The Managing Director of Jumia‘s Hotel and Flight Marketplace, Omolara Adagunodo has said that collaboration and innovation will strengthen and improve Nigeria’s travel industry.

She stated this at a panel discussion convened to discuss Technology Trends: Tomorrow’s Tech for Today’s Travel at the 2nd edition of the Nigeria Travel Week held recently at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Adagunodo who was joined by co-panelists from Amadeus, Phillips Consulting, Ringier Digital Marketing (RDM), Business Travel Management and UrWorld Sim noted that technology has disrupted the travel industry and travel businesses in Nigeria must innovate and collaborate to ensure that they stay or remain relevant.

“We see technology innovation such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, chatbot, machine learning and virtual reality being deployed to enhance the travel experience. In fact, some people are now talking about self-driving mobile hotel rooms as the future of the hospitality sector. To prepare us for the present and the future, we must collaborate in today’s business environment to enable us to share data, learn and scale.”

On what Jumia’s hotel and flight marketplace is doing to collaborate and deplore technology, Adagunodo said: “We recently partnered with Amadeus to launch the first flight marketplace in Africa. We have plugged into the deep data and technology of Amadeus to deliver the online choice and marketplace experience that travellers love. The result of this partnership is that our customers are offered the most affordable flight rates.”

– Ogunfowoke, Adeniyi Ayuba| PR Associate | Jumia Travel & Food