The Austin CVB announced a partnership with IBM and WayBlazer at the new IBM Watson Headquarters in NYC yesterday. This state of the art cognitive computing application will be transformational in the travel industry. WayBlazer, an Austin-based company is led by Terry Jones, founding CEO of Travelocity and Kayak. This new tool, with the help of famed Jeopardy beater IBM Watson, will provide the Austin CVB with traveler insights that generate relevant, location-aware and bookable content that help incentivize and customize travel to Austin. The prototype phase is just being completed and will be rolling into a controlled active test by the end of this month with the objective to get it into production by the end of the year if not sooner.

"Austin has long been home to technology companies, start-ups and innovators, and with technology changing the way we travel, the Austin CVB is pleased to partner with Austin-based WayBlazer to bring this exciting travel tool to the marketplace," said Bob Lander, Austin CVB President & CEO. "This technology is a real competitive advantage for Austin, and the functionality and industry changing capabilities that WayBlazer delivers creates a trusted travel advisor for any traveler or even locals looking for something new."