Hospitality tech hit a billion-dollar milestone. Here’s where the smart money is going.
"AI can’t compensate for scattered data, disconnected systems or poor processes. If a hotel’s underlying systems are fragmented, AI will only make operational problems more visible."
Between April 2025 and March 2026, startups across the hospitality technology sector pulled in more than $1 bill [...]
Hidden cost-cutters. Qwen AI goes shopping. Amadeus’ strong Q1. World’s largest travel intelligence ecosystem.
How co-sourcing is beating traditional outsourcing
Colombia-based 247 Travel Partner Desk (247tpd) reports that its travel-specialized co-sourcing model cuts operational costs by 40–50% — and up to 70% in high-cost markets like the US and Northern Europe — by embedding trained external teams [...]
AI and digital identity drive aviation’s next chapter
Trip.com Group opened its flagship Trip.com Airline Global Conference (AGC) 2026 in Amsterdam, convening global leaders from across the aviation and travel ecosystem to explore how technology, trust, and collaboration are redefining the future of travel.
Held at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam [...]
Where the Japan inbound opportunity found HeyMax
HeyMax’s first exposure to the Japanese market was at WiT Japan 2025 where he met Lu Dong, founder of TakeMe, a booking portal for Japan’s top restaurants. The two startups sealed a partnership agreement which allowed HeyMax customers to earn miles when dining at TakeMe’s restaurants.
The r [...]
Expedia Group unifies B2B and supply under Alfonso Paredes
Move reflects Expedia Group’s focus on a more connected marketplace and partner platform strategy
Expedia Group announced that Alfonso Paredes has been appointed President, B2B & Chief Commercial Officer, Expedia Group, assuming leadership of the company’s unified B2B and Supply organizatio [...]
Travel is like water and Queenstown wants to channel it
Roger Sharp on AI, inbound tourism, and why Queenstown wants to be the Southern Hemisphere's travel tech hub
Roger Sharp has a theory about travel. "Somebody once said to me, travel is like water, it always gets through." Amidst geopolitical instability and constantly redirected flight paths, peo [...]
Expedia Group hits record Q1 profitability amid AI overhaul
On the back of an artificial intelligence (AI)-focused technological overhaul, Expedia Group reported its highest Q1 profitability in company history on Thursday.
Within the results, the company's adjusted EBITDA rose 83% year over year to $542 million. Room nights booked totaled 113.9 million, [...]
Winning hearts, minds and wallets: How AI can serve ASEAN’s underserved travellers
In a world where AI is taking care of what and how, possibly the most important question humans can ask is why – why do we do what we do?
That was the first question moderator and WiT founder Yeoh Siew Hoon posed to the three panellists at the Travel Tech Thursdays event in Kuala Lumpur – Ash [...]
More data, worse prices? Why AI in hospitality is being misread
Hotels that treat AI as a feature to be added will likely fall behind those that treat it as an architecture to be built.
There's a version of the AI-in-hospitality story that most people are telling. It's about chatbots, smart concierges, and personalized booking flows. Anurag Jain, Executive Vice [...]
From jetlag to shift work, Timeshifter wants to be your personal circadian rhythm advisor
While it started out as a jet lag app, there is a bigger ambition driving the co-founders – to build a circadian technology platform that impacts overall health and well-being.
It’s early morning in New York but Mickey Beyer-Clausen is looking bright and chirpy, and wearing a hoodie that says [...]
