TravelPerk, the fastest growing global travel management platform, has today announced the acquisition of Albatross, a startup that offers an API for structured information on travel restrictions and local guidelines to travel applications.
Albatross was founded this year to cater to the increasing need for information on travel restrictions, health requirements and local guidelines that has come about as a result of the pandemic. The company was founded in Barcelona, by CEO Raphael Daverio.
The acquisition is part of TravelPerk’s broader efforts to help travelers and businesses navigate the complex travel environment created by Covid-19 safely and confidently. Albatross’ technology and data will be incorporated into TravelCare, TravelPerk’s travel risk management offering.
As societies across the world work to recover from Covid-19, international business travel is starting to reopen. However, the situation remains uncertain, with travel restrictions and guidance for travelers differing significantly across geographies and changing frequently. This leaves many travelers unsure of how to travel safely and in accordance with local rules, travel managers without the visibility and tools to respond to changes quickly, and makes it extremely difficult for companies to fulfil their duty of care obligations to employees.
TravelPerk’s expanded travel risk management offering will address these challenges and support travelers before and after they book a trip, as well as while they are traveling. Through Albatross’ developer-centric API, travel providers will be able to display information on travel restrictions in their booking flow.
This includes risk advisory on Covid-19, any Covid-related restriction – including whether travel is permitted between locations and any social distancing and face mask regulations that apply – plus local emergency numbers. TravelCare also covers guidance around other potential issues, including strikes, closures and planned protests. The information is updated in real-time and, unlike traditional travel risk content, it is presented in a digestible, user-friendly format that can be easily understood by travelers.
TravelPerk’s first acquisition
With the acquisition of Albatross, TravelPerk is reinforcing its strong suite of travel risk management products. Founded earlier this year, Albatross has built an industry-leading, developer-centric travel risk management API. It is the only company that can cover point-to-point travel restrictions and has already seen significant traction within the sector.
As well as being integrated into TravelPerk’s platform, Albatross’ offering will continue to be offered as a standalone product for travel providers and end-users. The Albatross team led by founder Raphael Daverio will be joining the TravelPerk team to further develop TravelPerk’s product offering in the travel risk management space.
Helping travelers to navigate the ‘new normal’
Some of the TravelPerk’s expanded travel risk management offerings, which also incorporate content from travel risk assessment software provider Riskline, are available to customers from today, with others becoming available in the coming weeks. Key features include:
- Real-time information on point-to-point restrictions: An industry-first, this gives customers real-time visibility into the rules and guidance that apply to travel from their specific place of origin to their destination.
- In-search information on Covid-related requirements and local guidelines: Updated in real-time from governmental, diplomatic and regulatory sources, this information will project whether travel will be authorised on the planned departure date, and provide details on the latest documentation requirements and level of risk.
- Post-booking & in-journey support: Once a trip has been booked, TravelPerk will send users a personalised email with extra travel documents and an itinerary including the latest risk alerts. Leading up to and during the journey itself, users then receive in-app notifications or email alerts of any updates or changes to the travel and health guidelines or level of risk at the destination.
- 7-star customer care: As with all its products and services, TravelPerk’s travel risk management offering is supported by TravelPerk’s inhouse customer care team, which provides 7-star, 24/7 human customer support to resolve any issues that arise in-journey.
- Free & Premium versions: Every TravelPerk customer will receive all traveler facing features, with limited admin functionality. A premium offering will also be available with additional admin features, including full visibility of notifications and the trips and employees affected.
Avi Meir, CEO and co-founder of TravelPerk, said: “We know from our own data that businesses are starting to think about traveling again. But we also know that there is no going back to the simple world that we took for granted before Covid-19. The new normal for business travel will be more complex and much more unpredictable, as travel corridors or travel bubbles open up and close down in response to the public health situation in each country, or even in specific regions within countries.
“At TravelPerk, our focus is always on delivering the best possible traveler experience. In this new era, that means giving individuals seamless access to the very latest information on travel restrictions and health guidance; not just general information, but the exact things they need to know for the specific journey they are planning. This is exactly what the fantastic product built by Albatross makes possible. We were blown away by what Raphael and his team have built and are delighted to have them joining the TravelPerk team as part of our first ever acquisition.”
Raphael Daverio, CEO and founder of Albatross, added: “At the core, Albatross and TravelPerk share the same fundamental belief that travel applications can still create delightful, safe travel experiences for their users despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Joining forces with TravelPerk will help us accelerate our product innovation and growth globally and ultimately gets us closer to our vision of bringing disruptive travel risk management tools to businesses of every size. I am truly thrilled to start working with Avi and his fantastic team to build products that will genuinely set new standards in the travel industry.”
The new travel risk management solutions are the latest addition to TravelPerk’s growing suite of innovative products and services. It follows the launch of flexible refund product FlexiPerk in 2019; carbon offsetting product GreenPerk earlier this year; and TravelPerk’s recent partnership with International SOS to repatriate travelers stranded abroad.
Backed by world-class investors like Kinnevik, Target Global, Felix Capital, Spark Capital, Heartcore, LocalGlobe, Amplo, 14W—investors in some of the most disruptive companies in tech including Zalando, Slack, Trello, Twitter, Farfetch and Delivery Hero — TravelPerk is reinventing business travel with an end-to-end solution that works.
— Press release
Main image credits: TravelPerk