Corporate travel buyers and travelers using Serko booking platform Zeno now have insight into planned events that could impact the cost of travel to a given destination. The capability comes via a partnership with demand intelligence specialist PredictHQ. The partnership went live on Thursday and funnels real-time event data into Zeno to power a travel demand forecast visible to travelers while booking. The forecast, which is updated every minute, alerts travelers of events occurring in the destination area that may impact the cost of flights to and hotels in that region. The tool displays an impact score based on scale and logistical footprint of that event.
That cost foresight enables travel managers and travelers to adapt their plans and budgets ahead of time, Zeno said, solving what the company called "a persistent frustration" for corporate travel: unexpected price increases due to events taking place at target destinations.
Like Serko, PredictHQ is a New Zealand-based company. Serko has been making waves on a global scale, landing integrations with Uber and Booking.com, among others, since its 2014 founding.
The PredictHQ alliance is the second service integration Serko has announced this week. On Thursday, the company unveiled a partnership with artificial intelligence-driven customer service company FaceMe to offer a human-like travel digital assistant that responds verbally to travel requests made within Zeno.