Technology innovation never ends, and that’s just the way Softvoyage likes it. Softvoyage’s Vice-President of Sales & Marketing, Dan Langevin, tells us what’s new with Softvoyage – and why tour operators need a strong tech company partner – in this edition of Take 5.

1. What’s the biggest challenge facing Softvoyage today?

“Very good question. In my opinion our biggest challenge is keeping up with technology innovation. To give you an example, let’s say we develop enhancements to our hotel product and we spent six months with four or five developers creating changes and upgrading our hotel platform. By the time we are live and the upgrades have been deployed to our customers, we are already starting the upgrade phase for the next tech wave of what is better, faster, more powerful and available on any device. It’s a cycle that never ends but we are OK with it. This is what we do. The only thing we do.”

2. What would you say to tour operators and retailers wanting to create their technology

“Other than good luck? Be prepared to write a lot of cheques. Many cheques. Development never ends and once you have done the initial development, be prepared for Phase 2, and then Phase 3, and on and on. We see it all the time with companies leaving significant investment behind after realizing that they just cannot keep up with new technology and they get left behind. Let the tech companies do their job for you. It will be much cheaper and more efficient in the long run.”

3. We hear that Softvoyage is acquiring a company in South America. Can you tell us more?

“Happy to discuss. Yes, we did acquire a company based in Argentina with solid travel technology, a very impressive list of customers as well as a very talented team. We feel the South American travel e-commerce market is in its infancy but growing very rapidly for the past few years. Along with the team in Argentina, we are well positioned to tackle the opportunities ahead.

4. What is your favourite latest development?

“There are new developments every day that most of the time go unnoticed. These changes don’t change the day-to-day life of a travel agent but are necessary in this day and age. For example, development on the network for better security, faster response time, making sure that all systems are up and running, changes to interfaces, adding new suppliers and on and on. Proving my point in question # 1, it never ends.”

5. In a few words, what keeps you up at night?

“Impossible to tackle in a few words!”

For more details see softvoyage.com.