Dubai’s Hotel Data Cloud raises $350,000 seed to help hotels control content of their listings on different booking channels

Dubai-based travel tech startup Hotel Data Cloud has raised $350,000 in seed funding, it announced in a statement today. The startup did not disclose the names of investors but said that both local and international investors participated in the round.

Founded in 2016 by Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok, Hotel Data Cloud acts as a global database for descriptive hotel content, enabling the hotels (that use its service) to instantly share their up to 600 data points including property descriptions, details & photos with hundreds of travel websites, travel agent databases and points of sale instantly.

The startup in a statement said that the investment will help it in accelerating the introduction of its recommendation engine which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning. The engine will help hotels overcome different pain points and reach a wider customer base, once people start traveling again (once the spread of Covid-19 is contained).

Hotel Data Cloud, according to its website, offers a freemium subscription model with a free plan for small and privately managed properties and paid plans starting from about $1000 per year.

The website claims that Hotel Data Cloud helps hotels save over 36 hours every month by avoiding repetitive tasks and customer inquiries (for incorrect/obsolete information).

The recommendation engine, Hotel Data Cloud, said will enable hotels to showcase tailor-made offers, amenities, and other important things according to each traveler’s specific requirements and personal preferences.

“By building and constantly updating customer profiles that are based on analytics, psychographics, and other meta-data, customers are not inundated with irrelevant information. Instead, the engine filters all the information to arrive at an edited and curated selection of content that allows travelers to make informed decisions quickly,” said the startup in a statement.

The engine, Hotel Data Cloud claims, will help increase the CTR (click-through-rate) across online bookings by over 35 percent.

Gregor Amon, co-founder and Managing Partner of Hotel Data Cloud, said, “The travel and hospitality industry has taken a catastrophic hit and we need to work together to ensure a fast and effective recovery. We’re very proud of our investors, who believe in the vision of Hotel Data Cloud and have stepped up to ensure that we are able to accelerate the introduction of AI and machine learning into our systems.”

“We’re doing everything to ensure that hotels are equipped with the latest technology to get back on their feet, and are committed to doing our bit to support the travel and hospitality industry,” he added.