This week: Google tracks safety in South Africa, lift-off for India’s air taxis and a new dawn for night trains in Europe.

Google fights crime in Cape Town

Google has made changes to its Maps application, following a recent attack on an American tourist near Cape Town International Airport. The updates will guide tourists away from known crime hotspots spots when heading to the city’s airport and improve information available to tourists about areas of Cape Town to avoid.

Earlier this month, an American tourist was shot during a hijacking in Nyanga, close to the airport.

India’s air taxis prepare to take flight

India’s travel and hospitality conglomerate, InterGlobe Enterprises, has inked a partnership with Archer Aviation to launch and operate an all-electric air taxi service in India.

California-based Archer Aviation is a leader in electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

The parties intend to work with in-country business partners to operate Archer’s aircraft, finance and build vertiport infrastructure, and train pilots and other personnel needed for these operations.

The partnership also plans to finance the purchase of up to 200 of Archer’s Midnight aircraft for the India operations. Archer’s Midnight aircraft is a piloted, four-passenger electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights.

The goal is for a passenger on an InterGlobe-Archer flight to be able to fly the 27-km Delhi trip from Connaught Place to Gurugram, typically taking 60 to 90 minutes by car, in approximately seven minutes.

STB and Klook click again

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Klook have taken further steps to boost inbound travel to Singapore, jointly investing over S$2 million (US$1.48) in marketing initiatives.

The partnership will focus on digital content powered by Klook’s network of Klook Kreators (micro and nano content creators and affiliates) to drive engagement and conversion. The latest initiative builds on a two-year Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) signed in April this year.

All aboard Austria’s new night trains

Austria’s national railway company, ÖBB, is set to introduce a new fleet of night trains in December. The new trains, given a green signal by several other European nations, are equipped with individual pod-style berths for single travellers, in addition to the traditional couchettes and sleeping cars.

The latest generation of Nightjets can reach a maximum speed of 230 kilometres per hour and include multifunctional carriages offering bicycle parking, plus more space for luggage and items such as skiing and snowboarding equipment.

Passengers access complimentary on-board Wi-Fi, while a passenger information system keeps them informed about travel updates. The train is equipped with various charging options and improved window panes enhance network reception for mobile phone connections.

NFC card electronic entry systems are installed in the compartments, and video surveillance is in place throughout the train cars to enhance safety.

Quote of the Week: Vik Krishnan, partner, McKinsey & Company during a podcast of ‘Travel in the Age of Ai.

“The travel industry is unquestionably going to be significantly disrupted by AI.

“Whether it’s gen AI or other forms of AI that have been around for some time remains to be seen. It’s quite clear that if you work through the customer journey and the process of trying to understand where you want to go, where you want to stay, what are the things you want to see, how you want to plan your day-by-day itinerary, gen AI significantly eases the process of travel discovery.

“If you then step into what this means for travel suppliers, which includes airlines and hotels and cruises and car rentals and rideshare providers, the promise of AI is very much to help them deliver on the promises, both explicit and implicit, that they make to their customers.”