Here's our roundup of the people, product and partner news from the global travel industry this week.
This roundup was created with the help of ChatGPT.
Mindtrip, New Orleans & Company
Mindtrip has partnered with New Orleans & Company to bring personalized, actionable, artificial intelligence (AI)-generated itineraries to the destination’s official website by integrating Mindtrip for Business.
Visitors can now use conversational AI on neworleans.com to plan custom trips, explore neighborhoods and get real-time updates on closures or construction. The tool integrates local content and business listings to generate optimized itineraries complete with photos, maps and distance estimates. The partnership aims to connect travelers with small businesses and cultural experiences throughout the city.
Mindtrip for Business also partners with tourism boards and DMOs including Visit California, Discover Puerto Rico and Brand USA.
Civitatis
Civitatis, a platform for booking Spanish-language tours and activities, has reported 44.68% growth in social media followers, now surpassing 1.5 million across platforms. Instagram saw 76% growth across markets, with Brazil leading, while TikTok emerged as the fastest-growing channel, fueled by Gen Z and millennial engagement.
The company’s social-first strategy includes short-form video, localized content, influencer campaigns and 360-degree activations. Looking ahead, the company expects TikTok Maps, AR integration and a return to long-form YouTube content to shape travel marketing.
Whimstay
Whimstay, a platform focused on last-minute vacation rentals, is now open to independent hosts. Previously limited to professional property managers, the platform now allows hosts to connect using their Airbnb profile, simplifying onboarding and expanding access to new inventory.
Whimstay has facilitated over 2 million nights booked and targets the industry’s vacancy gap, where more than 50% of rentals sit empty nightly. The company offers a 5% commission and no exclusivity requirements.
Business Travel Innovation Faceoff America
The Business Travel Show America, taking place October 15–16 in New York, will feature 12 startups and scale-ups in a faceoff battle.
This competition highlights emerging technologies transforming corporate travel, with each company pitching solutions in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), expense management, hotel booking and event planning.
The finalists are Altour (AI-powered communications), EmPath and Juno (traveler experience platforms), Engine (group planning with live hotel pricing), FareAudit (real-time fare auditing), Groupize and Nowadays (AI-driven event management), HRS (hotel platform), Roamr (cultural travel network), SeatCash (airfare prediction), Traxo (data insights) and Versa (automated expense receipts).
The faceoff, which is sponsored by American Express Global Business Travel, offers companies a platform to present to travel industry leaders and decision-makers. Winners will be chosen by both audience vote and a panel of travel tech experts.
Retailaer, Air Europa
Retailaer has launched the first phase of its integration with Air Europa, enabling travel agents to book flights, ancillaries and third-party services through Retailaer’s Offer and Order Management System.
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The rollout begins in Spain with selected partners, ahead of a planned global expansion. The platform supports technologies like PROS Group Sales Optimizer and International Air Transport Association Financial Gateway, offering flexibility beyond traditional systems. The partnership aims to enhance airline retailing by delivering a more personalized, efficient booking experience and advancing Air Europa’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) distribution strategy.
Duetto, The Hotels Network
Duetto has partnered with The Hotels Network, a Lighthouse company, to help hotels boost direct bookings and optimize marketing spend.
The integration connects Duetto’s Dynamic Rate Engine API with THN’s tools, enabling hotels to trigger personalized offers based on real-time occupancy data. The collaboration aims to improve booking conversion, enhance guest experience and make marketing efforts more efficient. The initiative reflects both companies’ commitment to breaking down data silos and delivering measurable results for hotel partners.
Sojern, Pubmatic
Sojern has partnered with PubMatic to offer curated, privacy-compliant programmatic advertising that leverages Sojern’s real-time travel data and PubMatic’s premium inventory. The collaboration is meant to allow advertisers to build more targeted, vertical-specific campaigns by combining first-party data, multi-ID travel segments and curated supply paths.
The integration with PubMatic’s Connect platform allows real-time optimization and precise targeting. The partnership aims to improve performance and transparency for advertisers while maintaining brand safety and user privacy.
Reconfirm.ai offers 15-day free trial
Reconfirm.ai, an AI-powered tool for booking and renewal confirmations, is now offering a 15-day free trial to encourage adoption among travel and membership-based businesses in an effort to remove barriers to AI.
The platform automates high-volume tasks such as hotel booking reconfirmations and membership renewals using advanced voice AI, reducing manual work while maintaining a human-like experience. Designed to operate 24/7, Reconfirm.ai helps online travel agencies, loyalty programs and travel brands streamline operations, minimize errors and lower costs. The free trial provides full access to the platform’s dashboard, allowing users to upload data, customize scripts and monitor confirmations in real time.
Curacity expands to cruise industry
Curacity, a demand creation platform for luxury and lifestyle travel brands, has expanded its offering to serve the cruise industry. The update introduces a “Sailings” section in its Content Hub, allowing cruise lines to promote itineraries through media partners such as AFAR, Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure.
Over 12 months of beta testing, Curacity drove $29 million in incremental revenue for cruise customers, 2,600 bookings and distributed 24 million targeted emails, the company said. The platform aims to help cruise brands reach affluent, opt-in travelers with measurable return on investment (ROI).
Techspian launches CBT Suite
Techspian, a Pune, India-based travel technology firm, has launched CBT Suite, an AI-native platform built specifically for Travel Management Companies.
With a $3 million investment to enhance its AI capabilities, CBT Suite aims to modernize the $1.4 trillion corporate travel sector by eliminating manual processes and fragmented systems. Features include unified global inventory access, AI-powered reconciliation and fraud detection, policy enforcement tools and predictive analytics. Tested with three enterprise clients for a year, the platform has delivered 99.8% policy compliance, a 23% drop in transaction costs and a 45% increase in customer satisfaction, the company said.
Hospitable’s security deposit feature
Hospitable has introduced a fully automated security deposit feature that combines ID verification, deposit collection and chargeback protection in one built-in workflow. Designed to run in the background, the feature automates guest communication, holds check-in instructions until verification is complete and resolves most charge requests within 24 hours.
The company said the goal is to make deposits easy to implement and enforce, helping hosts avoid damage-related losses without added effort. The feature doesn’t require third-party tools and is included on the platform with a 2% fee.
CWT’s AI analyst
CWT has introduced TIM (Trends, Insights, and Metrics), an AI analyst that allows users to explore travel data through natural conversation. Building on earlier AI enhancements to its Analytics platform, TIM supports dynamic, follow-up queries, making it easier to uncover trends, outliers and ROI insights without specialized skills. The tool is designed to help teams across departments access and act on travel data independently.
Available globally at no extra cost, TIM reflects CWT’s push to make travel management more intuitive, data-driven and accessible to a wider range of users.
Naumi Hotels, Cendyn
Naumi Hotels has teamed up with hotel tech firm Cendyn to upgrade its digital presence as it prepares to expand internationally. The Singapore-based boutique group is launching a new website and brand campaign to support its growth beyond its current seven properties in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.
Cendyn’s platform will allow Naumi to create a more personalized, data-driven online experience and make website updates across properties more efficiently. The partnership is aimed at boosting direct bookings and improving digital operations ahead of the Naumi Hotels’ 18th anniversary in September.
Visit Lauderdale, Tripadvisor’s accessible travel hub
Visit Lauderdale and Tripadvisor have launched an accessible travel hub on Tripadvisor.com, offering a centralized platform to support travelers with disabilities. Developed with agency partner Spark, the hub provides curated content, peer reviews and planning tools for a range of accessibility needs, including mobility devices and sensory sensitivities.
The initiative is designed to go beyond compliance, offering real-world insights and scalable solutions the wider travel industry can adopt. The hub will be promoted through fall 2025.
Finnair, TPConnects Technologies' upgrade
Finnair and travel technology provider TPConnects Technologies have integrated NDC version 21.3 into the Finnair Agency Sales Tool (FAST), powered by TPConnects’ Astra platform. This upgrade enhances FAST with a seamless interface, streamlined agency onboarding, full order management, and advanced data reporting. The NDC 21.3 integration enables access to Finnair’s complete suite of NDC products in a browser-based environment.
Launched in 2022, FAST now sets a foundation for future airline retailing innovations, offering backward compatibility and sustained scalability for agencies and Finnair’s distribution strategy.