to enable immediate reconciliation, and the customer receives their voucher in a confirmation mail,” Damianos explained, adding that “a number of Immfly’s client airlines have contracted the service” for deployment. The airlines offering the service will be announced by the end of this month.
The collaboration follows the realization, through work that Immfly is doing with airlines to digitalize onboard retail and catering, of the importance of boosting revenue generation opportunities on board, especially in challenging times.
“Time and again we have seen the companies that innovate in times of crisis come out on top,” said Damianos, pointing out that “complementing the traditional retail offering on board with an expanded product portfolio gives carriers an edge.”
Specifically in the COVID-19 era, he said, “enabling airlines to offer relevant retail propositions electronically with the agility to do this through customers’ own devices is especially valuable in the current climate where the emphasis is on onboard hygiene.”