Here's our roundup of the people, product and partner news from the global travel industry this week.
This roundup was created with the assistance of Claude.
HTS, WestJet
Hopper
Technology Solutions (HTS) has launched its Cancel For Any Reason ancillary product on
WestJet's website and app.
The product
lets travelers cancel flights up to 24 hours before departure and receive 80%
or 100% of their trip cost refunded to the original payment method. Available
on Econo and EconoFlex fares at the time of booking, Cancel For Any Reason is
designed to reduce friction in travel planning and drive ancillary revenue for
airlines.
Nezasa
expands commercial team
Nezasa has expanded its commercial team
with two senior hires to support growing demand for its TripBuilder platform.
Nils Proschek joins as sales director for the DACH region, bringing more than 20
years of B2B and B2C travel experience across global distribution systems,
travel management companies and the bedbank sector.
Christopher
Matzke joins as account executive for airlines, with a background in key
account management and airline sales. Both appointments are aimed at
accelerating Nezasa's go-to-market capabilities.
TUI Group, Omio
TUI Group has partnered with Omio to integrate ground transportation
into TUI's booking platform.
Live since
April 2026, the integration gives TUI customers access to Omio's inventory of trains,
buses and ferries as a post-booking ancillary, enabling end-to-end trip
planning within TUI's ecosystem. Through the white-label solution, Omio will handle functions including localized payments, ticketing management and multi-language support.
Expedia
Group, DerbySoft
Expedia
Group has launched a product management API, currently in pilot with
connectivity provider DerbySoft.
Built on
GraphQL, the API lets hotels manage rooms, rate plans, fees and cancellation
policies from their own systems via a single connection, replacing fragmented
manual workflows. DerbySoft is among the first partners testing the capability,
enabling shared hotel clients to update inventory and rates in real time
without additional manual steps.
Fareportal,
Sabre
Fareportal has expanded its long-term
partnership with Sabre, deepening collaboration across distribution, analytics and
artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Under the
agreement, Fareportal will continue using Sabre's AI-native technology across
its CheapOair and OneTravel brands to refine search and
improve merchandising, while also integrating Sabre's New Distribution
Capability technology. The deal supports Fareportal's broader strategy to
deploy agentic AI for end-to-end shopping experiences.
HotelREZ
appoints VP of platform strategy
HotelREZ
Hotels & Resorts has appointed Gary Torres as VP of platform strategy.
Torres’
appointment comes with a focus on connectivity standards and the continued
development of REZswitch, the company's two-way API linking property management
systems and its central reservation system. He brings more than 20 years of
travel and hospitality technology experience, including senior roles at Pegasus
Solutions and Duetto.
European
Travel Commission meeting
European Travel Commission has re-elected Miguel Sanz, director general of Turespaña, as
president and chosen Arnar Már Ólafsson, director general of the Icelandic
Tourist Board, as VP. ETC also
added four associate members: Booking.com, Feratel, GetYourGuide and Skyscanner.
PingPong,
Visa
PingPong has launched a card to account payment solution developed in partnership with Visa, enabling businesses to pay
supplier invoices via commercial credit card even when suppliers don't accept
card payments.
Suppliers
receive funds as a standard bank transfer within two days, with no onboarding
required. PingPong is one of three foundational providers selected by Visa for
its business payment solution provider program. The solution supports payments
across 170-plus countries and 25-plus currencies, with deployment via web
portal or API.
Conferma partners with Trip.Biz
Conferma has partnered with Trip.Biz to integrate virtual card payment technology into the Trip.Biz ONE business travel platform.
The partnership is aimed at simplifying hotel payments for corporate travelers while improving spend visibility, reconciliation and policy compliance for travel managers and finance teams. The initial rollout focuses on hotel payments, with broader global expansion planned.
Southwest selects CarTrawler platform
Southwest Airlines has selected CarTrawler to power car rental bookings across its digital channels.
Under the partnership, Southwest will replace its in-house car rental platform with CarTrawler’s Connect Platform, giving travelers access to a broader range of rental options and allowing Rapid Rewards members to earn points on bookings. The rollout is expected to support ancillary revenue growth while improving merchandising and conversion across Southwest’s booking experience.
Ireckonu expands leadership team
Ireckonu has appointed three VPs to support international growth: Rik van Leeuwen as VP of customer operations, Çağri Kasapoğlu as VP of customer engineering and Lauranne Schellekens as VP of human resources.
The Amsterdam-based middleware and customer data platform provider serves hotel brands including Mandarin Oriental, Montage International and Althoff Hotels. The hires follow Ireckonu's expansion into Asia Pacific with a Singapore office and a growing portfolio of global hotel partners.
Mews product launches, SiteMinder partnership
Mews has introduced a series of product launches spanning revenue management, distribution, guest messaging, automations and accounts receivable as part of its new operating system for hotels.
The launches include a new revenue management system, automated guest messaging tools, workflow automations and a financial management layer designed to bring hotel operations into a single platform. Mews said the updates are aimed at reducing reliance on disconnected hotel technology systems and streamlining workflows across pricing, booking, guest communication and payments.
Separately, Mews also announced a partnership with SiteMinder to embed SiteMinder’s distribution capabilities directly into the Mews platform. The companies said the integration will allow hotels to manage rates, inventory and distribution through a single interface connected to more than 400 online travel agencies.