Kate Harden-England

📰 Emerging Travel Group (ETG), including RateHawk and ZenHotels, has launched a new marketing hub in response to industry demand. By August 2026, ETG's marketing revenue doubled compared to the previous year. The hub offers advertising solutions for travel brands such as hotels and airlines, facilitating campaigns through multiple channels. With 16 years of industry experience, ETG aims to enhance advertisers' visibility. Anna Kladova stated the hub's flexibility in campaign scale and format.

💳 Juspay expands its partnership with Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), in September 2026. The collaboration aims to expedite the integration of local payment service providers and methods, supporting Wego’s growth in new markets. This partnership enables Wego to offer more localized payment options, enhancing the checkout experience for travelers. Both companies will explore tailored payment solutions to meet Wego's evolving business and customer needs.

🌎 Rory's Travel Club, founded by 34-year-old Rory King, has expanded its subscription service to England. As of now, the club boasts over 360,000 members in both England and Ireland, with more than 285,000 members in Ireland alone. The service, priced at £10 annually, offers exclusive travel deals, especially benefitting solo travelers by avoiding the "singles tax." Initially a one-man project, it is now a 22-person operation aimed at making travel more affordable and accessible.

🌐 Amadeus and Anthropic have joined forces to enhance AI tools for developers and travel professionals by integrating Amadeus's connectivity, documentation, and travel content into Anthropic's Claude Code. This initiative facilitates direct access to travel information within development environments and includes a Claude Cowork plugin for professionals. The collaboration promotes open, AI-driven workflows, allowing data access and analysis in plain language while ensuring controlled capabilities and user oversight.

📈 HBX Group partners with Vorsee by ZYTLYN Technologies AG to enhance hotel operations with predictive travel intelligence and AI. Vorsee's ActionOS will integrate into HBX's platforms like Partner Portal, Roiback, and Civitfun, leveraging HBX's marketplace data for forecasting, pricing, and revenue management. This strategic move aims to shift hotels from reactive to proactive demand management, expanding HBX's offerings. Key figures include Javier Cabrerizo and Houman Goudarzi, leading the transformative initiative.

💳 In 2025, Journey processed 1 million transactions, highlighting outdated payment systems in hotels. Only 28% of businesses support ancillary revenue easily, while 74% spend excessive time on payment reconciliation. Stripe's Link checkout increased basket values by 53%, with Apple Pay transactions rising from 22% in 2025 to 35% in 2026. Klarna's rollout aims to attract Gen Z and Millennials, 70% of its global transaction volume. Journey's platform supports 750+ properties, with 62 million bookings last year.

💻 Nezasa unveiled Tai, an AI workbench for travel sellers, integrated with TripBuilder for seamless booking data access. Launched in June, Tai speeds up booking query resolutions. It includes agents for content, workflow, and customer service, allowing teams to create agents without coding. An open connector framework facilitates integration with existing systems like CRM and reporting feeds. Manuel Hilton, CEO, emphasizes Tai's role in transforming travel sales economics and improving profitability.