Gaithersburg, MD, June 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- mPhase Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: XDSL) (“mPhase” or the “Company”) is pleased to report ongoing progress in its Travel Buddhi division, which is building an AI-enhanced platform that enables travelers to plan and generate travel itineraries under predetermined budgets and preferences. The key feature of the platform is its ability to adjust and enhance individual itineraries in real time to accommodate for delays or changes. This “virtual concierge” concept is the first of its kind to combine an AI-component with location-based and other engagement technology to help manage and improve a traveler’s experience seamlessly throughout the entire travel process.
Prior to the global pandemic, Travel Buddhi signed more than 1,500 travel agencies during its Business-to-Consumer (“B2C”) beta test and began developing an initial target of 2,500 white label customers during its business-to-business (“B2B”) phase. To prepare the platform for full launch, the company has been actively curating additional content, which now includes 700 global destinations from 70 countries featuring 40,000 articles and one million attributes. The division’s goal is to have 8,000 active global destinations on the platform within a year of the full launch.
“The continuing pandemic has obviously had a debilitating effect on travel, but we were lucky in our timing, because we knew that we had a curating period following the beta,” explained mPhase CEO Anshu Bhatnagar. “We used this time to get our content to a more commercial stage and are more convinced than ever that we are coming to market with the right tool for today’s environment. We’ve built a place where any visitors bureau, travel agent, influencer, tourist attraction or enthusiast can plant their flag to generate traffic to their own geographies and interests. These service providers can have a complete eCommerce website and application backed by powerful tools within 15 minutes of registration. Our platform has a viral component, enabling third-parties to create pre-planned trips that can be shared, with a strong element of local expertise and timeliness. Shared, custom trips that can be replicated and implemented with the click of a button could become a powerful tool across the industry.”
In conjunction with the full roll-out during the second half of 2020, Travel Buddhi is expected to begin generating revenue from multiple sources, including: recurring subscription revenue, commissions and usage fees in the travel agent (B2B) segment; and commissions and advertising revenue in the consumer B2C segment. Travel Buddhi will also utilize cross-over technology from mPhase’s newest division, CloseComms, to enable further monetization of the platform.
“People are anxious to get back to travel, but we are realistic that this will require stages, with domestic travel being the earliest part of that scenario,” CEO Bhatnagar said. “In this safety conscious travel environment, we recently added virtual activities that enable discovery of COVID-19 safe destinations and itineraries. This is the kind of value-added content that can support clients who are trying to rebuild visitor traffic and customer engagement. Our next phase will include sales activities in the European market, so our geographic footprint will continue to expand. Since we represent such a unique approach, we are experiencing surprising interest from travel industry participants who are open to try new technology to restart their industry. So, we are very encouraged by the potential our platform could have as a new revenue source for mPhase. We expect that revenue phase to begin this summer, with consistent quarter over quarter growth to follow.”
About mPhase Technologies
mPhase is a technology driven, innovative development company that creates and commercializes products and applications that impact everyday people. The Company is assembling industry-leading teams specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning, software, consumer engagement, and other advanced technologies. Additional information can be found at the mPhase website, www.mphasetech.com. Please follow us on twitter: @mPhase_Tech for the latest updates.
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