Here’s our roundup of the people, product and partner news from the global travel industry this week.
This roundup was created with the assistance of ChatGPT.
New CEO for Travalyst
Travalyst, the not-for-profit coalition founded by Prince Harry, has appointed Julie Cheetham as CEO effective December 1. A sustainability leader based in South Africa, Cheetham brings 20+ years’ experience across tourism, technology, environmental, social and governance and regenerative business models.
She previously led Weeva, a platform that was acquired by Travalyst in 2024 and evolved into its Data Hub; she has served as Travalyst’s COO since September 2024. She succeeds Sally Davey after five years, during which Travalyst scaled its Travel Impact Model and expanded its industry coalition.
Selectour, Kleio launch conversational AI
Selectour has rolled out a Kleio-built conversational artificial intelligence (AI) across its digital ecosystem, including Selectour.com, Selectour Affaires, nearly 300 agency sites and the desktops of 4,000 travel advisors.
The tool lets travelers describe trips in natural language, surfaces relevant options and either completes sales online or routes customers to the right agency. Integrated into advisors’ workflows, it is designed to speed up complex product searches and support omnichannel journeys. Kleio said the deployment also prepares Selectour’s network for future links to AI search engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
Guesty’s embedded payments
Guesty has introduced Guesty Pay Suite, an embedded payments and fraud prevention stack for short-term rental (STR) operators. The suite combines Guesty Pay, a native processor built for STR cash-flow needs, with Guesty Pay Protect, which uses travel-specific AI and machine learning to score risk in real time and block suspect transactions before they are authorized.
Guesty said early users in the U.S. have cut chargebacks by more than half while gaining faster payouts and clearer visibility across online travel agency and direct-booking flows.
Awaze appoints brand growth director
Awaze has appointed Carlie Wittred as brand growth director, with responsibility for transforming and scaling the group’s European holiday-rental brands. She will unify PR and communications, partnerships, social, influencer marketing and creative to strengthen how brands including Hoseasons, Cottages.com and Novasol engage guests and owners across key markets.
Wittred joins from Gousto, where she served as head of brand and communications for eight years, and previously worked at Hill+Knowlton and FleishmanHillard.
Boom, StayFi
Property management tech specialist Boom has partnered with StayFi to pipe guest Wi-Fi-login data directly into Boom and turn it into automated, AI-driven marketing actions. StayFi captures contact details from every guest who logs into branded Wi-Fi (not just the primary booker), and the integration eliminates manual uploads or spreadsheets. Once ingested, Boom’s AI organizes and segments guests, personalizes communications and tracks engagement.
Using Boom’s Business Agentic Manager (BAM), property managers can query the data in natural language and generate re-engagement campaigns automatically. The companies say the integration improves visibility into guest behavior and repeat-stay strategy while reducing operational friction.
Tripism’s Smart Itinerary
Tripism has launched Smart Itinerary, an AI-enabled itinerary experience designed to consolidate and personalize every element of a business trip—flights, hotels, ground transport and meetings—into a single, continuously updated view. The product pulls from company travel programs, traveler profiles and organizational and personal preferences to surface real-time, trip-relevant guidance and recommendations.
Key features include highlighting negotiated corporate perks, embedding policy and expense guidance at the right moments and sharing colleague-sourced restaurant recommendations aligned with company culture and policy.
Angola, SITA
Angola is upgrading its borders as it pursues ambitions to be a global transport hub, deploying SITA’s advance passenger information and passenger name record gateway (API PNR Gateway) at the new Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport and building a national passenger information monitoring and management center in Luanda.
Airlines will send advance passenger and booking data so authorities can screen travelers before departure, spot suspicious patterns and meet United Nations, International Civil Aviation Organization and EU requirements. The new command center and data facility will support real-time risk analysis as traffic grows at the 15-million-passenger airport.
HBX Group, Mastercard
HBX Group is rolling out a new virtual payment program with Mastercard to streamline B2B travel payments. Built on the Mastercard wholesale program and integrated into HBX Group’s network of 54,000 travel distributors and 330,000 products in 170 countries, the virtual cards let intermediaries in the EU, U.K. and U.S. pay suppliers instantly, automate reconciliation and improve cash-flow visibility while adding fraud protection and payment guarantees.
TicketingHub’s message communication protocol
TicketingHub has introduced a message communication protocol that lets tour and attraction operators sell directly via chatbots and voice assistants without custom integrations.
The system links live inventory, pricing and availability to conversational interfaces so travelers can book through natural language instead of websites. TicketingHub said operators can switch on the capability in a couple of clicks, allowing bots to answer queries and confirm bookings when staff are busy or offline. The protocol also captures inquiry data, giving operators insights to refine products and digital content.
RMS, Lafayette Hotels
Lafayette Hotels has overhauled its tech stack with RMS, consolidating six property management systems (PMSs), three channel managers and paper processes onto a single platform for its 26 New England properties. Staff can now manage multiple hotels from one login, update rates and policies group-wide and access systems remotely during disruptions.
Swiipr, Google
Swiipr has teamed up with Google to launch an instantly provisioned digital compensation card that passengers can add directly from their browser to Google Wallet, without downloading an app.
Using Google’s Web Push Provisioning, airlines can issue cards on the spot and load funds within seconds for food, drink or disruption compensation, aimed at low value, time-sensitive payouts. Swiipr said its digital cards are designed to replace paper vouchers, bank transfers and cash that add cost and friction to disruption handling.
CN Hotels, Cloudbeds
CN Hotels has chosen Cloudbeds as its new PMS, replacing a patchwork of tools across its portfolio of more than 30 hotels in the U.S. Southeast.
The High Point, North Carolina-based owner-operator will use Cloudbeds to centralize reporting, connect distribution and streamline operations, with the rollout starting at Hotel Alice, followed by Hawthorne Inn & Conference Center and Hotel Denim. CN Hotels said the move is aimed at simplifying workflows for staff, improving revenue decisions and supporting a more consistent guest experience across its brands.
RateHawk plans U.S. expansion
RateHawk, the B2B booking platform of Emerging Travel Group, is accelerating U.S. growth for 2026 with a dedicated nationwide commercial team of 25. After strong momentum in Q3 and a 37% rise in U.S. partners to 15,500, it aims to increase active U.S. advisors and booking value next year. RateHawk offers one-platform booking across hotels, flights, transfers and cars, including 2.9 million properties and 220,000 direct hotel contracts, plus API connectivity.
Protect Group, Sunrise Airways
Protect Group has signed a strategic agreement with Sunrise Airways to offer passengers optional refund protection. Through Protect Group’s Refund Protect, Sunrise customers can now upgrade tickets to be fully refundable if they cannot travel—an option previously unavailable. The service is integrated into Sunrise’s booking flow via Hepstar, connecting Refund Protect to the airline’s reservation system; it is live on the airline website and is expected to launch on the Sunrise mobile app soon.
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