The global tourism industry is predicted to be worth US$2.3 trillion in 2023, and a whopping 80% of leisure travel bookings are done by groups of friends and family. However, the problem is most of these discussions currently happen on apps outside of the platform where the trip is being booked. With the traditional style of social purchasing, businesses inadvertently push consumers off their online platforms and onto external media where the decision to purchase can be forgotten or they move to competitor sites. The business loses its opportunity to quickly convert these purchase attempts into a sale.

Joyned is a seamless plugged-in social booking platform that sits within travel websites that allows consumers to make social purchases in an easier manner. Consumers invite their contacts via social media, phone number, messaging app, live link etc to a private chat within the travel website where they are then able to share their recommendations, discuss the locations/options, vote and collectively book all within the one window on site/ in app and then ultimately book the trip. Joyned’s solution can result in a 300% higher sales conversion rate as well as a 30% increase in average sale amount.

At the Amadeus 2022 OTN Conference, Joyned was voted the best travel solution for 2023 by 47.1% of the top global travel websites’ executives surveyed – beating TikTok, Microsoft and Avast.

The company has just signed a deal with the global leading provider of IT solutions to the travel and tourism industry – €31 billion market cap Amadeus. Joyned is forecasting US$10 million revenue in 2024, at a gross margin of over 80%. They expect this to grow to US$107 million in 2027, which should generate US$56 million in NPAT.

Now they have Aadeus in their corner, providing an ever growing stream of websites to onboard – and Joyned takes a commission from every sale made through the use of their software.

Amadeus & Joyned

The partnership between Amadeus and Joyned means that Joyned gets access to their entire network – one of the biggest travel network in the world – and has a chance to prove their technology on a grand scale.

Amadeus is a staple for airlines, hotels, rail operators, cruise and ferry operators, and travel agencies. They employ over 18,000 people and clocked almost €4.5 billion revenue in 2022.

The company acts both as a worldwide network connecting travel providers and travel agencies through a highly effective processing platform for the distribution of travel products and services, and as a provider of a comprehensive portfolio of IT solutions which automate certain mission-critical business processes, such as reservations, inventory management and operations for travel providers.

396 million bookings were made by travel agencies through their distribution platforms in 2022, and a total of 1.54 billion passengers boarded onto flights booked through their reservation platforms the same year.

Amadeus and Joyned are operating a revenue share agreement, where Amadeus will be generating customer leads and conducting presale assessments, while Joyned will pay a referral fee for every client that is brought on. Amadeus will heavily lean on their network to bring clients into Joyned, and will also participate in the set up & introduction calls/meetings with Joyned.

Source: Joyned

Juan Campins, Director of Digital Channels at RIU Hotels said: “At RIU Hotels, we are committed to creating a superior customer journey. Joyned shares our values. Integrating Joyned Booking into our US sites was a logical step in our progression towards creating a truly integrated and seamless online experience for our F&F customers where ideas can be shared at the click of a button and purchasing decisions can be taken in real time.

Social Purchasing

Separating the tourism purchasing platform from the discussion platform means that each tourism website is just one of many, and consumers are more likely to swap between platforms because they are discussing the decision making elsewhere. Joyned brings these two processes into the one atmosphere, increasing the likelihood of a transaction being executed on the platform where the discussion is taking place – significantly boosting the prominence of the tourism business.

At RIU Hotels and Resorts, the implementation of Joyned’s software resulted in a 5.4% increase in overall revenue and 3x increase in the likelihood of new website traffic making a purchase. In one instance, the initiator of the Joyned discussion booked a deal worth US$4,189.5 – and then came back 13 minutes later to book another deal worth US$3,770.5. In another instance, the initiator of the Joyned discussion booked a deal worth US$6,292.8 – and then came back 2.5 hours later to book another deal worth US$2,673.3.

At Despegar, the implementation of Joyned’s software resulted in a 5.4% increase in overall revenue and 270% increase in the likelihood of new website traffic making a purchase.

Social purchasing is the process of multiple people being involved in making a decision to purchase, and 82% of millennials are believed to check with a friend before making a decision to purchase. Digitisation is often viewed as a crucial tool for travel SMEs to unlock tremendous potential to refine their offerings and ultimately excel in the industry. Joyned combines these two critical factors into a revenue generating strategy for travel businesses.

AI & Machine Learning

Since Apple’s privacy update was introduced, search ad conversion rates have dropped 22% and social media ad ROI have dropped 29%. Joyned navigates this new barrier and gives the analytical power back to businesses that they have recently lost – in a fully compliant manner.

When consumers are discussing travel plans on a separate platform, like WhatsApp, those conversations are private and the data is not available to the travel website being discussed. Joyned is able to harvest all of this data, completely anonymously and in compliance with data privacy laws – which it then turns into actionable insights to sell to the websites.

Joyned delivers data without any personally identifiable information (PII) to its clients. The company collects information from conversations and website interactions, which includes data points such as price perception, stock keeping unit (SKU) feedback, sentiment analysis, buying journey and conversion & price. Joyned then scrubs the data of any PII, before delivering actionable intelligence to its clients such as target offers, benchmarks, retargeting opportunities, demand prediction and real-time insights.

Source: Joyned

Travel rebound post-covid

Travel is on track to blast through its pre-pandemic levels, as the post-covid recovery has seen international arrivals data that shows the world is operating at 80% of what it was before the world ground to a halt.

In the first quarter of 2023, an estimated 235 million tourists travelled internationally – more than double the amount during the same period in 2022. All up, data from 2022 showed over 960 million tourists travelling internationally last year.

Europe in particular had strong demand, reaching 90% of 2019 levels in Q1 this year. While Asia and the Pacific is hovering around 54%, this is expected to accelerate given China’s reopening.

The travel industry as a whole is largely made up of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which account for around 85% of the ecosystem. Inflation and oil prices, which are contributing to higher transport and accommodation costs, are leading travellers to hone in on their bargain hunting abilities. Consumers banding together for their travel plans is further fuelling the data led transformation of the travel industry.

Air travel has been a hot topic of discussion lately in Australia, with Qantas’ share price being propelled to within a whisker of its pre-pandemic all time high after the company posted a record 1H23 profit of $1.428 billion.

The much anticipated Virgin Australia IPO is well advanced, and shareholders are in line to receive around $730 million in capital return as the airline approaches its first full year of profit in a decade. After an already shaky balance sheet was crushed by the pandemic, Bain Capital bought the company out of administration – and now nearly all of Virgin’s 7,000 employees will get some form of bonus.

Joyned is providing an essential solution to a US$2.3 trillion market where 80% of economic activity is based on human interaction. Joyned has streamlined people’s travel discussions into a consumer-friendly platform that is making businesses more money and saving people time.

Reach Markets have been engaged by Joyned including to manage this offer and may receive fees for its services.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.