Innovation

🚀 Tern, an American startup, raises 11.5 million euros (13 million dollars) in Series A funding led by Viewpoint Ventures. Founded in 2022, Tern now serves 1,050 travel agencies with a unified system. Total funding reached 17 million dollars. Plans include AI integration, payment solutions, and app updates. Customer service teams will double by end of 2025 for 24/7 availability. Tern joins Signature Travel Network.

🗺 In Seattle during the EXPLORE conference, Expedia launched new APIs for car rentals, activities, travel insurance, and flights, helping partners offer all-inclusive deals. A reservation management API is projected to save hoteliers 8 million hours and $120 million (approximately €105 million) annually. Expedia leverages AI with tools like Trip Matching that turn Instagram Reels into travel itineraries. Integrations with OpenAI and Microsoft Copilot enhance travel planning, supporting partners at every travel stage.

🚀 Expedia, in May 2025, at its annual conference in Seattle, announced integration with OpenAI's Operator and Microsoft's Copilot Action. The initiative includes new APIs for its B2B platform, offering access to car rentals from 110+ brands in 190 countries and 170,000 tourist experiences. The AI-driven tools aim to optimize operations, potentially saving 8 million hours and €105 million annually. This move strengthens Expedia's AI capabilities in travel booking and customer engagement.

🗺 In the digitalization of tourism activities, 70% of providers lack online sales solutions, while OTAs like Viator and GetYourGuide account for 23% of sales, with a 152% online sales increase from 2019 to 2025. Marseille's OT leverages Youbook By Région Sud and MarseillExperiences.com for better tourist flow management, with 50 providers offering 190 local experiences. In 2024, the platform saw 1.1 million visitors, a 40% increase from 2023, and charges a 12% commission, reinvested into the platform, versus OTA's 20-30%. Saint-Tropez's Amusez-vous.net also uses Youbook and lists 310 leisure activities from 90 professionals.

💼 Mews, a leader in cloud hospitality technology, has formed the Hospitality Industry Advisory Board to shape the future of hospitality. The board comprises seasoned hoteliers and tech leaders to address industry trends and challenges. Mews, founded in 2012, emphasizes technology and external expertise to drive innovation. CEO Matt Welle highlights the importance of industry understanding for meaningful change. The board aims to transform the sector to meet evolving customer and professional needs.

📢 Mews, a leading cloud hotelier, established the Hospitality Industry Advisory Board to redefine the future of hospitality, aiming to revolutionize guest experiences and daily operations for hoteliers. Launched to reflect Mews's pioneering status in hotel technology and its commitment to transforming employee and customer experiences, the board gathers diverse members to discuss industry trends and challenges. Since Mews's inception in 2012, it has been at the forefront of innovation, with CEO Matt Welle co-chairing the advisory committee, emphasizing the critical role of technology in hospitality.

🌍 "Virtual Türkiye" is Turkey's new platform leveraging virtual reality to showcase its tourism highlights. Created in collaboration with Matterport and Virtual World Internet Ltd., the platform offers 360° views, enabling travelers to virtually explore hotels before visiting. Aimed at enhancing informed decision-making and promoting sustainable tourism by diversifying visitor attractions, the platform currently features virtual tours of hotels, spas, and restaurants, with plans to expand to tourist activities in the future.

📈 Jérémy Lacoste, Managing Director France at Eskimoz, shares four tips for optimizing visibility and SEO on conversational search engines as of 2025. He suggests measuring natural visibility and targeting specific semantic areas rather than diversifying too quickly. Brands should create rich, multimodal content and ensure technical excellence. Using Bing Web Tool is advised since Microsoft's index is key for ChatGPT. Optimizing Bing SEO could enhance positioning on LLM search engines.

🤗 Hugging Face launched Open Computer Agent, a new AI agent that navigates the web and uses applications autonomously, in May 2025. The agent performs tasks on a Linux virtual computer hosted in the cloud and is designed to make interfaces fully AI-driven, eliminating the need for traditional keyboard and mouse. Competitor OpenAI introduced a similar agent, Operator, in January 2025. Both aim to simplify online tasks like travel planning and booking, promising an end to manual form-filling. Open Computer Agent is open source for greater transparency and can be tested on Hugging Face's website.

🏠 Ennismore launches new residential concept "Our Habitas" focusing on well-being, connection, and community. Featuring over 45 projects in 20 countries, including the USA, Mexico, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, the brand emphasizes holistic living and local culture-influenced design, integrating wellness spaces and hospitality services. The aim is to offer shared spaces for resident interaction while reflecting local contexts, targeting individuals who value both privacy and communal experiences.