Fusion & Acquisition

🗺 Amadeus, a tech giant, has acquired ForwardKeys, a Spanish firm specializing in tourist and air traffic data. The acquisition, part of Amadeus's aggressive strategy to become a "one-stop-shop" for tech solutions, aims to enhance their tourist intelligence business. The deal's financial details remain confidential. Earlier acquisitions include Vision-Box, a biometric tech specialist, in January, and Voxel, a B2B payment expert, in March of the previous year.

✈️ Fly Fairly acquires travel platform LFG in May 2025 to tap into Gen Z (born 1995-2009). Based in Kuala Lumpur, LFG allows creating "Placelists" for young travelers. Fly Fairly, founded in Singapore in 2024, partners with over 650 airlines offering 100+ payment options, including cryptocurrencies. LFG co-founders Darryl Han and Foo Shi Hong join Fly Fairly's leadership. This move aims to combine travel discovery with flexible booking for the next generation.

🌐 Prosus acquires Despegar, a major Latin American OTA, enhancing its digital services ecosystem. The deal, approved by Despegar's board and shareholders, was finalized with regulatory clearances. Prosus aims to serve over 100 million clients across various sectors. This acquisition offers Despegar access to Amsterdam-based Prosus's AI expertise. CEO Damián Scokin highlights accelerated growth and innovation. In March 2024, Despegar introduced Sofia, an AI travel agent, to streamline trip planning.

🚀 Waymo recalls 1,200 robotaxis after minor collisions from December 2022 to April 2024, affecting a fleet of 1,500 vehicles. United Airlines starts installing Starlink Wi-Fi on Embraer E175 jets, aiming for 250 Mbps speeds on regional aircraft by 2025. Hong Kong partners with Wego to attract MENA tourists. HBX Group acquires Civitfun, enhancing hotel operations for 3,500 clients. Bryan Batista becomes Skyscanner's CEO on June 1, 2025, succeeding John Mangelaars.

🎬 European leisure parks have transformed from day trip destinations to full-fledged tourist attractions. Giants like Disneyland Paris and Europa Park, now rebranded as resorts, have extended visitor stays beyond the traditional day visit. European households spend an average of €3,000 annually on leisure, ranking it fourth in expenses after rent and food, according to Eurostat data. These parks contribute significantly to the attractiveness and revenue of their regions.

🚀 Stratolaunch's Roc aircraft, a giant twin-fuselage hexa-engine, successfully launched and recovered the Talon-A2, a self-flying hypersonic glider rocket, on its second test flight, reaching speeds over Mach 5. The feat was achieved by the Mojave, California-based company, emphasizing Talon-A2's reusability after a successful attempt in December 2024. With an impressive wingspan of 117 meters, the Talon-A2 landed autonomously at Vandenberg Space Force Base after being released from Roc, signaling promising applications for hypersonic flight in defense and potentially commercial air transport. Stratolaunch CEO Zachary Krevor highlighted the company's progress: four Talon-A flights, twenty-four Roc flights, and two new supersonic and hypersonic aircraft flown within a year.

🏨 Room00, a European tourist accommodation network, secures €400 million from King Street Capital Management for European expansion, targeting Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Funds are earmarked for acquiring and renovating prime-location hotels in strategic micro-districts in cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Porto, Milan, Rome, and Florence. Room00 operates over 2,500 rooms across 50 assets and aims to grow to 200 properties and 15,000 rooms in Southern Europe within four years, plus a London debut by end of 2025, adding 20 sites and 1,000 rooms.

💸 NextTrip, a Santa Fe-based tech travel company, secured a $3 million credit line (€2.66 million) from its president to fund growth projects and operations for the next two years. The funds will finance marketing for new products and aid in developing recent high-end travel market acquisitions, including total control of OTA Five Star Alliance in April and the JOURNY TV streaming service. CEO Bill Kerby appreciates the president's support, emphasizing strategic priorities and shareholder value protection.

💰 Ritesh Agarwal, owning 30% of an Indian hotel group, faces financial strain as SoftBank, holding 40%, blocks the company's 3rd IPO attempt, pushing the next possibility to 2026. Initial valuation in 2021 was nearly $12 billion, a target SoftBank still aims for. Agarwal, who borrowed $2.2 billion to maintain control, is backed by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son's personal guarantee for the loan, with a repayment due soon.

📢 DoorDash, an e-commerce specialist in the US, announced on May 6 two major acquisitions: Deliveroo for £2.9 billion (~€3.4 billion) at 180 pence per share, and SevenRooms for $1.2 billion (~€1.05 billion). Deliveroo operates in 9 countries, and its main competitors are Uber Eats and Just Eat TakeAway, the latter acquired by Prosus for €4.1 billion in February. The acquisitions will likely boost DoorDash's monthly user count to 50 million across 40 countries.