TravelTech Show today announces Acai as the winner of this year’s Trailblazer Awards after battling it out against four other finalists in a ‘Dragons’ Den’ style showcase of travel technology innovation that took place earlier today, the final day of the event.  

Acai brings deep travel industry integration to AI. Their travel-specific agents connect seamlessly with CRMs and GDSs to automate complex tasks, everything from fare rules to supplier communications, freeing up agents to focus on service

This year’s finalists were: Acai, Spark, Travel Intelligence, Trawelt and  Zetexa.

Commenting on the win, Ron Glickman, head of sales, Acai said, “For us, it's great validation from an expert panel of judges that what we're doing at Acai is really making meaningful change in the travel operation space.”  

Asked why events like TravelTech Show and the Trailblazer Awards are so important to companies like Acai, Glickman added, “You have a variety of stakeholders who really want to make a difference. There are also a lot of innovative travel tech startups that you can establish new partnerships with. Being able to say that we have been put through our paces, not just by our investors, but also by the judges to get that recognition, means the world to us .”

As the winner, they receive:

• A free stand at TravelTech Show 2026   
• A start-up ticket to Phocuswright Conference Europe 2026 
• A speaking opportunity at TravelTech Show 2026 Start-up panel   
• Guidance and mentorship from the Judges   

This year’s TravelTech Show Trailblazer Awards judges were:

• Pete Comeau – Managing Director, Phocuswright
• Andreas Nau – Partner, Ennea Capital Partners 
• Joshua Ryan-Saha – Director, TravelTech for Scotland
• Gerry Samuels – CEO, Travel Capital

Commenting on the award, Andreas Nau, Partner at Ennea Capital Partners added, “Congratulations to the Acai team who demonstrated with their traction so far they are solving a clear need to streamline and improve customer contact operations. Kudos to all the finalists who are truly delivering the solutions that people across the industry need.”

As part of the rigorous judging process, each finalist was assessed based on the following criteria, all of which had to be evidenced.  

• Potential impact on the competitive environment
• How well the solution addresses the needs of the TravelTech Show audience to modernise the customer experience, deliver improved choice, be more sustainable, stay agile and cut costs
• How successfully it solves the problems it is designed to address

TravelTech Show returns to Excel London on 24 - 25 June 2026.