Chicago — November 10, 2021 — When it comes to technology innovation, few companies are disrupting the travel and hospitality industries like youtip, the simplest, fastest, app free digital tipping solution. Next week at The Phocuswright Conference, youtip Co-Founder and CEO Doug Miles will present the enterprise system for digital gratuity to a panel of judges or “Dragons” in hopes of being named both “Most Innovative Startup of the Year” and “Innovation Summit People's Choice.” As part of the awards program, senior executives from across the industry will judge youtip and seven other “innovations poised for major breakouts in the next year and beyond” on their technical innovation, business value, and potential effect on the marketplace.
The 27th annual Phocuswright Conference will be held November 15 to 17 at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Fla., with the 2021 Startup Program and Innovation: Summit Awards kicking off the event. Phocuswright's Startup Program offers entrepreneurs unmatched access to network with and learn from top travel executives and investors. In turn, mentors gain direct access to a pool of the freshest startups and ideas. The Phocuswright Conference, themed “Travel’s Renaissance,” will present smart insight and healthy debate over navigating the new, mid-pandemic environment, and it will confront the extraordinary challenges the travel and hospitality industries are facing on the road to recovery.
“As we all know, cash is quickly disappearing from the economy, leaving a void in the discretionary tipping cycle,” Miles said. “Workers who rely on those tips are struggling to make ends meet, especially as we recover from a pandemic. youtip has stepped in to fill the void left by cash with a highly flexible and frictionless digital tipping solution. Businesses can now offer more money in tipped workers’ wallets by adopting youtip as the digital alternative to cash tipping.”
How it works: Through entry points such as QR codes, links, and integrations to other mobile apps, tippers arrive at youtip’s secure payment screen where they can charge a tip to credit/debit cards, Apple Pay, or GPay from their digital wallets. Tips are then calculated and disbursed to workers via payroll or pushed to debit cards. After tipping, users can leave a star rating and review.
“For businesses like restaurants that accept debit/credit card payments, guests can add a tip onto their final total that is then charged through the point-of-sale system,” Miles said. “However, a POS is unavailable for discretionary tipping for services like housekeeping, valet, performers, and tour guides. In some situations, guests will go out of their way to find an ATM or inquire about using peer-to-peer payment apps like Venmo or CashApp which goes against many businesses security policies due to risk of exposing personal data of guests and staff. While these payment apps are an option, they are not secure, fast, simple, or convenient for either party. The highly configurable youtip platform is easy to deploy and integrates with back office and branded apps. It is designed to fit the needs of enterprise operations. Plus, the API-based system can integrate with businesses’ existing systems, such as payroll, time and attendance, earned-wage access providers, property-management systems, and task management systems.
“We (Co-Founders Sarah Taveprungsenukul, Nicholas Okuley, and Doug Miles) are excited to have youtip in the spotlight at the 2021 Phocuswright Conference,” Miles said. “To be considered as one of the ‘most innovative companies in travel across the globe’ is a true honor. There was a large pool of applicants this year, and we are proud to be competing alongside Travelkicks, Local Purse, reTravel, Wheel the World, MyStay, NoiseAware, and RoomPriceGenie for the titles of ‘Most Innovative’ and ‘People’s Choice.’”
During the Innovation Summit, presented by Amadeus, youtip will take stage for a five-minute pitch and then participate in a discussion with the following Dragons: Ellen Keszler, CEO, Clear Sky Associates; Eric Hart, CFO, Expedia Group; Jessica Patel, SVP, Expedia Group; Dee Waddell, Global Managing Director, Travel & Transportation Industries, IBM; Chris Hemmeter, Managing Directory, Thayer Ventures; and Cara Whitehill, Founder, Unlock Advisors. These judges will provide feedback and ask probing questions to help evaluate the likelihood of success of the business and whether it provides true breakthrough industry value. They will score the presenters based on their tech and business innovation to select the “Most Innovative Travel Startup of 2021.” Concluding the presentation to the Dragons, the audience will choose a winner for the “Innovation Summit People’s Choice Award.”
For more information on youtip, visit www.youtip.money.
