Fliggy and Alibaba’s Qwen app expand AI travel integration to 80+ brand partners
Alibaba’s travel platform Fliggy and its Qwen AI app have grown their joint travel integration initiative to over 80 brand partners after adding 30+ new names, including Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Hyatt Hotels, and Universal Studios Singapore. Through the Qwen App, users can search, book, pay, modify, and cancel travel reservations via a single chat interface. Fliggy reported AI-driven order growth of over 800% week-on-week, with attraction ticket bookings surging more than 24x during Spring Festival; ticket reservations for the upcoming Qingming Festival are up over 70% year-on-year.
Staynex acquires European hotel booking startup Sleap.io ahead of April token launch
Singapore-based Web3 travel platform Staynex Group has acquired Swiss hotel booking startup Sleap.io, bringing its booking engine, European market relationships, and core team under the Staynex brand. Founded in 2023, Sleap.io won five industry awards and holds partnerships with crypto exchanges Gate and Coinbase. The deal combines Sleap’s European technology with Staynex’s Asia-based $STAY token loyalty ecosystem and AI trip planning tools and is timed ahead of Staynex’s planned April 2026 token generation event (TGE) and exchange listing. Sleap founder Michael Ros will become CEO of Europe. Staynex is chaired by Jeff Hoffman, who is credited as a founder of Priceline/Booking.com.
Spotnana connects directly to Premier Inn, expanding corporate booking access
Travel infrastructure firm Spotnana has launched a direct API integration with Premier Inn, the UK’s largest hotel chain, giving Spotnana’s TMC partners access to over 900 Premier Inn properties across the UK, Germany, and Ireland. The connection enables corporate travelers to book negotiated and saver rates, make self-service modifications and cancellations, and purchase ancillaries like breakfast within the booking flow. Both pre-paid and pay-at-property options are available, including a fully flexible rate allowing free cancellation up to arrival day. TMC partners can activate the content via Spotnana Cloud.
Smartvel launches AI accessibility tool for air travellers
Smartvel has launched TravelAble, a platform designed to help passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) navigate air travel by consolidating fragmented accessibility information from airlines and airports into a single, personalised guidance tool. The platform covers every journey stage — from pre-departure through arrival — and translates technical IATA Special Service Request codes (e.g. WCHR, WCHS, WCHC) into plain language. It supports over 8,000 possible requirement combinations across 100+ structured content categories, with outputs tailored to each traveller’s mobility equipment, battery type, and travel context. The launch is framed against research showing 40% of travellers with accessibility needs are unsure whether airport infrastructure will meet their requirements, 33% struggle to find clear pre-travel information, and 28% don’t know if they can board with their mobility equipment.
TravelAble is deployable as a widget across websites, apps, and booking platforms, allowing airlines and travel companies to embed accessibility guidance directly into the customer journey. On the operational side, Smartvel positions it as a tool to reduce repetitive customer service queries and minimise last-minute compliance issues around equipment and batteries. Currently focused on reduced mobility, Smartvel plans to expand coverage to visual, auditory, cognitive, and hidden disabilities, as well as additional medical equipment needs.
Almosafer becomes first Saudi app on ChatGPT
Saudi travel company Almosafer has launched on OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform, becoming the first Saudi Arabian app to offer consumer travel services through the interface. Users can now access Almosafer’s inventory of over 1.5 million hotels directly within ChatGPT, searching and booking in both Arabic and English through natural conversation, including multi-city itinerary building and preference-based filtering such as family-friendly options or proximity to landmarks. The company framed the move as aligned with Saudi Vision 2030’s digital transformation objectives.
Airbnb’s $10m community donations, Samsung browser deal
Airbnb announced its annual Community Fund donations, distributing nearly USD $10M to 130+ nonprofits across 25 countries globally in the Fund’s fifth year, with over 30 organizations across Australia, Japan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand receiving a share of the nearly USD $8M donated to Asia Pacific since the Fund launched in 2020. Asia Pacific recipients cover a range of causes including domestic violence support (Patricia Giles Centre, Safe Steps in Australia), food insecurity (Second Harvest Kyoto), female entrepreneurship (Access Development Services in India), and environmental sustainability (Marine Research Foundation in Malaysia, Yayasan R.O.L.E. in Indonesia). Host nominations played a role in selecting recipients. The Fund is targeting USD $100M in total global donations by 2030, with this round distributed between November 2025 and March 2026 via grantmaking partner Goodstack.
Separately, Airbnb has struck a partnership with Samsung to feature its platform as a shortcut in Samsung Browser’s “Quick access” menu — the panel that appears when users open a new tab or tap the search bar — now live across 49 markets including Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and key European and American markets. The integration recorded tens of thousands of daily click-throughs within its first month.
Dida signs 5-year R&D and talent deal with Tsinghua University
Global travel tech firm Dida has entered a five-year partnership with Tsinghua University’s x-lab innovation platform, focusing on three areas – travel tech R&D, startup incubation, and talent development. The agreement was signed at Dida’s Engage China Roadshow 2026 in Beijing, attended by over 80 international hotel partners. As part of the partnership, Dida announced the inaugural Global Travel Technology Innovation Competition, set to take place in Europe later this year, targeting young talent worldwide with a focus on internationalising Chinese travel innovations. The deal builds on prior collaboration including the 2025 Tsinghua SDG Open Hackathon and was signed by Tsinghua’s Vice Dean of Economics and Management, Professor He Ping, and Dida Group CEO Daryl Lee.
