ΔΙΕΘΝΗΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΗΛΕΚΤΡΟΝΙΚΗ ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ ΠΟΙΚΙΛΗΣ ΥΛΗΣ - ΕΔΡΑ: ΑΘΗΝΑ

Ει βούλει καλώς ακούειν, μάθε καλώς λέγειν, μαθών δε καλώς λέγειν, πειρώ καλώς πράττειν, και ούτω καρπώση το καλώς ακούειν. (Επίκτητος)

(Αν θέλεις να σε επαινούν, μάθε πρώτα να λες καλά λόγια, και αφού μάθεις να λες καλά λόγια, να κάνεις καλές πράξεις, και τότε θα ακούς καλά λόγια για εσένα).

Δευτέρα 1 Ιουνίου 2026

PhocusWire's travel tech news briefs: TUI Group, Mews, CarTrawler, Sabre and more..

 

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 Claude.

HTS, WestJet

Hopper Technology Solutions (HTS) has launched its Cancel For Any Reason ancillary product on WestJet's website and app. 

The product lets travelers cancel flights up to 24 hours before departure and receive 80% or 100% of their trip cost refunded to the original payment method. Available on Econo and EconoFlex fares at the time of booking, Cancel For Any Reason is designed to reduce friction in travel planning and drive ancillary revenue for airlines.

Nezasa expands commercial team

Nezasa has expanded its commercial team with two senior hires to support growing demand for its TripBuilder platform. 

Nils Proschek joins as sales director for the DACH region, bringing more than 20 years of B2B and B2C travel experience across global distribution systems, travel management companies and the bedbank sector. 

Christopher Matzke joins as account executive for airlines, with a background in key account management and airline sales. Both appointments are aimed at accelerating Nezasa's go-to-market capabilities.

TUI Group, Omio

TUI Group has partnered with Omio to integrate ground transportation into TUI's booking platform. 

Live since April 2026, the integration gives TUI customers access to Omio's inventory of trains, buses and ferries as a post-booking ancillary, enabling end-to-end trip planning within TUI's ecosystem. Through the white-label solution, Omio will handle functions including localized payments, ticketing management and multi-language support.

Expedia Group, DerbySoft

Expedia Group has launched a product management API, currently in pilot with connectivity provider DerbySoft

Built on GraphQL, the API lets hotels manage rooms, rate plans, fees and cancellation policies from their own systems via a single connection, replacing fragmented manual workflows. DerbySoft is among the first partners testing the capability, enabling shared hotel clients to update inventory and rates in real time without additional manual steps.

Fareportal, Sabre

Fareportal has expanded its long-term partnership with Sabre, deepening collaboration across distribution, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) tools. 

Under the agreement, Fareportal will continue using Sabre's AI-native technology across its CheapOair and OneTravel brands to refine search and improve merchandising, while also integrating Sabre's New Distribution Capability technology. The deal supports Fareportal's broader strategy to deploy agentic AI for end-to-end shopping experiences.

HotelREZ appoints VP of platform strategy

HotelREZ Hotels & Resorts has appointed Gary Torres as VP of platform strategy.

Torres’ appointment comes with a focus on connectivity standards and the continued development of REZswitch, the company's two-way API linking property management systems and its central reservation system. He brings more than 20 years of travel and hospitality technology experience, including senior roles at Pegasus Solutions and Duetto. 

European Travel Commission meeting

European Travel Commission has re-elected Miguel Sanz, director general of Turespaña, as president and chosen Arnar Már Ólafsson, director general of the Icelandic Tourist Board, as VP. ETC also added four associate members: Booking.comFeratelGetYourGuide and Skyscanner

PingPong, Visa

PingPong has launched a card to account payment solution developed in partnership with Visa, enabling businesses to pay supplier invoices via commercial credit card even when suppliers don't accept card payments. 

Suppliers receive funds as a standard bank transfer within two days, with no onboarding required. PingPong is one of three foundational providers selected by Visa for its business payment solution provider program. The solution supports payments across 170-plus countries and 25-plus currencies, with deployment via web portal or API.

Conferma partners with Trip.Biz

Conferma has partnered with Trip.Biz to integrate virtual card payment technology into the Trip.Biz ONE business travel platform.

The partnership is aimed at simplifying hotel payments for corporate travelers while improving spend visibility, reconciliation and policy compliance for travel managers and finance teams. The initial rollout focuses on hotel payments, with broader global expansion planned.

Southwest selects CarTrawler platform

Southwest Airlines has selected CarTrawler to power car rental bookings across its digital channels. 

Under the partnership, Southwest will replace its in-house car rental platform with CarTrawler’s Connect Platform, giving travelers access to a broader range of rental options and allowing Rapid Rewards members to earn points on bookings. The rollout is expected to support ancillary revenue growth while improving merchandising and conversion across Southwest’s booking experience.

Ireckonu expands leadership team

Ireckonu has appointed three VPs to support international growth: Rik van Leeuwen as VP of customer operations, Çağri Kasapoğlu as VP of customer engineering and Lauranne Schellekens as VP of human resources. 

The Amsterdam-based middleware and customer data platform provider serves hotel brands including Mandarin Oriental, Montage International and Althoff Hotels. The hires follow Ireckonu's expansion into Asia Pacific with a Singapore office and a growing portfolio of global hotel partners.

Mews product launches, SiteMinder partnership

Mews has introduced a series of product launches spanning revenue management, distribution, guest messaging, automations and accounts receivable as part of its new operating system for hotels. 

The launches include a new revenue management system, automated guest messaging tools, workflow automations and a financial management layer designed to bring hotel operations into a single platform. Mews said the updates are aimed at reducing reliance on disconnected hotel technology systems and streamlining workflows across pricing, booking, guest communication and payments.

Separately, Mews also announced a partnership with SiteMinder to embed SiteMinder’s distribution capabilities directly into the Mews platform. The companies said the integration will allow hotels to manage rates, inventory and distribution through a single interface connected to more than 400 online travel agencies.

Tags: Hopper Technology Solutions SiteMinder TUI  Mews  CarTrawler  HotelREZ