Travel Industry Unveils Tech Upgrades and Key Deals

The global travel industry saw major updates this week with a wave of product launches, executive moves, and strategic partnerships aimed at boosting efficiency and user experience across corporate travel, hospitality, and transportation. FCM Travel unveiled a revamped version of its AI assistant, Sam, which now offers real-time, personalized support across platforms. The tool manages disruptions, tracks compliance, and improves loyalty engagement while offering managers customization options. FCM’s John Morhous said the assistant integrates internal systems to speed up response times and improve data visibility, calling it a major leap in simplifying travel experiences.

RMS appointed Chetan Arjun as its new chief financial officer to support its global growth push. Arjun brings over two decades of experience in the travel and tech sectors, having held leadership roles at PwC, Coles Group, Crown Resorts, and Lux Group. His appointment is seen as critical to aligning RMS’s financial strategy with its international expansion plans. The company, supported by Advent Partners, currently serves more than 7,000 properties in 70 countries.

Travelodge entered a strategic partnership with Katanox, a travel technology firm, to make its 47,000 rooms more accessible to travel management companies. The collaboration, starting with Navan, allows for booking flexibility, richer hotel content, and smoother payment processes. Leaders at both Katanox and Navan emphasized the partnership’s role in boosting Travelodge’s market reach and operational flexibility.

The European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Association (ECTAA) formed a partnership with Travel Ledger to promote digital payment solutions across Europe. This alliance aims to cut costs, reduce risk, and modernize outdated manual systems with automated B2B settlement technology. Educational outreach will play a key role in driving adoption throughout the industry.

Traveltek and Traverse Automation announced the launch of AIVA, an AI-driven cruise booking assistant that understands natural language queries. Launching in beta this July, AIVA simplifies the search process by interpreting spoken-style inputs and returning personalized cruise options. The tool is expected to increase agent productivity by streamlining cruise searches.

SAP Concur teamed up with Trainline Partner Solutions to ease cross-border rail bookings for European business travelers. The integration, designed to support growing demand for sustainable transport, will give users seamless access to SNCF, Renfe, Eurostar, and eventually Iryo and Trenitalia through Concur Travel.

Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio was named chair of the World Travel & Tourism Council, bringing leadership and insight from his roles with Heritage Group and Abercrombie & Kent. Meanwhile, Mize expanded its collaboration with Juniper Travel Technology by adding its SmartRate tool to enhance booking efficiency and profitability for travel providers.

SITA was selected by Taipei Songshan Airport to deploy self-service check-in and biometric solutions. The upgrade aims to reduce congestion and improve passenger flow through facial recognition and mobile-enabled processing. Transfeero expanded its network to include high-demand destinations like Tenerife South and Paros, reinforcing its focus on flexible, customer-first ground transport.

Lastly, HBX Group integrated its luxury travel brand The Luxurist into Bedsonline, expanding advisor access to 5,000 curated hotels. It also launched a cybersecurity tool, Cybersential, in partnership with Wallbid to help European hospitality businesses meet evolving digital standards. Travelport added EVA Air’s NDC content to its Travelport+ platform to support dynamic offer comparisons and efficient servicing across several global markets.

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Travel Industry Unveils Tech Upgrades and Key Deals

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