Kate Harden-England

🏨 Journey launched its Hospitality Performance Platform for luxury hotels in Spain. The platform aims to monetize guest experiences amid rising cost pressures and declining room rate growth. On January 21, 2025, Journey will co-host an event at FITUR in Madrid with Oracle and Bring IT. José Antonio Núñez has been appointed as head of international business development, and Laura Piamba joins as business development manager. Journey collaborates with 750 properties, including Nikki Beach and Corinthia.

📶 B2B white-label eSIM provider Hubby eSIM partners with UK travel agent consortium Avantage Travel Partnership. Advantage members can now offer branded, affordable mobile internet globally. Hubby reports 1.6 impressions per user daily, 14 minutes in-app engagement, and a 35% click-through rate on promotions. The partnership aims to enhance customer experience, reduce support calls, and create upsell opportunities. Hubby offers multi-country plans, family sharing, 24/7 support, and home number retention.

🛫 Passengers at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) can now complete immigration in under 20 seconds with new biometric terminals. The airport, handling over 50 million passengers annually, installed 24 eGates last month. The $3B modernization project, led by New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC), aims to enhance efficiency and security. Amadeus technology plays a key role, with an additional 54 eGates expected early this year. The initiative involves collaboration between airport operators, border authorities, and tech partners.

🚄 eDreams ODIGEO expands its Prime subscription to the rail sector in Spain and Italy, targeting the €40 billion European rail market. With 7.7 million members, they introduced flexible monthly and quarterly payment options to boost accessibility. The platform integrates flights, hotels, car rentals, and now rail, using AI to streamline bookings. CEO Dana Dunne highlighted early success in Spain and Italy as a validation of their strategy to offer seamless travel solutions.

📆 Perk has launched Perk Events, an AI-powered solution to automate event planning, addressing 76% of UK employees involved in event coordination. Key pain points include venue sourcing (43%), budget management (43%), and accommodation (37%). A Forrester report highlights 53% of UK firms lack event automation, contributing to £95 billion in lost productivity annually. Perk aims to eliminate this "shadow work," streamlining event processes to enhance focus on core tasks, saving $1.7 trillion globally.

🛫 WeRoad closed 2025 with €130M (£112.6M) in revenue, marking a 62.4% increase from 2024. It served 300,000 travelers by year-end, with nearly 110,000 in 2025. Top destinations included Italy, Morocco, and the US. The company’s 4,000 Travel Coordinators played a significant role. New initiatives like WeMeet and a platform for creating itineraries bolstered growth, as did partnerships with Travel Counsellors and Tourhub. 📈