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.
TravelAI appoints Dunaeva as board director
TravelAI has appointed Eugenia Dunaeva as an independent board director. She
will advise on artificial intelligence (AI) strategy and governance, including for Traveler.md, the
company's memory portal.
Dunaeva spent 11 years at Expedia Group and has led partnerships, adtech and
new product development at Meta. She is a partner at DVC, a San Francisco AI
and machine learning venture fund. The appointment follows TravelAI's launch of Traveler.md and its relaunch of
the acquired Sonder brand as an accommodation guide.
Superlogic acquires Entravel's crypto travel business
Superlogic Technologies, parent of travel rewards platform Bookit, has
acquired Entravel Group's white-label crypto travel business and Spree, which
builds tokenized loyalty technology on stablecoin rails. Terms were not
disclosed.
The Entravel deal adds 27 white-label partners, including Kraken, MetaMask
and EtherFi. Spree powers rewards for Animoca Brands, which becomes a
Superlogic investor as part of the deal. Animoca COO Minh Do joins Superlogic's
advisory board. Bookit plans to sell the combined travel booking and rewards technology to
financial institutions and crypto companies.
Traveltek promotes Sergeant
Traveltek has appointed chief commercial officer Cressida Sergeant as CEO,
effective Oct. 1. She succeeds Mal Barritt, who led the cruise technology
company for more than seven years and will stay on as an adviser until the end
of November.
Sergeant joined Traveltek eight years ago and led its commercial growth,
particularly in North America. Barritt oversaw the company's sale to Juniper Travel Group in October 2024.
Sergeant plans to focus on deeper customer and supplier connectivity and closer
ties with the wider Juniper business.
Odysseus Solutions, Scenic Luxury Cruises
Cruise booking technology provider Odysseus Solutions has added Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours and Emerald Cruises & Tours to its platform. Travel advisors using Odysseus can now search, compare and book itineraries from both Scenic Group brands.
Scenic operates river ships and ocean expedition yachts, including in the polar regions, plus escorted land tours in more than 100 countries. Emerald offers river cruises, small-ship ocean voyages and land tours across Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.
BCD Travel adds emissions data to Tripsource
BCD Travel has built emissions data and carbon fees into Tripsource, its
corporate travel platform. Travelers, arrangers and agents can view carbon
dioxide estimates for flights and sustainability guidance for hotels
while booking.
Companies can also charge a carbon fee at the point of sale to fund
sustainable aviation fuel or carbon offset projects. Reporting tools let
travel managers benchmark performance against sustainability targets.
Rail Europe leadership transition
Rail Europe CEO and executive chairman Björn Bender has stepped down after four years, following the company's acquisition by Omio Group in late July. Jean-Francois Bessiron, Omio's chief B2B officer, becomes president of Rail Europe while keeping his Omio role. Dau-Khoi Nguyen, Rail Europe's CEO from 2018 to 2022, returns as COO reporting to Bessiron and will run day-to-day operations during integration. Rail Europe will keep its brand.
Perk, Katanox
Perk, formerly TravelPerk, has partnered with Katanox to handle hotel booking, payment, reconciliation and settlement for its travel and spend management platform. Katanox's account-to-account payment system aims to reduce reliance on virtual credit cards and manual reconciliation, with bookings and funds moving through one system. Katanox said hotels receive faster, guaranteed payouts. The companies will also work together to expand Perk's access to hotel partners through the Katanox platform.
Virdee, Salto
Virdee has expanded its integration with Salto so hotels using compatible Salto locks can issue room keys to guests' mobile wallets. Guests who check in via mobile or at the front desk can add the key to their phone or smartwatch and tap an NFC reader to open their room, elevators and other authorized areas without unlocking the device or opening an app. Virdee's platform also handles identity verification, payment and room assignment.
Eviivo, Marriott Bonvoy
Eviivo has become a connectivity partner of Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, letting eligible property managers using Eviivo Suite list properties on the home rental platform. Managers can handle listings, rates, availability, policies and bookings through Eviivo's channel manager alongside their other channels. Guests booking through the platform can earn and redeem Marriott Bonvoy points at no cost to property owners.