Travel Weekly Group Ltd - 10 Minutes News for Hoteliers - Page 85

2 min

Outpayce launches payments marketplace…

✈ Outpayce and Amadeus co-created the first travel-dedicated payments marketplace, collaborating with leading airlines. The marketplace supports payment orchestration, offering an interactive catalog to help airlines select the right connections to improve payments performance. It provides information on countries, currencies, services, and live data on transaction volumes. Outpayce's Xchange Payments Platform (XPP) reduces review and decision-making time, simplifies integration with APIs, and speeds up adding new payment capabilities. AEGEAN contributed to the creation of the Marketplace Catalog, enhancing payment options and passenger experiences. Outpayce's marketplace displays hundreds of payment partners worldwide and will expand its offerings in the coming months.

2 min

Great Western Railway tests fast-charge…

🚃 In a pioneering trial for future passenger service, 250 volunteers participated in a test event on Great Western Railway's battery train, assessing energy consumption for the Department for Transport (DfT). The trial, which started in March of the previous year, involved two return trips between West Ealing and Greenford on a Class 230 train, utilizing fast-charge technology with a charging time of 3½ minutes. With over 900 return trips completed in various conditions, the data will inform GWR's decarbonization strategy and potential railway industry applications.

2 min

NEC collaborates with SITA to drive digital…

🚀 SITA, alongside NEC Corporation, has forged a partnership aimed at advancing digital identity technology within the travel industry. This alliance introduces NEC into SITA's Digital Travel Ecosystem, enhancing real-time digital identity verification. The system, designed with privacy in mind, features the Trust Network for secure credential sharing. With 28% of airlines and 43% of airports planning to adopt biometric solutions within a year, and SITA and NEC's combined expertise, the collaboration is set to streamline the travel experience, addressing standardization hurdles and promoting global adoption of digital identities.

2 min

Travel industry one of the worst offenders…

📍 The UK travel websites rank 23rd out of 29 industries for digital accessibility, with an average of 59.7 accessibility errors per homepage according to the 2025 WebAIM Million Report. Common issues include low-contrast text (79.1% of pages), missing alternative text (55.5%), and unlabelled form inputs (48.2%). Despite a 10.3% decrease in accessibility errors across all sectors, the travel industry still presents substantial challenges for disabled users. With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) coming into effect in June, companies must meet stricter standards. Nexer Digital's "I Matter Too" campaign promotes year-round accessibility integration into businesses' digital strategies, highlighting the 16 million disabled people in the UK who have a combined spending power of £274 billion.

2 min

Stay22 launches a new map button to boost…

🏠 Stay22, a Canadian travel tech company, has launched a new feature increasing user engagement rate by fourfold. This feature, a button on their map, simplifies and expedites the booking process for accommodations and events, resulting in over a 50% conversion rate increase on mobile devices. Mobile clicks dominate at 85%, while desktop clicks stand at 41%. Lucille Pickering and Jeff Goodman, Enterprise Partnership Leads at Stay22, emphasize the feature's importance in streamlining booking on mobile and expanding partner revenue potential.

2 min

Future of Airline Retailing Report finds…

🛫 66% of airlines have implemented New Distribution Capabilities (NDC), but only 27% have begun Offer and Order transformation, as per the Future of Airline Retailing Report by Accelya and Atmosphere Research Group. Despite 72% recognizing the importance of Offers and Orders for modernizing retail and increasing revenue, 53% lack an Offers and Orders strategy and 19% have no retailing objectives. By 2028, 83% see continuous pricing as important, while 44% aim to transition to Retailing Platforms by then and 38% anticipate using legacy PSSs until at least 2029. Accelya advocates for a gradual shift from legacy to retailing-friendly systems.

3 min

Mabrian forecasts Middle East air…

📍 Mabrian's analysis for 2025 shows the top nine Middle East destinations for growth: Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain, with a collective 12% share of global inbound air seats for the year. The UAE (+6.1%) and Türkiye (+6.3%) closely follow the global average growth of international air seats (+6.5%) over the next six months but fall slightly behind for the full year (+3.4% for UAE, +4.2% for Türkiye, compared to the +6% global average). Saudi Arabia stands out with a year-end projection of 43.1 million inbound seats, marking an +8% growth over six months, and +5.2% in 2025. Since 2019, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have seen substantial increases in international air connectivity, with +38% and +51% respectively. Jordan expects a +13% increase in inbound seats, reaching 6.5 million, while Egypt anticipates reaching 28 million inbound seats, an increase of +11.4% over six months, and +8.1% throughout 2025.

2 min

United receives FAA certification on…

📡 United Airlines received FAA approval for its first Starlink-equipped Embraer 175, with the inaugural commercial flight set for May. The partnership, announced eight months prior, aims to complete installations on over 300 two-cabin regional jets by the end of the year, averaging 40 installs monthly. Beta testing is currently underway to ensure passenger satisfaction. United, partnering with Starlink, is working to obtain STCs for over 16 aircraft types to enhance the inflight experience with lighter, more reliable, and fuel-efficient technology.

2 min

Yanolja TTV surges 186%, records…

💸 Yanolja Co Ltd reported a 186% increase in total transaction volume to USD$18.3 billion in 2024. Operating revenue rose 22% to USD$625.6 million. CEO Sujin Lee attributes growth to Enterprise Solutions and Consumer Platform with a 62% revenue increase in Enterprise Solutions. Partnerships with Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and collaboration with OpenAI aim to develop an AI-powered data platform. Yanolja Cloud serves over 1.3 million travel businesses and 21,000 sales channels. NOL Universe integrates consumer channels for a holistic ecosystem beyond travel.

2 min

Tour Partner Group announces planned…

🏖 Tour Partner Group is set to acquire JacTravel from Web Travel Group by the end of April for an undisclosed sum, creating a top European Destination Management Company (DMC). The group comprises Hotels & More (UK), Irish Welcome Tours (Ireland), Authentic Vacations (USA), Trans Nordic Tours (Denmark), and Experience Scotland (Scotland). JacTravel, known for its Group tours and FIT, will retain its brand through 2025 with Karen Robertson as managing director. This acquisition aims to enhance services and expand the product range for both parties.

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