Business travel Daily · Wednesday, 12 August 2026
TRAVELVISTA
Daily Business Travel Briefing: August 12, 2026
Over the past 24 hours, several key developments have emerged in business travel: a guide to credible SAF procurement was launched, an earthquake in Colombia closed an airport, volcanic activity in Italy is affecting flights, and strike risks in Belgium are elevated. Meanwhile, hotel technology and payments are undergoing major shifts, including Mews securing an e-money license, Rain acquiring Ansa to expand stored-value wallets, and new methodologies for expense control and financial shared services.
Analysis
This briefing covers multiple critical themes. On sustainability, BCD Travel and SQUAKE launched a corporate guide to credible SAF action, providing a framework for evaluating evidence, documentation, and chain-of-custody, helping avoid greenwashing and advancing industry sustainability. On travel risk, the earthquake in Colombia closed Pereira's airport, Mount Etna's eruption is affecting flights in Italy, and national strikes in Belgium may disrupt travel, directly impacting business itineraries; companies must monitor and adjust plans. In hotel technology, Mews secured the first e-money license for a hospitality operating system in the EEA, signaling a shift toward regulated financial infrastructure; PriceLabs highlighted that siloed revenue management is leaking profit, recommending integrated systems and AI. In payments and expense control, Rain's acquisition of Ansa extends stored-value wallets to multi-merchant networks, potentially transforming corporate payments; Maycur published guides on expense control vendor selection and financial shared services construction, offering structured methodologies. Additionally, Airbnb's partnership with Tripadvisor to scale experiences may reshape OTA and experiences distribution.
Overall, the business travel industry is undergoing multiple transformations: sustainability is a core agenda, travel risks require continuous monitoring, and hotel technology and payments are accelerating integration and innovation. Companies should ensure compliance in SAF procurement, strengthen risk management, and evaluate emerging technologies' impact on travel and payment processes. Looking ahead, as e-money licenses and stored-value wallets proliferate, hotel and payment infrastructure will become more integrated, and enterprises should adapt proactively.
Industry updates
BCD Travel and SQUAKE Launch Corporate Guide to Credible SAF Action
BCD Travel and SQUAKE co-hosted a webinar providing a practical framework for corporate travel programs on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), covering understanding SAF, evaluating credibility (evidence, documentation, chain-of-custody), and communicating progress safely. Inga Bösl of Siemens Switzerland shared real-world experience implementing SAF in corporate travel.
Colombia travel advice: inauguration and regional restrictions
The UK FCDO updated Colombia travel advice, noting the presidential inauguration on 7 August in Cali, with increased security and expected demonstrations. It also advises against all but essential travel to areas including the Venezuela border and Pacific coast.
Italy travel advice update: wildfire risk and hiking safety tips
The UK FCDO updated its travel advice for Italy, highlighting a high risk of wildfires in summer and adding information on hiking and adventure sports. Travellers are advised to check the Safety and security page and obtain appropriate travel insurance covering their itinerary and emergencies.
Belgium national strikes cause ongoing disruption; monitor delays
The UK FCDO updated its Belgium travel advice, noting ongoing national strike action causing disruption, with several general strikes in recent months. Strikes may be announced at short notice; travellers are advised to monitor local news, check with providers for delays and closures, and verify updates with travel operators.
Mews Secures First E-Money License for a Hospitality Operating System in the EEA
De Nederlandsche Bank granted Mews Financial Services B.V. an Electronic Money Institution license, making Mews the first hospitality operating system in the EEA to hold regulated e-money status. The license allows Mews to natively process payments, safeguard guest funds, and build embedded financial products, unifying operational and financial ledgers with in-house risk and compliance. In 2025, Mews processed $19.7 billion in hotel transaction value.
Rain Acquires Ansa to Expand Stored-Value Wallets Beyond Single Merchants
Fintech company Rain acquired Ansa, a provider of branded stored-value wallets and closed-loop payment infrastructure. Ansa founder Sophia Goldberg joins Rain as Head of Payments. The acquisition enables Rain to extend stored balances beyond single merchants, accepted on Visa and Mastercard rails at participating businesses, and plans to support agentic payments.
2026 Expense Control Vendors: Four Solution Types and Selection Guide for Mid-to-Large Enterprises
Maycur published an industry guide outlining four main types of expense control solutions: professional enterprise-level platforms, travel and payment-focused, ERP-extended, and OA-collaboration. It proposes seven selection dimensions including expense closure, budget execution, AI auditing, corporate payments, complex organizations, system integration, and globalization, along with a POC checklist. Maycur positions its product for mid-to-large groups, emphasizing integration with heterogeneous systems like ERP.
2026 Financial Shared Services Center Construction: Seven-Step Method
Maycur published a guide for building financial shared services centers, proposing a seven-step method: clarify strategic positioning, assess current state, establish standards and exception mechanisms, restructure organization and roles, build end-to-end digital platforms, govern master data and metrics, enable AI in reviewable scenarios, and continuously optimize with operational metrics. The article emphasizes synchronized design of strategy, processes, organization, data, and technology, and provides POC and acceptance checklists.
Siloed Revenue Manager Model Leaking Profit for Modern Hospitality Brands
Thibault Masson, Head of Product Marketing at PriceLabs, argues that the traditional siloed revenue management model is no longer suitable for scaled hotel and short-term rental operations. Revenue decisions are distributed across marketing, operations, finance, and other departments, causing data misalignment, slow response, and profit leakage. The article suggests integrating revenue management systems across the business and using AI to expand analytical capacity and make revenue insights accessible to more teams.
Airbnb partners with Tripadvisor to scale Experiences
Airbnb has partnered with Tripadvisor Group to bring a selection of Tripadvisor experiences to the Airbnb platform, with certain tours and activities bookable later this year. The move aligns with Airbnb's strategy to scale Experiences, as CEO Brian Chesky noted on the Q2 earnings call that they added 1,000 new experiences, increasing supply by nearly 80% year over year.
Toast, Square Expand Google Partnerships to Bring Agentic AI Ordering to Ask Maps via Universal Com…
Square and Toast expanded their integrations with Google, bringing US restaurant operators into Ask Maps, Google Maps' conversational AI interface. Built on the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), diners can discover, customize, and complete orders via natural language prompts while operators maintain control over menus, pricing, and first-party guest relationships. Orders flow directly into operators' workflows, bypassing third-party commissions.
PREHOST Releases 7-Point Web Infrastructure Resilience Checklist for Hospitality Tech Leads
PREHOST released a Hotel Website Infrastructure Resilience Checklist, based on Google CrUX data from 17 million websites, to help independent hotel and PMC tech leads evaluate web hosting performance, backup protocols, and vendor SLAs. The checklist covers seven areas including real-world server responsiveness, security edge, disaster recovery, SLAs and redundancy, and vendor transparency.