HBX Group to Buy Bridgify as Part of Broader AI Push
Photo Credit: A double-decker tour bus in Seville, Spain. Tourist activities and travel experiences are bookable via Isango, an HBX Group brand. HBX Group
Skift Take
HBX has been trying to diversify from reselling hotel rooms since before it went public. Each time, the answer is new inventory and better tech for selling. Experiences and AI are the latest pitch.
HBX Group is pitching its latest acquisition as a push into travel experiences. The economics suggest it is really about automation.
The travel tech company said Wednesday it agreed to pay €3 million ($3.2 million) for Bridgify, an AI startup whose software matches more than 1 million curated experiences to individual traveler profiles. Most of the payment is deferred and contingent on performance. Bridgify CEO Amit Shamni had raised about $300,000 in funding, according to Crunchbase.
HBX plans to apply the matching technology across all of its products, not just tours and activities. The Spanish company, whose flagship brand is Hotelbeds, has spent years pushing inventory beyond hotel rooms to airlines, loyalty programs, and online travel agencies — who, in tur
