The Launch People's Choice Award recognizes companies which are at least 4 years old and have come up with an innovation that revolutionizes the travel industry. Through this award, the Phocuswright Conference showcases the latest trends and technological innovations in the main sectors of the travel market every year.
In a 10-minute pitch, William Lecerf, co-founder of MagicStay, was able to impress the Dragons - the ten members of the Jury. He received nine positive endorsements in front of around 2,000 of the most influential international experts from the travel industry. The prize was presented to William Lecerf, co-founder (on the left), Valéry Linyer, co-founder and CEO (in the center) and Slobodan Petrovic, COO (on the right).
These 2,000 experts then elected MagicStay.com ahead of twelve competitors previously selected by Phocuswright: Affirm, Airdna, Amadeus, Arrivalist, Cover Genius, HotelRunner, Left Travel, Mistifly, Nezasa, Sift, Kiwi or Travelcompsitor. The prize was awarded jointly to MagicStay.com and Kiwi.
The Dragons' comments were very complimentary:
"You are building a database which offers unique value that no-one else has managed to develop".
Will Philippson, former Co-founder and COO SilveRail Technologies
"I really like the fact that your content is available in the SBTs".
Charuta Fadnis, Senior Director Product Strategy and Analytics BCD Travel
"As an expat looking for accommodation in a foreign country, anything you can do to simplify this process is absolutely fantastic. It's an infernal procedure that companies spend a lot of time dealing with and your solution is BRILLANT".
Philip Wolf, Serial Board Director and Founder Phocuswright Inc.
"I was really impressed by your Duty of Care presentation. As a large company, I know that this issue is one of the biggest fears we have to face when sending our employees abroad on assignments".
Gayle Knolls, Head of Business Development TRAVELPORT
An effective development strategy
Launched in 2013 in Grasse, the www.MagicStay.com platform devoted its first five years of business to R&D.
After initially focusing on the market of trade show organizers, since 2016 MagicStay has been offering business travelers and, since the beginning of this year, expatriates and/or persons on professional mobility assignments, a secure alternative to professional hotels by responding to duty of care challenges, traveler safety demands and personal data protection, required by large companies.
While broadening its scope, the hosting platform dedicated to professionals has doubled its offer since the beginning of the year. It now has more than 600,000 apartments, villas or apart-hotels available throughout the world (in more than 3,000 cities and 130 countries).
In 2020, MagicStay hopes to reach one million hosting units.
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MagicStay media library (press releases, logo, photo gallery, etc.)
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The original source-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the source-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.
