Travel Weekly Group Ltd

💸 Lastminute.ae launched, offering discounted flights from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. Part of lastminute.com, established in 1998, and based in Dubai, it caters to Middle Eastern travelers with bilingual services. General Manager Yiannis Papadonikolakis highlighted the company's customer-first approach and regional expertise. The Middle East's airline traffic is projected to rise by 8.8% in 2025. Dubai International Airport ranked as the world's busiest with 5.3 million seats in December. Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport served 49.1 million passengers in 2024, a 15% increase from 2023. Kuwait City airport is expanding capacity to 50 million passengers with a new terminal in 2025.

📅 Travelport, a GDS and travel technology specialist, and Atriis, a travel technology provider, have enabled corporate clients to book and manage NDC content through the Atriis global travel platform. This expanded agreement adds to the existing multi-source content partnership, offering low-cost carrier, hotel, and rental car options. Business Travel Partners (BTP Group) is among the initial clients using Travelport's NDC content, aiming to provide personalized bookings and enhanced value for corporate travelers. The integration facilitates a one-stop comparison of NDC and traditional content for travel management companies (TMCs) and corporate travel managers.

🌍 Holiday Pirates and Trending Travel announce a strategic partnership to offer a platform with over 1.1 billion reach for tourist boards, tour operators, and travel retailers. This initiative aims to provide a full-funnel marketing solution, integrating sales teams, and promoting travel deals and content across social media, WhatsApp groups, and newsletters for enhanced consumer engagement. CEOs David Armstrong and Keith Herman highlight the partnership as a unique, cost-effective opportunity for travel industry partners.

🚀 Mize, a fintech-based solutions firm for the travel industry, has acquired RightRez, a company specializing in air industry automation and post-booking optimization. The acquisition aims to expand Mize's multi-vertical leadership by integrating RightRez's expertise, with more than 20 years in the air travel sector, into Mize's service offerings. Mize will now deliver greater value to its global client base of over 200 by combining accommodation and air travel solutions and fostering new growth and efficiency opportunities. Mize's CEO, Dor Krubiner, and COO, Omry Litvak, express confidence in the enhanced capabilities and potential for innovation through the acquisition, while RightRez's CEO, Maria von Foerster, anticipates unmatched solutions for customers in the evolving travel industry.

📱 Visito, an AI platform for independent hotels, launched Visito Voice to handle guest calls using AI, resolving over 50% of inquiries. Available 24/7 in 50+ languages, it integrates with property management systems and allows transitioning to WhatsApp, automating up to 97% of interactions. It provides hotel staff with call summaries and guest preferences insights. Pormer Sarram, co-founder and CEO, emphasized its efficiency and personal touch maintenance in high-volume call handling.

📅 American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) teams up with Lufthansa Group to expand New Distribution Capability (NDC) fares, enhancing customer value with access to NDC-only rates and promotions from airlines like Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, and Discover Airlines. Amex GBT's NDC programme already includes over 20 carriers, and the partnership aims to provide robust, NDC-enabled solutions for corporate customers, promising a seamless and personalized experience.

🛂 FinMont, a global travel payments platform, and PRECISION, part of Etraveli Group, are collaborating to combat payment fraud in the travel sector. Payment fraud costs airlines 3.1% of annual global e-commerce revenue, signaling a need for better solutions. The partnership will integrate PRECISION's fraud prevention technology into FinMont's system, aiming to improve payment security and efficiency for travel businesses. CEOs Suby Valluri of FinMont and Peny Rizou of Etraveli Group emphasize the benefits of seamless and reliable payment processes.