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.
Hilton names Moore CTO
Hilton has appointed Jeff Moore EVP and CTO to lead its global technology organization as the company expands its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies across guest services and hotel operations.
Moore previously served as VP of software engineering at Uber, where he oversaw a global team of 2,500 engineers supporting Uber Eats, Uber for Business and other products. He also held technology leadership roles at Amazon, including work focused on its fulfillment operations and the company’s device portfolio.
CitizenPlane revamps airline platform
CitizenPlane has rebuilt its cloud-based airline operating platform, introducing an API-first architecture and updated passenger booking, reservation management and check-in tools. The platform targets airlines carrying fewer than 10 million passengers annually.
The revamped system brings together CitizenPlane's Zenith passenger service system, Pulse revenue management software and its air distribution module on a shared passenger data layer. Airlines can adopt individual modules or the full platform, with AI-driven automation planned for 2027.
BEONx launches agentic RMS
BEONx has launched BEONx Spark, an AI-powered revenue management system (RMS) that uses agents to execute hotel pricing and commercial strategies within parameters set by revenue managers. The platform combines machine learning models with large language models to automate decisions across hotel portfolios.
The system allows hotels to optimize for revenue per available room (RevPAR) or net RevPAR after distribution costs, with additional profitability metrics planned. It also connects with other hotel systems through model context protocol (MCP) and lets users query the reasoning behind individual decisions using natural language.
Mews adds guest messaging, automation tools
Mews has launched guest messaging and automations features designed to help hotels manage guest communications and automate operational workflows.
The guest messaging feature consolidates conversations from SMS, WhatsApp, Booking.com, Expedia and the Mews guest portal into a single inbox linked to guest profiles and reservations. Mews AI can respond to routine inquiries using property-specific information. Automations lets hotel teams create no-code workflows for tasks such as room upgrades, personalized welcome messages and room checks. Mews said 47,000 automations ran during beta testing.
Robinhood taps Duffel for travel bookings
Robinhood has partnered with Duffel to integrate flight, hotel and car rental bookings into its banking app for Platinum and Gold cardholders. Duffel's platform provides access to more than 500 airlines, 1.6 million properties and car rentals in more than 200 countries.
The integration also supports travel rewards, including cash back on bookings, with Duffel handling servicing and customer support. Duffel said more than 90% of its partnerships are now with companies outside the travel industry, including Bilt and Rippling.
PriceLabs introduces AI revenue analyst
PriceLabs has introduced Athena, an AI revenue analyst that monitors short-term rental listings, identifies potential issues and revenue opportunities and recommends actions for property managers and hosts.
Built into the PriceLabs platform, Athena uses AI agents to run scheduled checks and analyze listing performance based on each user's goals and account data. Recommendations include supporting evidence and require user approval before changes are made. Athena is currently available in beta to PriceLabs customers.
RouteStack adds activities and vacation rentals
RouteStack.ai, a travel technology platform from Custom Travel Solutions, is expanding its inventory to include activities and vacation rentals alongside flights, hotels and car rentals.
The additions will allow developers to build AI-powered travel booking tools using a single MCP endpoint. RouteStack handles merchant-of-record responsibilities, payment compliance and payouts. The APIs are available for testing, with broader access planned for early in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Blastness launches hotel payment platform
Blastness has launched BlastnessPay, an integrated payment platform, supported by Adyen, that automates hotel payment processing from booking through reconciliation.
Integrated with the Blastness central reservation system and wider technology suite, the platform manages deposits, pre-authorizations, refunds, online travel agency virtual credit cards and other payment workflows across direct and indirect booking channels. It also supports on-property payments and integrates with property management systems including Oracle Hospitality Opera. BlastnessPay is already operating at hotels in Italy as the company expands into other European markets.
AltoVita appoints enterprise development VP
AltoVita has appointed Phil Leonard VP of enterprise client development. He will focus on building enterprise partnerships and supporting corporate accommodation programs across global mobility and business travel.
Leonard brings more than 25 years of experience in corporate housing, hospitality and real estate, including work with Fortune 1000 clients. He has held leadership roles in global sales and enterprise account management.
TrustYou launches conversational guest feedback analytics
TrustYou has launched Ask TrustYou, an AI-powered tool that allows hotel teams to analyze guest reviews using natural-language questions rather than dashboards and reports.
Integrated into the company's customer experience platform, the tool analyzes feedback across individual properties or hotel portfolios, identifies trends and potential causes of guest satisfaction issues and recommends actions. Users can ask follow-up questions to investigate findings, with answers supported by guest reviews and underlying data. Ask TrustYou is available worldwide across all TrustYou hotel plans, with a monthly allowance of free chats.
Scandinavian Airlines, Plan3
Scandinavian Airlines has entered into a three-year partnership with Plan3, a passenger disruption management platform developed by AviLabs, to improve how the airline supports travelers affected by flight disruptions.
Plan3 brings passenger recovery processes into a single platform, helping airline teams coordinate assistance and manage affected passengers at scale. The technology integrates with existing airline systems without requiring carriers to replace their core infrastructure.
Travala launches AI hotel booking agent
Travala has partnered with BNB Chain and Binance Pay to launch an AI travel agent that allows users to search and book hotels using a cryptocurrency wallet.
Available directly on Travala's website, the agent provides access to more than 2.2 million properties. Travelers can book by funding a BNB Smart Chain wallet with USDT, with Binance Pay handling payment settlement and BNB Chain providing the agent infrastructure. The service operates independently of Travala's existing MCP integration. Travala’s entire hotel inventory is now available to book via the agent, with plans to add flights in the future.
Microblink expands identity verification platform
Microblink is expanding its Identity Intelligence OS with biometric verification, AI-generated fraud detection and document processing capabilities as it develops technology to verify the identities and permissions behind AI agent transactions.
The release includes facial matching, liveness detection, tools to identify manipulated documents and images and analytics to track identity verification completion rates. The company is also developing its Know Your Actor framework to help businesses establish connections between verified individuals, authorized AI agents and the actions those agents perform. The expanded platform is expected to begin rolling out in Q4 2026.
Fighters Sports & Entertainment, Takanawa Travel
Fighters Sports & Entertainment, operator of Hokkaido Ballpark F Village in Japan, has made an undisclosed investment in Iceland-based Takanawa Travel and formed a business alliance with the company. Takanawa Travel operates TripToJapan.com, an AI-powered booking platform for visitors to Japan covering accommodation, rail passes, tours and activities. The partners plan to integrate F Village into travelers' itineraries at the planning stage, starting with a push to North American baseball fans through U.S. influencers.