FT. LAUDERDALE, 22 November 2019 – The Czech travel-tech company Kiwi.com, won the Launch People’s Choice Award at The Phocuswright Conference which attracts travel experts all over the world.

The participants of the competition were experienced companies, which are surprising the travel world with groundbreaking innovations that are changing the travel industry, such as Kiwi.com’s Virtual Global Supercarrier.

Virtual Global Supercarrier will be providing a complete travel solution from initial inspiration to the final destination, at any time and no matter where or what the points are. Whether you want to book a trip to a tropical destination or a taxi to take you to your favorite restaurant, you will be able to do it all within Kiwi.com. By combining all models of travel — be it flights, trains, buses, ride-hailing services or even city micro-mobility — into a global travel network, Kiwi.com is becoming an important distribution channel for all participating carriers.

Oliver Dlouhý, CEO and co-founder of the company, came up with the idea of Virtual Interlining while searching for flights from the Czech Republic to Portugal. He realized that to get the fastest itinerary and the best price, the ideal would be to combine different carriers in one itinerary. 

Seven years later, Kiwi.com is combining more than 750 ground and air carriers with all the connections in case of any disruptions covered by the Kiwi.com Guarantee. 

“We are very happy and proud of winning the People’s Choice award at the 2019 Phocuswright conference. A well known and prestigious event where the audience has clearly understood and appreciated our vision for the future. It is always a pleasure to be reassured doing a great job and this gives us the strength to keep innovating and improving,” says Raymond Vrijenhoek, VP of Growth, Brand & Communications at Kiwi.com, who received the award for Kiwi.com.

Kiwi.com’s Raymond Vrihenhoek received the award during the ceremony

In the last 20 years, the number of international departures has increased drastically, and IATA predicts the number to keep growing at the same pace — especially in the Asia-Pacific region. The consumers are becoming more and more demanding, and want to have everything under control online, through an app on their phone — which is the exact offer of Kiwi.com

“As a Virtual Global Supercarrier, Kiwi.com is creating a new category in travel distribution, addressing a wide segment of customers whose main objective is to get from one place to another in the most cost-effective and convenient way possible. Being among the cheapest distribution channels for the majority of participating carriers, Kiwi.com is bringing our partners a significant number of incremental customers,” said Dlouhý.

Oliver Dlouhý introduced the Virtual Global Supercarrier concept at The Phocuswright Conference

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

ABOUT KIWI.COM

Founded by Oliver Dlouhý and Jozef Képesi in 2012, Kiwi.com is an online search engine allowing users to combine transportation from non-cooperating carriers. It is powered by its proprietary algorithm (Virtual Interlining) that allows users to combine flights and ground transportation from over 750 carriers, including many that do not normally cooperate, accompanied by industry-leading Kiwi.com Guarantee. Today, the company sees more than 100 million searches every day and employs over 2,800 people worldwide. Kiwi.com ranked seventh in the 2017 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA list, becoming the highest-ever rated Czech company. Following the previous success, Kiwi.com ranked fifth in the very same program in 2018.

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