Skip to content
中文Subscribe

#OTA / TMC

Today0items
May 12Tue
  1. PhocusWire All News

    TikTok formalizes in-app travel bookings with Booking.com, Expedia, Trip.com among partners

    TikTok formally announced TikTok GO, allowing U.S. users to discover and book lodging and experiences through in-app search, video, and location pages. Partners include Booking.com, Expedia, Trip.com, Viator, GetYourGuide, and Tiqets. TikTok GO is available to 200 million U.S. users, with users 18 and older able to complete bookings. Partners set their own pricing, and creators can connect content to bookings and earn commissions. TikTok tested accommodation booking with Booking.com last year.

  2. Perk Press Releases

    Perk Partners with CLEAR to Offer Business Travelers Faster Airport Access in the US

    Perk, a travel and spend management platform, announced an industry-first partnership with CLEAR, offering customers preferred pricing on CLEAR+, CLEAR Concierge, and TSA PreCheck. CLEAR+ members can speed through security at over 150 lanes across 60 US airports. Perk's 2025 report found 89% of business travelers were affected by disruptions, and 25% believed they missed new business due to disruptions.

May 11Mon
  1. PhocusWire All News

    Expedia Group combines B2B and supply organizations under Alfonso Paredes

    Expedia Group announced it is combining its B2B and global supply organizations under Alfonso Paredes, who becomes President of B2B and Chief Commercial Officer, adding oversight of global supply. The move aims to align supply and partner distribution more closely as it expands B2B beyond wholesale. In Q1, B2B revenue grew 25% year-over-year to $1.2 billion, with B2B bookings up 22%. Greg Schulze will leave after a transition period.

  2. PhocusWire All News

    Startup Voyagier targets luxury travel with AI-powered trip planning and booking

    Startup Voyagier launched an AI-powered luxury travel platform combining AI trip planning, community discovery, embedded luxury travel advisors, and booking infrastructure. Founded in 2025, it publicly launched in March 2026. Its proprietary AI agent VIA uses MCP protocol to enable AI agents like ChatGPT and Claude to execute real bookings via API. Voyagier has integrated with Sabre Mosaic GDS for real-time flight and hotel inventory and uses Stripe for payments. Revenue comes from travel design fees, commission splits, and property placement.

May 8Fri
  1. PhocusWire All News

    This Week's Travel Tech Briefs: Airbnb, Agoda, and More

    This week's travel tech briefs cover partnerships and personnel moves: Airbnb and Delta expand partnership for miles; Ripe integrates with GuideGeek for real-time lodging data; BizTrip AI appoints head of product strategy; Casago partners with Roam for flexible cancellations; Homhero appoints CTO; Key Data CEO retires; Duetto promotes chief sales officer; Visiting Media partners with UpMail; Not In The Guide Books secures investment; Agoda partners with Macao Tourism; TravelX appoints APAC director; Porter Airlines partners with Hopper for delay assistance.

  2. PhocusWire All News

    Expedia Group Hits Record Q1 Profitability Amid AI Overhaul

    Expedia Group reported its highest Q1 profitability in history, driven by an AI-focused overhaul. Adjusted EBITDA rose 83% year-over-year to $542 million, gross bookings reached $35.5 billion (up 13%), and revenue totaled $3.4 billion (up 15%). AI improved personalization, conversion, and operational efficiency. B2B revenue grew 25% to $1.2 billion. The company also announced a partnership with Uber to distribute hotel inventory.

May 7Thu
  1. PhocusWire All News

    MSC Cruises Adds AI Concierge to Mobile App

    MSC Cruises has launched an AI-powered concierge called MSC Concierge in its MSC for Me app, available 24/7 in over 90 languages. It can answer questions, offer entertainment recommendations, and manage bookings. The assistant is connected to guest accounts for personalization and accessible without a paid internet plan. During a pilot, over 170,000 guests exchanged more than 1 million messages, with a 93% satisfaction score.

May 6Wed
  1. PhocusWire All News

    Journey Acquires Experiences Platform Epicurate

    Hospitality loyalty startup Journey has acquired Epicurate to add experience packaging to its platform. Boutique hotels and short-term rental operators can sell experiences like private dining, wellness, and excursions through the same system, and travelers can book via the Journey app and earn rewards. Epicurate's founder joins Journey as head of dining and experiences. Journey also expanded its seed round to $15 million.

  2. PhocusWire All News

    Despegar CEO on AI Investment and Expansion Plans

    New Despegar CEO Gonzalo Estebarena shared that the company is investing $100 million annually for three years in AI development and plans to triple in size. As part of Prosus, Despegar will leverage the Prosus ecosystem, focus on Brazil expansion, and develop a 'large commerce model' to predict customer actions.

May 5Tue
May 4Mon
  2. Amex GBT Press Room

    Long Lake to Acquire Amex GBT for $6.3 Billion

    American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) has announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by Long Lake Management for $9.50 per share in cash, valuing the company at approximately $6.3 billion. The transaction is supported by investors including General Catalyst and Alpha Wave, and is expected to close in the second half of 2026. Amex GBT will become a private company, and the American Express brand licensing agreement will remain in place.

  3. Amex GBT Press Room

    Amex GBT Reports Strong Q1 2026 Financial Results

    American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) reported strong Q1 2026 financial results, with revenue up 35% year-over-year to $840 million and adjusted EBITDA of $150 million. The company highlighted total new wins value of $3.4 billion and a 96% customer retention rate, and launched AI-powered Complete and next-gen Egencia. Due to the announced acquisition by Long Lake, the company has suspended earnings calls and financial guidance.

May 1Fri
  1. PhocusWire All News

    PhocusWire's travel tech news briefs: Kayak, Roomex, Fareportal and more

    This week's travel tech news briefs cover multiple partnerships and product launches: Klook partners with Korail for real-time rail booking in South Korea; Spotnana integrates with Air Canada via NDC, enabling Flight Pass credits; Wizz Air teams with Hopper for disruption assistance; Roomex launches Best Rates Display comparison tool; 12Go launches ChatGPT app; Kayak introduces Ask AI; Fareportal launches Enterprise Solutions; Duffel launches Duffel Cars; WEX partners with Extend for virtual cards in Concur Invoice.

Apr 30Thu
  1. PhocusWire All News

    Uber adds hotels, leans on loyalty to drive bookings

    Uber has expanded into hotel bookings via a partnership with Expedia Group, offering over 700,000 hotels globally. Uber One members receive at least 20% discounts and 10% back in Uber Credits. Uber also introduced AI-powered voice booking, travel recommendations, and plans to add vacation rentals via Vrbo later this year. This move is part of Uber's super app strategy.

Apr 29Wed
  1. PhocusWire All News

    Hilton to bring app to more AI platforms

    Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta said the company plans to open its app to more large language models, including Gemini and OpenAI, in the coming weeks. Despite rapid AI developments, he doesn't see the distribution landscape changing significantly anytime soon. Hilton will use AI to become more efficient and continue building direct business, which already accounts for over 80% of its business.

  2. PhocusWire All News

    Booking Holdings' play to keep travelers in ecosystem with AI

    Booking Holdings is positioning its AI efforts as a moat against general AI models, with early testing showing lifts in conversion and reduced customer service interactions. CEO Glenn Fogel shared progress on AI initiatives across Priceline's Penny, Booking.com's search and self-service, and Agoda's efficiency. The company reported strong Q1 results, though Middle East conflict impacted growth.

  3. Alibaba Group News

    Alibaba Group to Announce March Quarter 2026 and Full Fiscal Year 2026 Results on May 13, 2026

    Alibaba Group announced it will report unaudited financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, before the U.S. market opens on May 13, 2026, and will hold a conference call at 7:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (7:30 p.m. Hong Kong Time) the same day. Participants must pre-register and will receive dial-in numbers, a passcode and a unique PIN. A live webcast will be available, with a replay accessible for one week from the conference date.

Apr 28Tue
  1. PhocusWire All News

    AirAsia MOVE CEO on Gen Z travelers, trust and super apps

    AirAsia MOVE CEO Nadia Omer spoke at Travel Tech Thursdays Kuala Lumpur, stating that travel desire in Southeast Asia is strong but the product hasn't caught up. She noted Gen Z is more experience-oriented, and the industry needs creative product thinking to convert aspiration into booking. She believes AI agents can't access social content like TikTok, and organic content is key to building trust.

  2. Booking Holdings IR News

    Booking Holdings Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results

    Booking Holdings reported first quarter 2026 results: room nights grew 6% year-over-year, gross bookings increased 15% (8% on a constant currency basis), and revenue grew 16% (10% constant currency). Net income rose 225% and adjusted EBITDA grew 19%. The Middle East conflict negatively impacted room night growth by approximately 2 percentage points. The company effected a 25-for-1 stock split on April 2.

Apr 27Mon
  2. Ctrip Corporate Travel Thinktank News

    Ctrip Corporate Travel Launches AI Ecosystem and White Paper

    Ctrip Corporate Travel held its first Global Business Travel Partner Conference in Shanghai, unveiling its 'Ctrip Corporate Travel AI Ecosystem' and the '2025-2026 Business Travel Management Market White Paper'. The AI ecosystem covers the entire travel process with 7 AI agents, reducing booking time to 1-2 minutes. The white paper shows Chinese enterprises' outbound business travel has grown over 30% for three consecutive years, with destinations shifting to Belt and Road countries, and Vietnam orders up 100% year-over-year.

Apr 24Fri
  1. PhocusWire All News

    AI in Short-Term Rentals: Costs, Flops and Hits

    At the Short Stay Summit in London, Casago CEO Steve Schwab and Forge Holiday Group CEO Graham Donoghue discussed the costs and value of AI in the short-term rental industry. Forge spends $30,000-$50,000 monthly on Anthropic tokens and is considering a token optimizer role. Schwab predicts a 'token economy' and warns of rising compute costs. Despite expenses, both see value: Forge's Vivid Stay tool converts static images to video in 25 minutes, previously costing $2,000-$3,000. They also shared failures, including conversational search not gaining traction and employee resistance to change.

  2. JTB Group Newsroom

    JTB Announces Change of President

    JTB Corp. announced that AOMI Tomo, current Managing Executive Officer, will become President and CEO effective June 30, 2026. Current President YAMAKITA Eijiro will become Chairperson, and current Chairman TAKAHASHI Hiroyuki will become Advisor. Aomi previously led JTB Americas, strengthening MICE and business travel through M&A.

Apr 23Thu
  1. PhocusWire All News

    eDreams Introduces AI Trip Planner and ChatGPT App

    eDreams ODIGEO announced AI updates including a proprietary AI trip planner and a ChatGPT app. The planner, integrated into mobile apps, uses natural language in English to generate day-by-day itineraries and allows booking directly. The ChatGPT app enables conversational flight search, redirecting users to eDreams for purchase. Additionally, the company scaled its agentic voice AI to handle 90% of inquiries in five languages, reducing transfers by 33% and improving resolution velocity by 15%.

Apr 22Wed
  1. PhocusWire All News

    Veeve Adds 200 Onefinestay Homes in London and Paris

    Short-term rental management company Veeve (part of UnderTheDoormat Group) has taken over management of 200 high-end homes from Onefinestay in London and Paris, expecting additional revenues of ~£2.3 million annually. Onefinestay will support the transition for continuity. CEO Merilee Karr says this reinforces Veeve's position in the high-end market. The move follows the successful onboarding of over 700 properties during the UnderTheDoormat-Veeve merger. Onefinestay plans to expand in Europe, the Caribbean, and the US.

Apr 21Tue
  1. PhocusWire All News

    Intrepid Travel Acquires Altaï Group to Expand in France and Americas

    Intrepid Travel has acquired French adventure travel company Altaï Group, its largest acquisition to date. Altaï, headquartered in Lyon, operates brands including Atalante, Altaï Travel, and uses a vertically integrated model. The deal expands Intrepid's presence in France, making it the fourth-largest market, and strengthens operations in Chile and Canada, including a Montreal base. It aims to engage French-speaking travelers in Quebec and drive inbound demand to Canada, Peru, and Chile. This follows Intrepid's purchase of Dutch operator Sawadee Reizen.

  3. PhocusWire All News

    Fliggy launches FlyAI developer platform for AI-powered travel applications

    Fliggy, part of Alibaba Group, has launched FlyAI, a developer platform connecting real-time inventory for building and commercializing AI travel applications. It offers a centralized development environment, experience module, and affiliate program, with a limited-time offer of 5,000 free API calls. This aims to move travel AI from concept to commercial deployment.

Apr 20Mon
  1. Ctrip Corporate Travel Thinktank News

    Ctrip Corporate Travel Launches AI Open Platform to Build Business Travel AI Ecosystem

    Ctrip Corporate Travel officially launched its AI Open Platform, modularizing and standardizing AI capabilities through an MCP open system for customers and partners. The platform offers three-tier open architecture (standard, advanced, custom) covering information queries, resource recommendations, itinerary planning. Claimed improvements: booking efficiency +85%, compliance accuracy 90%, cost reduction 15%.

Apr 18Sat
Apr 17Fri
  1. PhocusWire All News

    PhocusWire's travel tech news briefs: Omio, Mews, Spotnana and more...

    This week's travel tech briefs cover: Amex GBT enhances Egencia with AI and Concur Expense integration; Mews launches business intelligence tool; Spotnana integrates with Premier Inn; Atriis appoints sales director; Curator Hotels partners with EHVA; Klarna partners with Aven Hospitality; FreedomPay and Agilysys expand partnership; BYRDLI launches Utah Unfolded; Omio launches ChatGPT app; HBX Group launches Agent Radar; RMS integrates GoCardless; Immfly and Volotea test LEO connectivity; ARC, Navan, and others join NDC FastTrack.

Apr 13Mon
  1. PhocusWire All News

    Startup Stage: Roameo targets group travel planning with swipe-to-match interface

    Hong Kong-based startup Roameo offers an AI-powered travel planning platform with a 'swipe-to-match' interface, integrating discovery, group coordination, and itinerary building. The platform gamifies group planning and captures high-intent behavioral insights for partners. Monetization includes B2C and B2B models: transaction revenue, freemium, and enterprise SaaS.

Apr 10Fri
  1. PhocusWire All News

    Almosafer adds AI travel planning with ChatGPT app

    Saudi Arabia-based Almosafer has launched a ChatGPT app offering AI-powered conversational travel planning. Travelers can access the OTA's inventory of over 1.5 million hotels, with the app supporting Arabic and English, allowing users to search properties, receive personalized recommendations, and build itineraries. The CEO says the move aims to simplify travel through innovation.

  2. PhocusWire All News

    PhocusWire's travel tech news briefs: Nuitée, Navan, Expedia Group and more...

    This week's travel tech news includes: Loveholidays names Sarah Helppi VP of land; eDreams expands Prime in South Africa; Key Data appoints Dustin Downing as president; Lumo partners with BizTrip AI; Smartvel launches TravelAble; Nuitée partners with Globe Thrivers; Track completes Expedia Group integration; Dida partners with Tsinghua x-lab; Traveloris AI booking engine goes live; Navan launches audit engine; TProfile partners with Nomupay; HI USA selects Cloudbeds; NextTrip partners with QSTAK; Repayd appoints Erik Crouch.

Apr 9Thu
  1. PhocusWire All News

    Grab launches AI-powered travel tools

    Grab launched 13 AI experiences at its annual product showcase GrabX, with four focused on travel. These include 'Personalized Travel Experience,' hotel booking service GrabStays in partnership with Nuitée, culinary guide 'Discovered by Grab,' and GrabPay for Travel allowing payments with home-issued cards. Grab also partnered with WeRide to bring AV taxis to Singapore.

Apr 8Wed
  2. Almosafer Corporate News

    Almosafer Becomes Saudi Arabia's First ChatGPT-Integrated Travel App

    Almosafer, Saudi Arabia's leading travel company, has launched on the ChatGPT platform, becoming the first Saudi app to offer consumer services through OpenAI's global AI interface. Users can access over 1.5 million hotels via Arabic or English dialogue, receive personalized recommendations, and build multi-city itineraries. This move transforms travel planning from manual search to natural conversation, supporting Saudi Vision 2030's digital transformation.