Travel Weekly Group Ltd

🌐 Bitget Wallet has partnered with Cryptorefills, enabling travelers to book flights, hotels and other services using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, USDC, and more. Cryptorefills is now a DApp in Bitget Wallet's "Spend with Crypto" section, facilitating purchases of gift cards, mobile credits, and gaming services from major brands. This collaboration furthers Bitget Wallet's PayFi strategy, aiming to unify crypto earning, sending, and spending, and advancing cryptocurrency payment in mainstream commerce. CEO of Cryptorefills, Massimiliano Silenzi, and COO of Bitget Wallet, Alvin Kan, believe this will make digital assets more accessible in the real world.

💳 American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) integrates its hotel marketplace with Concur Travel via Hotel Connector, offering access to over 2 million properties in 180 countries, including Amex GBT preferred rates and options from Expedia and Booking.com. This AI-powered enhancement aims to optimize travel programs and streamline booking processes, ensuring personalized hotel recommendations for business travelers. The collaboration with SAP Concur promises a better user experience with a more comprehensive range of choices for joint customers.

📌 Sabre, a UK-based company, has entered a multi-year agreement with Brazilian fintech Jazz Tech, backed by Arbi Bank, to make Jazz Tech the virtual card issuer for Sabre Direct Pay in Brazil. This partnership aims to enhance the UK and European travel markets by facilitating cross-border payments and improving customer experience. The integration of Sabre Direct Pay in South America addresses the region's increasing demand for secure, digital payment solutions. Patricio Boccardo, Sabre Direct Pay's Managing Director, highlights the platform's efficient onboarding, integration into existing workflows, and provision of prepaid and credit options. José Roberto Kracochansky, Jazz Tech's CEO, emphasizes the API-driven ecosystem's scalable and secure payment capabilities for travel agencies. This step advances payment solution offerings for Brazilian travel agencies, prioritizing transaction security and efficiency.

📈 AI's promise in 2023 remained largely unfulfilled, but 2025 shows potential for real-world applications, particularly in travel. The year 2024 saw the need for AI to move beyond style and focus on substance, with back-office roles excelling but customer-facing challenges persisting. The emergence of low-cost AI solutions like the Chinese DeepSeek LLM model in 2024 is lowering development costs and barriers to entry. Success stories include AI tools that streamlined rebooking processes. For 2025, there's a shift towards purpose-driven AI innovation, with integration becoming smoother and a focus on solving specific problems rather than providing flashy features. Vibe anticipates AI will redefine travel technology with purposeful application.

📌 Thales' 2025 Digital Trust Index indicates a decline in trust in digital services, with only insurance, banking, and government sectors maintaining or slightly increasing trust. Transport is trusted by 6% of consumers, news media by 3%. The survey, which included over 14,000 consumers across 14 countries, showed that 19% were informed of personal data breaches in the past year, leading 82% to abandon brands over data misuse concerns. Banking is the most trusted sector, especially among over 55s (51%) compared to just 32% of Gen Z. Consumers are aware of online threats, with 83% expecting data privacy rights, but 63% feeling too much responsibility is on them for data protection. Despite frustrations, 64% would trust brands more if they implemented advanced security technologies.

🏆 Virtual Interlining (VI) is revolutionizing travel by allowing the combination of flights from different airlines without formal agreements. Currently, 55 million passengers self-connect annually, a number expected to double in five years due to demand for affordable travel and the growth of low-cost carriers (LCCs). PKFARE, a travel product aggregator, is testing a VI product with key clients, offering competitive rates up to 10% less than rivals, access to approximately 600 more destinations, and double the flight options. The company aims to solve issues like missed connections by automating refunds and reissuing tickets. PKFARE leverages over 10 years of experience, 600+ bookable airline contents, and an optimized algorithm for the best deals.

🏨 SITA and Orange Business have extended their partnership, in place since 2001, for an additional five years to explore AI-driven efficiencies, advanced security solutions, and connectivity innovations in aviation. The collaboration aims to advance network services, cybersecurity, smart airport solutions, and digital transformation, impacting 2,500+ global customers across 200+ countries and territories. CEOs David Lavorel and Aliette Mousnier-Lompré emphasize faster connectivity, stronger security, and innovation in AI and sustainability as future goals for the industry.