Here's our roundup of the people, product and partner news from the global travel industry this week.
Sabre-Air India
Sabre has announced the launch of New Distribution Capability (NDC) content for Air India.
The NDC offers are part of Air India’s modernization efforts and will help Sabre-connected travel agents shop, book and service Air India reservations.
“At Air India, our aim is to deliver superior customer service through innovative technologies," said Nipun Aggarwal, chief commercial officer of Air India. "By continuing to enhance our partnership with Sabre, we’re able to advance our NDC journey to meet the evolving needs of travel agencies and passengers, providing an enhanced experience."
Meanwhile, Sabre Hospitality has launched data and analytics tool SynXis Insights which aims to provide hoteliers with actionable insights to help decision making.
The technology provides a holistic view of SynXis reservation data with visualizations and daily data updates to reduce manual effort as well as improve decision-making at a local level.
“The launch of SynXis Insights marks a significant milestone in our commitment to providing our customers with better reporting and data,” said Scott Wilson, president of Sabre Hospitality. “We are enabling our customers to make informed decisions that drive revenue and improve overall business performance.”
Amex GBT's NDC move
Travel management company American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), is working with Air France and KLM on an expanded roll-out phase of NDC fares.
The move aims to create value for corporate customers through NDC-enabled technologies while ensuring the effectiveness of managed travel programs.
“This development demonstrates our commitment to providing customers with the best travel options within our marketplace, across all our solutions – proprietary and third-party channels, online and offline,” said John Bukowski, vice president of content acquisition and strategic sourcing at Amex GBT.
BlaBlaCar adds Spanish rail operators
BlaBlaCar, a specialist in multimodal travel, is integrating train ticket offers from Spanish operators Renfe and Iryo into its platform.
The move is part of BlaBlaCar’s ambition to bring together various transport modes on to a single platform. A statement from the company said that high-speed rail traffic in Spain increased 33% to 32 million passengers in 2023.
“Thanks to recent rail market liberalization and rising demand for collective transport alternatives, Spain is a natural choice for adding train tickets to BlaBlaCar,” said Nicolas Brusson, BlaBlaCar’s co-founder and CEO.
Digital human for Saudi Tourism
The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) has unveiled its artificial intelligence-powered assistant SARA to act as a travel companion and personal concierge.
SARA, which is currently in beta, aims to deliver engaging and interactive content through the use of generative AI and is said to be able to respond to queries with “intent and contextual understanding.”
Growth plans for Valpas
Valpas, a company providing a technological solution to the bedbug problem in hotels, is aiming to reach two million beds by the end of 2030.
The Helsinki-based company, which recently announced €4 million in seed funding, hit 40,000 beds in 2024.
Currently, Valpas is using the investment to double the amount of beds in hotels implementing its technology in 2025. The company has partnerships with brands including Accor, Design Hotels and Bob W.
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“Today, millions of travelers take their own precautions – for example checking the bed thoroughly for signs of bed bugs when they check-in – at hotels every day without staff ever noticing it, afraid of carrying bed bugs home," said Martim Gois, co-founder and CEO of Valpas. "The best hoteliers understand this, and respond to it by affiliating them with the Valpas platform and guaranteeing a safe and sustainable stay."
Advito-Clarasight partnership
Business travel consultancy Advito has partnered with SaaS carbon planning and forecast specialist Clarasight to provide businesses with more holistic tool for tracking carbon emissions and implementation sustainability strategy.
This partnership aims to help organizations measure, budget and forecast carbon emissions and make behavioral change towards sustainability goals.
“Companies today are under immense pressure to deliver on sustainability, and it’s no longer enough to simply track emissions,” said April Bridgeman, senior vice president at BCD Travel and managing director at Advito. “Through our partnership with Clarasight, we are providing the tools and insights businesses need to create strategies that reduce Scope 3 emissions.”
PredictX carbon pricing tool
Data intelligence specialist PredictX has launched a carbon pricing tool to help corporates achieve their carbon reduction targets.
The Internal Carbon Pricing tool, which boosts the company’s sustainability analytics solutions, provides insights into the financial impact of carbon within businesses.
“At PredictX, we understand the evolving landscape of corporate travel and the real need for organizations to reduce their carbon footprint to meet stringent carbon reduction targets," said Keesup Choe, CEO of PredictX. "For many organizations, it’s become evident that calculating and offsetting carbon emissions from business travel is not enough to drive change. They are therefore starting to introduce internal carbon pricing strategies to accelerate progress towards meeting targets."
Loveholidays launches in Austria
Loveholidays has launched in Austria under its weloveholidays brand enabling the country’s travelers to access package holiday combinations from the online travel agency.
The move, which follows the company’s expansion into Germany last year, is part of wider expansion plans and coincides with the appointment of Charlotte Gogstad in the newly created role of vice president of international expansion.
Gogstad has previously held various positions in travel technology including as vice president of product and technology enablement at Expedia Group.
"With strong cultural and linguistic ties to Germany, as well as rising demand for dynamic packaging, Austria was the natural next step in our European expansion," said Donat Rétif, CEO of loveholidays. "I’m delighted to welcome Charlotte to the team to oversee our launch in the market and spearhead further market expansion, as we go after our ambition of becoming Europe’s number-one package holiday provider."
RocketRez' Relay communications platform
Tours and activities ticketing platform RocketRez has launched a communications platform to help attractions communicate with guests.
Called Relay, the platform uses SMS to automate and personalize guest communication from booking confirmations to real-time updates and post-activity feedback requests.
“Today’s Relay is all about simplifying communications, but that’s just the beginning," said RocketRez CEO John Prendergast. "We want to focus on making communication between guests and attraction operators more seamless, but as we release more features, you’ll see that our broader goal is much bigger. We’re also looking at insights - helping operators understand their data better to make informed decisions."
RightRez-Crystal
Air travel technology specialist RightRez is helping cruise operator Crystal automate its air business unit processes from start to finish. The collaboration aims to boost customer service and drive efficiency for Crystal.
“We are committed to delivering an unparalleled travel experience to our guests, and partnering with RightRez allows us to elevate our air department operations," said Hanibegk Coll, director of global air programs & turnaround operations at Crystal. "Their innovative solutions will enable us to better serve our travelers and support our ongoing growth."
Hospitable launches Abandoned Bookings tool
Vacation rental management platform Hospitable has reclaimed more than $36,000 in lost direct booking revenue for customers within a week of launching its Abandoned Bookings tool.
The tool aims to re-engage guests who have abandoned a booking by sending personalized, timely emails to encourage them finalize their booking.
Hospitable said the technology achieved a 58% open rate and 8% click-through rate in its first week of launch.