Mitsis Hotels & Voxel successfully hosted the Conference “Future Trends of B2B Digital Payments in Hospitality” under the auspices of SETE – Greek Tourism Confederation at Sofitel Athens Airport on February 21st, 2023, with the participation of over 140 attendees from the travel, banking and digital sectors. The event was addressed by Mr. Kyriakos Pierrakakis, the Minister of State and Digital Governance, and Mr. Stavros Mitsis, Mitsis Hotels Managing Director.
Highlighting the importance of Digital Transformation in our era, Mr. Kyriakos Pierrakakis stated, “The Greek government has tried a lot in the recent 3.5 years to aggressively transform itself. The central tenet of this reform is gov.gr, the core portal of the Greek government. We have actually digitized and simplified more than 1,500 services and in the next 4 years we will digitize 4,000 more. By 2027, our economy will be fully digital, our state will be fully digital, our telecommunications system both on mobile and on fiber shall have penetrated at levels higher than 95%”.
Mr. Stavros Mitsis underlined the hospitality sector’s substantial contribution in the Greek economy, the Greek society and the prosperity of local communities. Closing, he stated “Digital technology is now an integral part of the tourism industry. Mitsis Hotels has embraced the digital revolution. In recent years, we have increased business value through cutting-edge technological innovations, that are digitizing our guests’ entire customer journey and our internal business operations, such as our Megaportal, our Mobile App, the Mitsis Intranet and Brand Centre, our Online Concierge and of course Open Text, our online Metasearch archive”.
Xavi Ginesta, Chairman at Voxel, presented the company’s solutions in the area of electronic invoicing and B2B payments for the Travel Industry. The Bavel platform is leading the way in electronic billing and payment solutions for the Travel Industry and currently in use in over 100 countries. More than 1,000 travel companies are using Bavel to automate their invoicing and payment procedures with a network of over 50,000 leading hotels and other travel service providers. As he stressed, “Frictionless B2B payments are going to be the new normal in 10 years and the main players in the travel industry will be in this scenario. Many companies are partnering right now, and it will become a reality in a few years. Collaboration is the true vector and with this event, we demonstrated it, 20 years ago this event wouldn’t have been possible. It’s time for collaboration!”.
Speakers from top-notch companies in the travel and fintech industries attended the event. Ana Arjones, Director of Travel Enterprise Partnership at Mastercard, shared with the event’s attendees financial trends they envision for the travel industry. Eva Benesova, Back Office Operations Manager at MTS; Katrin Jakobus, Financial Controller Accounts Payable Destinations at TUI; and Sofoklis Limniotis, Head of Digital Payments at Hotelbeds shared with the audience their success stories in using Voxel technology to automate and digitalize their invoicing and B2B payments processes.
The last session of the event featured the panel discussion ‘Working together to accelerate the transition to a brighter future’, with the participation of Athanassios Daflos, Senior Manager, Head of Transaction Banking Solutions, Eurobank; Stefanos Spanakis, Senior Manager, Piraeus Bank; Simone Colombo, Senior Vice President, Planet; and George Moraitis, Head of Payments and Cash Management Solutions, Corporate Transaction Banking, National Bank of Greece. The representatives of Greek Banks and pioneer companies in the field of e-payments discussed the current and future trends of electronic payments in the hospitality sector, including integrated payment processes, automation solutions and the use of open APIs.
MITSIS HOTELS Group
As Greece’s largest privately-owned hotel chain, MITSIS HOTELS has been a tourism pioneer for over 45 years now, making its own mark on Greece’s tourist industry, driven by a customer–centered philosophy and the promise of an unparalleled holiday experience. With 19 city, beach and resort hotels of 4* and 5* and 12 Spa and thalassotherapy centers in our portfolio in Athens, Crete, Kamena Vourla, Kos and Rhodes, we aspire to stand out as the preferred portfolio of hotels & resorts in Greece offering excellent service, great locations, impeccable facilities, sophisticated dining and a broad spectrum of options for our clientele. We bring to life enriching experiences for our guests, making the most of our unparalleled family touch and genuine Greek essence, always seeking to be flexible and adaptable to individual customer needs and the mindset of new generations. Transforming each visitor into a special guest is the key to our success. For its remarkable performance, MITSIS HOTELS has been awarded several prizes by local and international tour operators and travel organisations in recognition of the high quality of the services provided, its contribution to upgrading local tourism and its respect for the environment.
Voxel
Voxel develops digitalization solutions for the value chain: e-invoices and approval flows, e-payments, supplier management, e-orders and delivery notes, expense management, and connection with public administrations through its Bavel platform. Bavel Pay is the B2B payment manager, Bavel Billing is the leading e-invoicing solution and Bavel Procurement digitalizes the entire supply chain and automates all related processes. The Bavel platform is made up of 50,000+ hotels and 1,000+ tour operators and travel companies and it is present in 100 different countries and handles more than 90 million e-invoices per year.
