Hi {{ first name | there }},

I spent the last week with bad wifi and a lot of wind. I had forgotten how great it feels to rest and get very (very!) low screen time.

In our house "holiday" usually means working with a better view, but this time we actually managed to stop for a couple of days. I finished 3 books, got to be a full-time mom and shot a roll of film (yes, the kind you develop). Still, got to be anxious about the current “state of the world” and amazed by the space mission. Probably anxious and amazed in the same level, to be honest. Somewhere in between, I also found time to write about FutureTravel being a fully independent brand in 2026.

Came back to markets going wild and a world running low on trust. I think that's the next epidemic, by the way… a collapse of the thing that makes everything else work. Bueno, feels like I never left… but I’m still playing catch up with my inbox.

And at least I know these days gave me the exact right headspace for the big/busy Q2 we have ahead!

French startup Luniwave raised €3.6M to reward hotel guests for eco-friendly behaviour. Guests can earn points by skipping daily housekeeping, shortening their shower, or turning down the heating - they can them redeem these points by perks during their stay. And everything is tracked automically with smart room sensors.

A hundred hotels are already using it, with Accor and Best Western among them. Last year that translated into 20 million litres of water saved and over 100 tonnes of CO₂ avoided. They want 800 properties and 15 million users by 2027.

I asked CEO Léonard Grynfogel what surprised him most. His answer: when guests choose what to do with their points, they more often donate to an NGO than redeem a free cocktail.

What if people just need a reason to act more sustainably?

🇩🇪 Uber is acquiring Blacklane, the Berlin-based premium chauffeur service operating in 500+ cities across 60 countries, as it doubles down on executive and luxury travel. Great deal for Uber, not so great deal for Europe…

🇫🇷 HBX Group has bought out PerfectStay, the Paris-based dynamic packaging platform it first backed in June 2024. Together they're targeting the B2B2C holiday packages market, estimated at around $50 billion.

🇸🇬 Staynex Group has acquired Swiss hotel booking platform Sleap.io for $15M, adding 1.5 million properties and a European footprint to its AI and crypto-based travel platform.

🇮🇳 Uppercase has raised ~$2.3M from existing investors (Accel and Volrado) nearly 20 months after its last round. The Mumbai-based company sells backpacks and suitcases focused on durability and sustainable materials, with cricketer Jasprit Bumrah as investor and brand ambassador.

⛵ Someone actually went there 
A research firm sent an analyst to the Strait of Hormuz during an active conflict. He defied two officers with rifles, got on a speedboat with no GPS, swam in the strait with a cigar, got detained. And then came back with the best read on what's actually happening there.

🎵 AI can’t replicate this (yet)
Best 15 minutes of a “podcast” I watched in a long time. Just people being absurdly good at what they do, and a lesson of being completely present on your craft. I watched it more times than I'd like to admit, and I'm not even an Ed Sheeran fan. I wish most of us had moments like this while getting our jobs done 🙃

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

Hi {{ first name | there }},

Happy Friday! I know we usually land in your inbox on Thursdays, but this one needed a little more love. Worth the wait, I promise.

This week we interviewed the Danish founder who built a tool for tour operators to run their ads automatically, without touching a single setting.

Alongside that, a creator platform born out of one founder's very real frustration after negotiating deals with brands like Microsoft and Airbnb on WhatsApp for nearly a decade. Plus a 560% airfare spike on Asia-Europe routes, a €64M seed round, and a few other things worth knowing about.

It's a good one - let's dig in.

Brazilian-startup Eluvi raises €415K to fix a gap the travel industry has been ignoring: connecting content creators with hotels, destinations and tourism businesses through a proper platform, instead of WhatsApp threads.

Rachel Spencer co-founded Eluvi after nearly a decade traveling 127 countries while negotiating brand partnerships with the likes of Airbnb and Microsoft through WhatsApp informal channels. That experience became the product.

The round is small, but their solution lets hotels and destinations activate a network of creators as a structured, repeatable demand generation channel, a scalable acquisition model with data behind it. And it opens the door to the long tail: the mid-size and niche creators whose audiences are smaller but often more engaged and more likely to convert than the top-tier names everyone is already fighting over.

💬 "Our ambition is to move away from awareness and influencer marketing toward a performance model, with traceability, predictability and direct revenue impact" said Rachel Spencer, CEO of Eluvi.

The platform already has over 15,000+ creators, 160 clients including Novotel, Radisson and Pullman, and 40,000 partnership requests processed. International expansion is already underway via multinational hotel groups using the platform. The roud includes iFood co-founder Fábio Póvoa, as an angel investor.

🇨🇭 Lobby raises $2.2M to automate group and B2B booking requests that still arrive by email at hotels, venues and airlines, cutting response times by 75%. GetYourGuide co-founder Pascal Mathis joins the board.

🇬🇧 Vuelo raises €64M in seed funding to build a travel booking platform that combines trip discovery, personalised recommendations and pay-later financing in one place. Think Booking.com with BNPL built in from the start.

🇩🇰 Opally raises an undisclosed angel round from a group of Nordic traveltech founders to grow its AI platform for hotel guest communications. The 23yo founder took it to 50+ hotels in 5 countries in just a few months.

🇺🇸 Navi AI raises $6M to automate pilot training debriefs. After every flight, its platform analyses cockpit audio and telemetry data to generate a detailed performance report, a process that used to take days of manual work. Backed by United Airlines Ventures.

🇨🇭 Eterniti raises €30M to expand its luxury villa and chalet rental portfolio across Europe, and North America. The group manages 800+ properties across 25 destinations and runs its own on-the-ground hospitality teams.

Understory is a booking and operations platform built specifically for experience businesses, like tours, tastings, cooking classes, surf schools. Over 900 operators across Europe use it to manage bookings, payments, guest communication and scheduling in one place.

The Danish company raised €12 million 6 months ago, and this week launched Bloom, an AI-powered ad tool that runs paid campaigns automatically for experience operators.

We talked to co-founder Lasse Kjær to find out how it works and where it's going.

What is Bloom and what problem does it solve?
Most experience operators are great at what they do, not at marketing. They have empty slots, battle scars from paying agencies hourly rates, and no time to figure out Meta Ads. Bloom solves that. It plugs into their Understory account, reads their inventory, and runs paid ads automatically. No high agency fees. No learning curve. You just turn it on.

Walk us through what happens from sign-up to first ad live.
Bloom lives natively inside the Understory backoffice. It pulls their experiences, availability, segment data and pricing, builds the ad creative and targeting from that data, and their first campaign goes live within a few hours. They don't touch a single ad setting.

What does Bloom actually do with an operator's inventory data?
It uses the real availability to decide when and what to promote. Slow week coming up? Bloom pushes harder. Sold-out weekend? It pulls back. The ads reflect the actual business in real time, and not a generic campaign someone set up 6 months ago.

There are agencies that do paid social for tour operators. Why is a tech product better than a human in this case?
Agencies are built for big budgets and slow cycles. They earn most of their money on meetings and project planning, rarely on outcomes. Bloom is built specifically for this segment, with a data foundation that applies an industry (even sub-category specific) playbook instead of a generic one. And with our tech and AI, we can deliver the outcomes at a fraction of the price. For a month, we charge what an agency charges for a few hours.

Will every booking tool need to include performance marketing eventually?
For now it's a niche, done like this, with the results we're seeing, we haven't seen it before. But with how AI is developing, we believe we have a real responsibility towards our customers to help them drive business results and start doing a lot of the work for them. Work that has previously been outsourced in a very suboptimal and fragmented way.

surge in airfares on key Asia-Europe routes this month, driven by Persian Gulf disruptions. Source: Alton Aviation + Bloomberg, March 2026

☕ Why do the world's coffee shops all look the same?
When local spaces start to lose their soul to some kind of global aesthetic, they stop reflecting the culture they came from. A café in London shouldn't feel like one in Tokyo or São Paulo - but more and more, it does. We're losing authenticity on so many levels, and the spaces that once gave a city its character are slowly becoming a blurry backdrop. This video is about coffee shops, but it could be about so much more 😮‍💨

I'm off next week, so enjoy the silence. We'll be back in your inbox on April 9th!

See you then,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about tech and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

Hi {{ first name | there }},

We spent last week celebrating 100 women (!) building the future of travel. If you haven’t seen the list yet, it’s here.

This week we're back to the regular feed: a €40M VC fund from one of travel retail's oldest family businesses, a busy radar full of M&A and raises, notes from SXSW from a WeRoad co-founder who was actually there, and a Pokémon Go rabbit hole that goes somewhere unexpected.

This one came out at the beginning of the month, right in the middle of ITB. I literally scrolled past it while walking through the noisy halls. But I've been sitting on it because it deserves more than a line in the radar, so here it is.

If you've ever walked through an airport duty-free shop and grabbed a bottle of perfume or a last-minute gift before boarding, there's a good chance you were in a Gebr. Heinemann store. You probably didn't know it by that name. Most people don't. The Hamburg-based family company runs travel retail across airports on 6 continents and posted €4.3 billion in turnover last year.

Around 2019, Heinemann launched GHARAGE, their internal innovation hub to build and invest in startups reshaping travel retail. They’ve been running it for years. Now it became something bigger: GHARAGE Ventures, an independent institutional fund with €40M behind it and a mandate that goes well beyond Heinemann's own walls.

The thesis comes from seeing the gaps in their own industry every day: fragmented systems, manual workflows, physical and digital layers that don't talk to each other. Instead of waiting for solutions to land in their inbox, they went looking for them. More than capital, a startup backed by GHARAGE gets access to hundreds of real airport locations to test and prove their product. Real inventory, real customers, real operations. It’s hard to find a proving ground like this.

💬 "Large parts of the airport and travel retail ecosystem remain structurally under-digitised," said Lennard Niemann, Managing Partner at GHARAGE Ventures.

Fund I will back roughly 30 companies from seed to Series A, operating from Berlin and Singapore. Portfolio already includes Bounce (luggage storage), FileAI (document automation), and Gumshoe AI.

We asked Fabio Bin (CMO of WeRoad) to share what stood out from this year's SXSW. He was in Austin for the US launch of WeRoad, the Italian group travel company known for building one of the most loyal communities in the space… and for the marketing campaigns that always make us smile. He caught a panel with Justine Palefsky, co-founder and CEO of Kindred, a company we featured not long ago, fresh off a $125M raise.

Massive FOMO on our end for not being there this year. Fabio was kind enough to share his notes with us 👀, and the video of Justine speaking. If you prefer to read the highlights, we got you. If you prefer your front row seat, keep scrolling.

When one of WeRoad’s co-founders flies to Austin to launch a new market, catches a panel by a startup founder who just raised $125M, and takes the time to write it all down and share it with us, we are here for it ✨

Thanks to Justine for saying it out loud, and to Fabio for taking the notes - and passing them on!

@fabiobin

Kindred co-founder and CEO Justine Palefsky on human connections, travel, re-connection and how a bit of friction is okay for a more meani... See more

🇺🇸 Ramp acquires Juno, a guest travel platform built for non-employee travelers (like candidates, contractors, clients) the bit of business travel most tools have been skipping.

🇰🇷 RIAD raises an undisclosed seed bridge to accelerate the North American push of their AI agent platform that automates back-office operations for travel agencies and TMCs.

🇺🇸 eTip acquires Shiny Solutions, a workforce tech provider covering recruitment, scheduling, and performance recognition, expanding from digital tipping into a fuller hospitality workforce management stack.

🇺🇸 Bilt acquires Sion for $30M, a commission reconciliation platform used by 8,000+ travel advisors handling $7B in bookings.

🇮🇳 Atlys closes a $36M Series C led by Susquehanna Asia VC, with MakeMyTrip joining as a new investor to accelerate its push into new markets and AI-powered processing across 120+ countries.

🇮🇹 Mr. Franz rebrands to Hint and raises €500k pre-seed. It’s a travel app going against the algorithm: recommendations come from verified local contributors, not AI.

of passengers say they would pay for end-to-end baggage tracking. Source: SITA 2025 Passenger IT Insights

🕹️ Pokémon Go was mapping the world 
While millions of people were catching Pokémon, they were also photographing the world: 30 billion images of streets, buildings, and urban spaces. Now they are using all of that to help robots navigate cities where GPS doesn't work well.

🔬 10 breakthrough technologies for 2026 
Great overview from MIT on new technologies. From sodium-ion batteries, next-gen nuclear reactors, personalized gene editing, AI companions, genetically resurrected species, commercial space stations, and hyperscale AI data centers, among others. None of them are travel stories, but they sketch out the world we're walking into and how it will reshape the way we live and work. Super interesting.

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

Travel moves because people move it. Behind every shift in how we book, how we arrive, how we experience a destination, there is someone who decided to do things differently — and had the conviction to see it through.

The Top 100 Women Leaders & Innovators in Travel is our attempt to name some of those people - recognized for their roles, their influence and the impact they’re having on the industry right now. The list spans founders and executives, operators and creators, established names and ones you may not have heard yet. What they share is that their work is shaping the industry from the inside.

Compiling it gets harder every year, which told us something useful: visibility in travel still has a long way to go. The list is alphabetical and focuses on women in active leadership roles within the industry. It does not include advisors, investors, or those whose primary work sits outside the industry itself.

If someone is missing, we want to know. Reach out at ana@futuretravel.com. In the meantime: share this, widely.

Adèle de Montmarin Adèle de Montmarin leads innovation at Accor, driving experimentation and new hospitality concepts. Based in France, she focuses on open innovation, partnerships and emerging technology to improve guest experience and hotel operations across the group’s global portfolio.

Alessandra Priante Alessandra Priante is President of ENIT, the Italian National Tourist Board. An economist with an international public-sector background, she leads Italy’s destination strategy and global promotion, working with industry and institutions to grow sustainable tourism.

Alix Boulnois Alix Boulnois is Accor’s Chief Commercial, Digital & Tech Officer, overseeing global commercial performance alongside distribution, loyalty, e-commerce and core technology. She drives the group’s digital transformation to personalize guest journeys and scale innovation.

Allison Ausband Allison Ausband is Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Delta Air Lines, leading global talent, total rewards and HR services for Delta’s workforce. With decades at the airline, she champions Delta’s people-first culture and employee experience as a competitive advantage.

Amanda Hyndman Amanda Hyndman is Chief Operating Officer at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. With more than 30 years in luxury hospitality, she oversees global hotel operations and key brand standards, while also continuing as Chief People & Culture Officer.

Amna Al Redha Amna Al Redha is an innovation leader within The Emirates Group, known for driving venture partnerships and programmes that accelerate new aviation and travel technologies. Based in Dubai, she works at the intersection of corporate innovation and startups to improve passenger and operational experiences.

Andrea Pfeiffer Andrea Pfeiffer is Managing Director for TUI Spain, Portugal & the Americas, overseeing outbound travel and market growth across the region. She focuses on product strategy and distribution partnerships, helping expand TUI’s footprint and customer reach in Iberia and Latin America.

Anne Pruvot Anne Pruvot is CEO of SNCF Connect & Tech, the digital arm of SNCF Voyageurs. Based in Paris, she leads platform and mobility innovation that simplifies multimodal journeys, supporting more sustainable travel through data, technology and customer-focused digital services.

Anne Rigail Anne Rigail is CEO of Air France, appointed in 2018 after leading customer functions across the airline. Based in France, she steers strategy and operations, with a focus on service quality, network performance and the transformation of a major global carrier.

Ariane Gorin Ariane Gorin is CEO of Expedia Group and the first woman to lead the company. Since taking the role in 2024, she is refocusing the business on its consumer brands (Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo) while pushing AI across trip planning, customer service and partner tools.

Astrid Kastberg Astrid Kastberg is Managing Director of RateHawk, appointed in 2025 as the B2B booking platform scaled rapidly within Emerging Travel Group. Based in Dubai, she leads commercial and product growth, expanding supply and tools that help travel professionals book accommodation worldwide.

Aurélie Sandler Aurélie Sandler is Co-CEO of Evaneos, the marketplace connecting travelers with local agencies for tailor-made trips. Based in France, she helps scale responsible tourism, focusing on authentic experiences, local economic impact and lower-carbon travel choices across the company’s global destinations.

Barbara Jamison Woods Barbara Jamison Woods is President of City Destinations Alliance and a destination marketing leader. At London & Partners (London Convention Bureau), she heads the European Business Team, leading business-events development and partnerships that strengthen London’s visitor economy.

Barbara Muckermann Barbara Muckermann is President and CEO of Kempinski Hotels, leading the historic luxury hospitality group’s global portfolio. With senior leadership experience across travel and luxury, including as CEO of Silversea Cruises, she focuses on service excellence, brand growth and owner value.

Carol Borg Carol Borg is CFO at Amadeus, appointed in 2025. With more than 30 years of international finance leadership, she drives strategic growth and transformation at the travel technology company, supporting global expansion, investment priorities and long-term value creation.

Carolina Martinoli Carolina Martinoli is Chair and CEO of Vueling, since 2024 after senior leadership roles at IAG. Based in Barcelona, she leads the airline’s strategy and transformation, balancing customer experience, operational performance and responsible growth across Vueling’s European network.

Caroline Andrews Caroline Andrews is Chief Customer and People Officer at IAG Cargo. With extensive HR and transformation leadership, she helps shape culture, talent strategy and customer-facing capability, supporting the cargo business through digital and operational change.

Catriona King Catriona King is Chief Commercial Officer at Skyscanner, leading global commercial teams across flights, hotels and car hire. With deep travel industry experience, she drives partner growth and marketplace performance, helping scale Skyscanner’s reach and value for travelers worldwide.

Clare Jones Clare Jones is CEO of Polarsteps, the travel app that helps people plan, track and share journeys. She leads the company’s next growth phase with a focus on product, community and privacy-first storytelling, building tools that make travel memories easier to capture and revisit.

Clarisse Berggårdh Clarisse Berggårdh leads Helsinki Partners as CEO, championing the city’s international growth. She’s a collaborative, board-experienced leader known for bringing partners together, shaping strategy, and turning bold ideas into sustainable, tech-enabled visitor experiences.

Claudia Brözel Claudia Brözel is a professor and tourism innovation advocate, known for founding the Social Entrepreneurs in Tourism competition. Based in Germany, she supports founders building impact-led travel ventures, connecting academia, industry partners and global networks to scale sustainable tourism solutions.

Cristina Salsinha Cristina Salsinha is an Innovation Project Manager at Turismo de Portugal, developing programs that support startups and sustainable tourism initiatives. Based in Portugal, she helps connect industry, policy and technology to improve destination competitiveness, resilience and responsible visitor experiences.

Daphne Spencer Daphne Spencer is co-founder of the African Association of Women in Tourism and Hospitality, advocating for women’s leadership, entrepreneurship and inclusion across the sector. She builds networks, programs and visibility that help women advance and shape a more equitable industry.

Dina Belon Dina Belon is President of Staypineapple Hotels, guiding the boutique hospitality brand’s strategy and guest experience. She is known for culture-led leadership and service details that differentiate independent hotels, helping teams deliver consistent, memorable stays across the company’s urban properties.

Dorothea von Boxberg Dorothea von Boxberg is CEO of Brussels Airlines, appointed in 2023 after senior roles within the Lufthansa Group. She leads the Belgian carrier’s strategy and operations, focusing on network performance, service reliability and sustainable growth in a competitive European market.

Ellie Mertz Ellie Mertz is CFO at Airbnb, and has more than a decade in finance leadership at the company. She oversees global finance and planning, supporting Airbnb’s growth across stays and experiences with disciplined investment and long-term value creation.

Elly Tomlins Elly Tomlins is Chief People Officer at easyJet. She leads people and culture strategy across the business, focusing on leadership, capability and engagement to support operational performance and customer service at one of Europe’s largest low-cost carriers.

Emiliana Limosani Emiliana Limosani is Chief Commercial Officer at ITA Airways and CEO of Volare, the airline’s frequent flyer programme. Based in Italy, she leads commercial strategy, distribution and customer initiatives, helping position the carrier in a competitive market while strengthening loyalty and partnerships.

Emilie Couton Emilie Couton is CEO of Accor Plus since 2025 after more than two decades in hospitality across Asia Pacific. She leads the subscription-based loyalty program’s growth, focusing on member value, partner experience and innovation across hotels, dining and travel benefits.

Erika De Santi Erika De Santi is co-founder of WeRoad, the group-travel company focused on community-led adventures. Based in Italy, she helps shape product and growth as the brand expands across Europe, making it easier for solo travelers to join curated trips and meet new people.

Fatima Beyina-Moussa Fatima Beyina-Moussa is CEO of ECAir, leading the Republic of the Congo’s national airline since its launch. Based in Central Africa, she has advanced regional connectivity and is recognized for aviation leadership, including serving as president of AFRAA.

Fernanda Barrence Mutz Fernanda Barrence Mutz is founder and CEO of The Trip Boutique AI, an intelligence platform helping travel companies deliver hyper-personalization and operational efficiency. Based in Zurich, she brings cross-cultural corporate experience and supports industry innovation through advisory and ecosystem roles.

Freda Cheung Freda Cheung is President and CEO, Asia Pacific at Avolta, leading the travel retail group’s growth across the region from Singapore. Her focus is on commercial performance, partnerships and innovation to serve travelers across airports and other channels.

Gloria Guevara Gloria Guevara is President of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). A former Mexico tourism secretary, she drives advocacy, investment and sustainable growth across travel and tourism worldwide.

Grazia Vittadini Grazia Vittadini is CTO and a management board member at Lufthansa Group, overseeing technology, IT and innovation. An aerospace engineer with deep aviation experience, she leads digital transformation and fleet-related initiatives that strengthen operations, sustainability and customer value.

Heather Balsley Heather Balsley is Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer at IHG Hotels & Resorts and a member of the Executive Committee. She leads global commercial strategy, marketing and loyalty, focusing on brand growth and guest experience across IHG’s portfolio.

Heike Birlenbach Heike Birlenbach is Chief Commercial Officer at SWISS. She leads sales, distribution and commercial strategy, supporting network performance and premium customer experience as the airline modernizes its long-haul product.

Henley Vazquez Henley Vazquez is co-founder of Fora Travel, the host agency and community designed to modernize the travel advisor model. She supports entrepreneurs building travel businesses with training, preferred partner access and technology that streamlines planning, booking and service.

Jane Sun Jane Sun is CEO of Trip.com Group and a board director, leading one of the world’s largest online travel platforms. Based in China, she has driven global expansion, product innovation and service diversification, shaping digital travel experiences for millions of customers.

Janette Roush Janette Roush is Chief Innovation Officer at Brand USA, the national destination marketing organisation for the United States. She leads the organisation's innovation and AI agenda, developing new approaches to travel marketing and personalisation that help global audiences discover destinations beyond the obvious gateway cities.

Jasmine Ezz Jasmine Ezz is Chief Marketing Officer at trivago, part of the company’s leadership team. Based in Germany, she leads global brand and performance marketing, driving customer engagement and product positioning to help travelers compare hotel deals and plan smarter trips.

Jen Mason Jen Mason is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Marriott International. A long-time Marriott leader, she supports financial strategy, risk management and investment priorities as the company manages a global hotel portfolio.

Jennifer Bamuturaki Jennifer Bamuturaki is a Ugandan aviation executive who served as CEO of Uganda Airlines from 2022. She led network and operational expansion for the national carrier, strengthening regional connectivity, though her tenure has also drawn public scrutiny around performance and governance.

Jennifer Catto Jennifer Catto is CMO at Sabre. With deep travel-tech and media experience, she leads global brand, product marketing and customer insights, supporting Sabre’s transformation across airline and hospitality technology.

Jie Zheng Jie Zheng is Technology Team Lead at TUI’s Innovation Hub, focused on AI and data-driven transformation. She helps translate research and emerging technologies into practical products and workflows, supporting sourcing and operational innovation across the travel group’s global organization.

Joanna Geraghty Joanna Geraghty is CEO of JetBlue. With a background spanning legal and operations roles at the airline, she leads strategy and execution, focusing on reliability, customer experience and restoring performance.

Jolie Fleming Jolie Fleming is Chief Product & Technology Officer at IHG Hotels & Resorts. She leads product and technology for guests, owners and enterprise teams, shaping digital experiences and platforms across IHG’s global hotel portfolio.

Judith Eyck Judith Eyck is COO at HolidayPirates, leading the social-driven travel platform’s operating model across product, technology, data and AI. She turns strategy into scalable execution, helping HolidayPirates grow across multiple international markets.

Juliet Strong Juliet Strong is CMO at RoomPriceGenie, the revenue management platform for independent hospitality. Based in the UK, she leads go-to-market strategy, brand and demand generation, helping hoteliers adopt automated pricing to improve profitability and decision-making.

Karen Strougo Karen Strougo is CCO at Aeroportos de Portugal (VINCI Airports), leading commercial strategy across Portugal’s airports. She focuses on passenger experience, route development and partnerships that strengthen connectivity and tourism, while advancing innovation and sustainable growth.

Keyra Lynn Johnson Keyra Lynn Johnson is Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Social Impact Officer at Delta Air Lines. A long-tenured Delta leader, she shapes enterprise DEI strategy and accountability, guiding programs that support employees, customers and communities while strengthening culture and social impact.

Kgomotso Ramothea Kgomotso Ramothea is Chief Executive Officer of the African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA), promoting African tourism through partnerships and responsible development. She connects destinations, DMCs and global travel trade stakeholders, advocating for sustainable growth and stronger industry representation.

Kristin Dorsett Kristin Dorsett leads Experiences at Tripadvisor Group, overseeing brands such as Viator and Tripadvisor Experiences. She drives product and operational strategy across the marketplace, helping scale supply, technology and partner performance to deliver high-quality tours and activities for travelers worldwide.

Kristin Oliver Kristin Oliver is Chief Human Resources Officer at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. With senior HR and legal leadership experience across major consumer brands, she leads Hyatt’s global people strategy, supporting culture, talent development and workforce transformation for future growth.

Kristina Palovicova Kristina Palovicova is an innovation and sustainability leader at Transavia. Based in the Netherlands, she applies an entrepreneurial mindset to test new ideas, partner with industry programs and drive measurable impact in aviation.

Laura Martinez Celada Laura Martinez Celada is co-founder and VP of Client Growth at The Hotels Network, helping hotels increase direct bookings through personalization and data-driven marketing. She leads client success and growth initiatives, bridging commercial strategy with product innovation in hospitality tech.

Laura Meyer Laura Meyer is a board member at Switzerland Tourism and an experienced leader in travel and transformation, based in Zurich. Formerly CEO of Hotelplan Group, she brings strategic and digital expertise to destination marketing and tourism governance, supporting sustainable growth and visitor experience.

Linda Vallner Linda Vallner is Vice President, EMEA at Cloudbeds, leading regional growth and partnerships. She supports independent hotels with modern hospitality management technology, helping operators improve distribution, operations and guest experience across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Lynne Embleton Lynne Embleton is Chair and CEO of Aer Lingus. Based in Ireland, she leads network strategy and operations for the flag carrier, focusing on sustainable growth, customer experience and performance as Aer Lingus expands transatlantic and European connectivity.

Maria Rocha Barros Maria Rocha Barros is Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Booking.com, leading global legal, compliance and public affairs. She supports the company’s mission to make travel easier by strengthening governance, risk management and responsible business practices worldwide.

Marion Koopman Marion Koopman is Chief Operations & Commercial Officer at The Social Hub, leading a hospitality brand redefining modern travel through community-led spaces. She drives commercial strategy, brand and digital innovation, scaling hybrid hotels and hubs that connect travelers, locals and entrepreneurs across Europe.

Marjan Rintel Marjan Rintel is President and CEO of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, leading the carrier through transformation, innovation and sustainability. Based in the Netherlands, she focuses on operational resilience and customer experience, positioning KLM as a modern, responsible airline in global aviation.

Martine Gerow Martine Gerow is Chief Financial Officer at Accor in France, helping steer one of the world’s largest hospitality groups through growth and change. As a senior leader in travel, she guides financial strategy that supports innovation, resilience and long-term value across Accor’s brands.

Mieke De Schepper Mieke De Schepper is CEO of Sunweb Group, leading a major European tour operator through its next growth phase. She focuses on digital transformation and customer experience, championing innovation that makes holidays easier to plan, book and enjoy responsibly.

Miriam Kartman Miriam Kartman is Chief People Officer at KLM and a board member, leading workforce transformation for one of Europe’s flagship airlines. She advances culture, capability and inclusion, supporting operational change and innovation as KLM modernizes customer experience and long-term sustainability.

Mitsuko Tottori Mitsuko Tottori is CEO of Japan Airlines, leading one of Asia’s flagship carriers. As a leader in aviation, she drives operational excellence, service innovation and sustainability, guiding JAL’s modernization while protecting its reputation for reliability and customer care in global travel.

Naomi Trickey Naomi Trickey is Chief People Officer at Mews, the hospitality technology platform helping hotels modernize operations. She builds teams and culture for scale, bringing people-first leadership to a high-growth tech company focused on innovation, customer impact and better hotel experiences.

Natalia Bayona Natalia Bayona is Executive Director at UN Tourism, shaping innovation, education and investment initiatives for the sector. Based in Spain, she champions tourism as a force for inclusive growth and sustainability, supporting destinations and entrepreneurs with data, partnerships and forward-looking policy.

Nichola Bates Nichola Bates leads Boeing’s accelerators and innovation programs in aerospace, championing startups and new technologies that shape the future of aviation. As a prominent leader in travel and mobility innovation, she builds ecosystems connecting corporates, founders and investors to scale impact.

Nikita Miller Nikita Miller is Chief Product Officer at Perk, leading product strategy for the AI-powered business travel platform. As a tech leader, she drives innovation that simplifies corporate travel and spend while delivering measurable customer value.

Nikki Krishnamurthy Nikki Krishnamurthy is Chief People Officer at Uber, leading global HR, recruiting, workplace strategy and DEI. With previous leadership at Expedia, she is a prominent leader connecting people strategy with innovation, shaping how teams build travel and mobility experiences at scale.

Nina de Souza Nina de Souza is Chief Product Officer at Trainline, appointed in 2025 to accelerate AI-powered product innovation. Based in the UK, she leads product vision across rail and coach, helping millions travel more sustainably by making booking, disruption handling and journey planning simpler.

Opal Perry Opal Perry is Chief Data and Technology Officer at easyJet, leading technology, data and digital transformation. As an innovator in aviation, she champions modern platforms and analytics that improve reliability and customer experience, helping scale one of Europe’s largest low-cost airlines.

Paula Felstead Paula Felstead is Group CIO at HBX Group, guiding enterprise technology, data and cybersecurity across the travel distribution ecosystem. A long-time leader in travel tech, she drives modernization and innovation that help partners operate securely, scale globally and serve travelers more effectively.

Pernille Ormholt Vang Pernille Ormholt Vang is Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President at SAS. As a leader in aviation, she drives people strategy and culture change that supports transformation, innovation and resilience across the Scandinavian airline.

Radha Vyas Radha Vyas is co-founder and CEO of Flash Pack, building a travel brand that turns solo trips into community-led adventures for adults. A founder and innovator in travel, she focuses on experience design and scalable operations that create meaningful connections through curated journeys worldwide.

Rebecca Van Dyck Rebecca Van Dyck is Chief Marketing Officer at Airbnb, bringing deep brand leadership from major consumer and tech companies. As an executive shaping travel innovation, she leads global marketing and research to strengthen Airbnb’s platform and expand how people discover and book trips.

Rhonda Crawford Rhonda Crawford is Senior Vice President of Customer Experience Design at American Airlines, leading end-to-end journey design across ground and inflight touchpoints. An innovator in airline experience, she brings digital leadership to modernize service, premium offerings and operational consistency.

Sabina Fluxá Thienemann Sabina Fluxá Thienemann is CEO of Iberostar Group, leading the hospitality company’s sustainability-driven transformation. As a leader in travel, she champions circular economy initiatives and responsible tourism while scaling guest experience innovation across Iberostar’s global resorts and hotel portfolio.

Sarah Beth Reno Sarah Beth Reno is Chief Operating Officer at Carnival Cruise Line, leading operations for one of the world’s largest cruise brands. As a senior leader in travel, she drives operational excellence and innovation that elevate guest experience, safety and performance.

Shaikha Al Nowais Shaikha Al Nowais is the incoming Secretary-General of UN Tourism, confirmed in 2025 and set to begin her term in 2026. A pioneering leader in global tourism, she brings private-sector hospitality experience and a focus on sustainable, inclusive destination development.

Shilpa Ranganathan Shilpa Ranganathan is Chief Product Officer at Expedia Group, leading product strategy across one of travel’s largest platforms. An innovator in travel tech, she focuses on customer-centric design and AI-enabled capabilities that make planning, booking and trip management simpler and more trusted.

Sonia Araujo Lopez Sonia Araujo Lopez is General Director of Innovation, Sustainability and Digital Transformation at Renfe. A leader modernizing rail, she advances data-driven operations and greener mobility, improving passenger experience while accelerating Spain’s shift toward efficient, low-carbon transportation.

Sophie Dekkers Sophie Dekkers is Chief Commercial Officer at easyJet and a leading voice for diversity and inclusion in aviation. With a long career at the airline, she drives network and commercial strategy, championing innovation that strengthens customer value and sustainable growth across Europe.

Susanne Mørch Koch Susanne Mørch Koch is CEO of Tivoli Gardens, leading one of Denmark’s most iconic attractions. A leader in experiential travel, she blends tradition with innovation, expanding cultural programming and guest experience to keep Tivoli a world-class destination for visitors year-round.

Suzanna Chiu Suzanna Chiu is Head of Amadeus Ventures, backing travel tech startups shaping the future of the industry. As a leader in innovation, she connects founders with strategic capital and expertise, accelerating solutions across hospitality, mobility and travel commerce.

Tamara Lohan Tamara Lohan is founder and chair of Mr & Mrs Smith, the boutique hotel platform acquired by Hyatt. An entrepreneur and travel innovator, she built a global community around curated stays, shaping how travelers discover distinctive, design-led hospitality worldwide.

Tracey McCann Tracey McCann is Chief Financial Officer at Ryanair, appointed in 2020 after decades with the airline. As a senior leader in aviation, she steers financial discipline that supports scale, innovation and resilient operations across Europe’s largest low-cost carrier.

Trix van der Vleuten Trix van der Vleuten is Chief Marketing Officer at The Social Hub, shaping global brand and performance strategy as the hospitality group expands across Europe. A leader in travel innovation, she drives marketing transformation that strengthens community-led experiences and sustainable growth.

Ursula Hurley Ursula Hurley is CFO at JetBlue. As a leader in aviation, she shapes financial strategy that supports fleet and network decisions, resilience and customer-focused innovation across the airline’s turnaround and growth plans.

Uvashni Raman Uvashni Raman is CFO at Booking.com, overseeing finance for one of the world’s largest travel marketplaces. As a senior leader in travel tech, she guides investment and performance discipline that enables innovation, trusted payments and long-term growth in global online travel.

Valentine Camusot Valentine Camusot is General Manager Europe at Rail Europe, helping more travelers choose rail across borders. As a leader in sustainable mobility, she drives partnerships, customer experience and operational improvements that make international train travel easier to discover, book and enjoy.

Vanessa Hudson Vanessa Hudson is CEO and Managing Director of Qantas, appointed in 2023 as the airline’s first woman CEO. She leads operational and cultural transformation, focusing on reliability and customer experience, while guiding innovation and long-term sustainability for Australia’s flagship carrier.

Veronica Diquattro Veronica Diquattro is President of B2C & Supply Europe at Omio, leading consumer growth and supplier strategy across multimodal travel. A leader in travel innovation, she helps scale a platform that makes trains, buses, flights and ferries easier to compare and book.

Veronica Pamio Veronica Pamio is Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Sustainability & Destination Management at Aeroporti di Roma, a role she assumed in 2024. She advances decarbonization, stakeholder engagement and destination strategy that strengthens airports as sustainable gateways.

Wendy Olson Killion Wendy Olson Killion is CEO of Rome2Rio, appointed in 2024 after senior leadership roles at Expedia. She focuses on scaling multimodal search and partnerships, helping travelers plan complex door-to-door journeys more easily worldwide.

Yael Bassani Yael Bassani is Head of Growth at Bookaway, driving acquisition and marketplace expansion for ground transport and activities booking. As a leader in travel growth, she blends data-driven marketing with partner strategy to make trips more accessible and seamless across emerging and global routes.

Yingyan Hu Yingyan Hu is the co-founder of Holafly, leading growth and partnerships for its digital travel connectivity platform. She’s a hands-on leader who blends performance marketing, market insight, and cross-cultural collaboration to help travelers stay connected worldwide.

Yvonne Moynihan Yvonne Moynihan is Corporate and ESG Officer at Wizz Air, leading governance, legal and sustainability strategy across the airline group. A prominent leader in aviation, she champions decarbonization and responsible growth, helping align low-cost operations with long-term climate ambitions.

Zina Bencheikh Zina Bencheikh is Managing Director for EMEA at Intrepid Travel, leading growth for the B Corp known for responsible adventures. A leader in sustainable tourism, she advocates for inclusive travel and community benefit, helping scale impact-driven experiences across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Hi {{ first name | there }},

This week we're looking at a German startup using AI agents to fully automate hotel revenue management, and raising €6.5M to do it faster. We're also covering a Japanese luxury concept that lets multiple owners share a villa, plus a handful of funding rounds from the US, Italy, and Mexico worth knowing about.

And! it's our first time at ITB Berlin and we're keeping the schedule open for good conversations. If you're going and think we should meet, just reply to this email. We'd love to connect 🚀

happyhotel, an Offenburg-based startup, has closed a €6.5 million Series A round to build AI agents for hotel revenue management.

💬 "We are not building our system for the revenue manager - we are automating the tasks of a revenue manager. Our goal is to enable professional revenue management for every hotel and fully automate the selling of hotel rooms so hoteliers can focus entirely on their guests," said Rafael Weißmüller, CEO and co-founder.

The funding will go toward expanding across Europe and developing happyhotel's AI agent further. The tool helps hoteliers make smarter pricing and distribution decisions in real time, and is designed to take on more complex tasks over time. The startup currently manages pricing for over 50,000 hotel rooms across 12 countries, and says its customers see an average revenue boost of around 15%.

Some of the best conversations at ITB happen off the trade floor 👀

On March 3rd in Betahaus Kreuzberg, a curated delegation of Danish travel tech startups is hosting an evening focused on real solutions & partnerships.

Expect travel tech pitch sessions presenting concrete solutions, curated matchmaking with founders, and networking with hotels, destinations, attractions, DMCs and tech partners who are actively exploring collaborations.

If you’re looking for innovative tools to improve operations, guest experience or sustainability, this is a room worth being in. Save your spot!

🇩🇰 Meet the Danish travel tech delegation in Berlin

🇺🇸 Odynn raises $9.5M to help banks and loyalty programs launch branded travel booking portals quickly.

🇮🇹 Intuos raises €720K to grow its aviation-tech platform globally. The Italian startup helps flight schools, flying clubs, and small fleet operators run their day-to-day aircraft operations more safely and efficiently, combining software with IoT devices.

🇲🇽 Daypass lands $2M to expand its platform that lets travellers and locals book one-day access to hotels, beach clubs, spas, and activities - no overnight stay required.

🇯🇵 NOT A HOTEL raises ¥10.1 billion (around €55 million) in a Series C round mixing equity and debt, to grow its luxury villa platform across Japan. The concept lets multiple owners share a designer property, with access to 9 locations and over 1,100 owners already on board.

of travelers now use AI in trip planning, primarily for choosing destinations (42%) and accommodation (41%). Source: Criteo Global Winter Travel Pulse 2025

🕵 Murder mystery travel
There’s a rise in staged murder-mystery trips where guests step into a fictional investigation during their stay. Think true-crime energy, but fully immersive and theatrical. Curious if this becomes mainstream 👀

🇩🇪 Making the most of ITB
It’s our first time at ITB and we’re building the schedule carefully to make the most of it (recommendations are very welcome <3) - so if there’s someone we should meet or something worth showing up for, send it our way!

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

Hi {{ first name | there }},

This week we're talking about France-based Naboo raising €58.7M to help companies deal with their messy event spending, plus a few interesting funding rounds in flying taxis and autonomous vehicles, plus Korean Air's fun approach to airport lounges.

Also a quick heads up: we'll be in Barcelona for MWC and Berlin for ITB soon. Let us know if you'll be around 🚀

AI is reshaping how travelers research and plan trips, yes. But when it comes to capturing high-intent demand that turns into bookings, paid search remains a critical lever for travel brands.

The real challenge now is running it efficiently as demand becomes more volatile.

Together with Digital Sardine, we’re offering a free, senior-level Google Ads audit for travel brands 👀

Get your free audit →

_{FUNDING SPOTLIGHT}

Naboo, a Paris-based event tech startup, has raised €58.7M in Series B funding, just a year after its €20M Series A. The funding will accelerate US expansion and product development as Naboo broadens its platform beyond events into wider procurement categories. They are building an AI-powered platform that helps companies book and manage corporate events in one place, replacing fragmented tools and manual coordination.

A key focus for Naboo is the so-called tail spend, the smaller event and procurement expenses that don't go through official supplier agreements and are hard for companies to track.

💬 “Our mission is clear: to provide large enterprises with an infrastructure that combines purchasing performance, compliance and automation on a global scale,” said Maxime Eduardo, CEO and co-founder of Naboo.

_{ON OUR RADAR}

🇺🇸 Natilus raises $28M to advance its blended-wing cargo aircraft, designed to lower freight costs and fuel consumption compared to traditional planes.

🇨🇳 Aerofugia raises nearly $150M to advance certification of its electric flying taxis, bringing the company closer to commercial passenger operations.

🇺🇸 Waymo raises $16B to expand its autonomous taxi operations, bringing self-driving ride-hailing to more cities.

🇺🇸 BizTrip AI raises $1.5M in pre-seed funding to build AI-powered tools that help business travellers plan trips, book tools, and manage itineraries more intelligently.

🇺🇸 Popfly acquires Mount, bringing Mount’s travel creator network into its platform as it expands into travel and local experiences.

_INSIGHT

Korean Air just opened a ramyeon library in its business class lounge at Incheon. Passengers can browse shelves of instant noodles, pick their toppings, cook them up, and enjoy them before their flight.

There's also a cooking studio, an arcade with claw machines and photo booths. Lots of the usual quiet corners as well. You can see more of the lounge here. 

What I like about it is that it's a different approach than the usual buffet + neutral tones combo. A treat for families and younger travelers :) Korean Air leaned into something local and interactive - ramyeon is everywhere in Korean culture, and now it's part of the airport experience too. ✌️

9-12 days
It takes 9 days to book a flight and 12 days to book a hotel from first search to purchase, reinforcing how long and multi-touch the travel booking journey remains.
_{Source: Criteo Global Winter Travel Pulse 2025}

_{BEFORE CHECKING OUT}

🇩🇪 We’ve just confirmed that FutureTravel will be at ITB Berlin in a few weeks and can’t wait to make the most of our days in the city!

So if there’s a side event, meetup, dinner, startup or someone we absolutely shouldn’t miss, let us know 🤓

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

This week’s edition looks at how travel systems are being rethought, from distribution built for AI agents to destinations preparing for long-term pressure, not just peak moments.

We look at AI-native booking infrastructure with Nuitée, spotlight a funding round reshaping home swapping, and share a short interview with the President of Italy’s Tourism Board on what Milano–Cortina reveals about resilience, governance, and legacy.

_{THE SHIFT TO AGENTIC TRAVEL INFRASTRUCTURE}

Most travel API structures still mirror human UX patterns: filters, stars, price bands, location. But the next user isn’t a human. It’s an AI agent trying to understand intent, context, images, and preferences, and then make decisions on its own.

Together with Nuitée, this week we unpack what it really takes to build distribution for AI systems (not just add “AI” on top), and why they decided to rebuild their entire stack around this idea.

It’s a proper look at agentic travel infrastructure, embedded distribution, and where booking flows are actually heading. 

Read the full piece →

_{FUNDING SPOTLIGHT}

Kindred, a San Francisco–based home swapping platform, has raised $125M across a $40M Series B and an $85M Series C to scale its growth. Founded in 2021 and led by co-founder and CEO Justine Palefsky, the company is positioning home swapping as a third accommodation model alongside hotels and short-term rentals.

Kindred was previously featured in FutureTravel’s list of female-founded startups to watch. Most homes on Kindred are people’s main residences. Members don’t rent homes from each other or pay hosts. Instead, they exchange stays, with Kindred charging a service fee to access the platform. The new funding will go toward product development, trust and safety, and expanding community-led experiences across the platform.

💬 “The capital will be used to evolve our community experiences and offerings, including allowing members to build out new, trust-led sub-communities where they can open their homes to others within their extended networks, or with whom they share common interests or values.” said Justine Palefsky (CEO).

_{MILANO-CORTINA: THE BIG PICTURE}

As Milano-Cortina 2026 kicks off, Italy is not just preparing for a global event. It’s testing how its tourism system holds up under pressure: across cities and mountain regions, infrastructures and communities, promotion and governance.

We spoke with Alessandra Priante, President of ENIT, about what’s changing beneath the surface of Italian tourism, from shifting traveler motivations to resilience, data, and the legacy question behind Milano-Cortina 2026.

_{HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CONVERSATION}

• From where to why: Travel decisions are increasingly driven by motivation, meaning, and identity, not destinations alone.

• Resilience is strategic: It’s about reading weak signals early and acting intentionally, not normalizing crisis.

• The Olympics as a stress test: Milano–Cortina is less about the Games themselves and more about what still works after 2026.

_{THE FULL CONVERSATION}

FutureTravel: What feels most different about this moment in Italian tourism?

Alessandra Priante: Tourism is going through a paradigm shift. For a long time, it was organized around where people travel. Today, the real question is why they travel.

Motivations like meaning, wellbeing, identity, learning, and belonging now matter more than the destination itself. Italy is starting to internalize this shift, rethinking tourism not as a set of places, but as a system of experiences, values, and narratives.

At the same time, there’s growing awareness that tourism can no longer be managed through promotion alone. It requires governance, data, skills, and long-term choices. We are moving, not without friction, from volume-driven growth to purpose-driven development.

---

FT: What capabilities does Italy need to build to stay resilient?

AP: Resilience today means reading weak signals early and responding without becoming numb.

Geopolitical shocks risk becoming normalized, which is dangerous. Tourism depends heavily on trust, perception, and social cohesion. Ignoring complexity doesn’t make it disappear.

Italy needs to strengthen 3 capabilities:
1 - advanced data governance, where AI connects fragmented datasets and supports real-time decisions;
2 - human capital, with destination managers skilled across sustainability, digital tools, and community engagement;
3 - systemic coordination, treating tourism as strategic infrastructure, not a standalone sector.

Resilience is about staying alert, adaptive, and intentional.

---

FT: What does good public–private collaboration look like today?

AP: Good collaboration today is less about partnerships on paper and more about shared intelligence.

Public institutions provide vision, rules, interoperable data systems, and long-term objectives. The private sector brings experimentation, technology, and speed. AI can help align decisions across actors, rather than increase fragmentation.

In Italy, the collaborations that work best are place-based, data-informed, and outcome-driven. They focus on managing flows, improving residents’ quality of life, and strengthening local value chains. True collaboration is continuous, transparent, and built on trust.

---

FT: What does Milano-Cortina 2026 represent beyond the Games?

AP: Milano-Cortina 2026 is a globally unique moment for Italy. It’s the first truly distributed Olympics, spread across cities, alpine areas, and mountain regions. This makes it a real-world experiment in territorial integration, mobility, infrastructure, and destination management at scale.

The key issue, however, is not the Games themselves. It’s the day after.

The real opportunity lies in the legacy: smarter and more sustainable infrastructure, better-connected territories, stronger local tourism ecosystems, and data-driven governance that lasts beyond 2026. Success will be measured not by visibility during the Olympics, but by what still works once the spotlight moves on.

68%
That’s the share of Olympic-related tourist spending expected to go to accommodation, far ahead of food and beverage (27%) and transport (5%).
_{Source: Data Appeal & Mabrian, Milano Cortina 2026 report}

And before we checkout, here is something we’re curious about…

Search is changing fast, and it’s getting harder to know what actually matters versus what’s just noise.

If you had 15 minutes with someone who spends all day inside travel search accounts, what would you ask?

What’s confusing you right now about search, demand, or acquisition?

👀 just asking

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

In this week’s newsletter we cover a mix of funding, acquisitions, and a couple of interesting collaborations across travel and hospitality. We handpicked a few updates worth knowing if you want to stay up to date.

Let’s get into it :)

_{FUNDING SPOTLIGHT}

Altek AI has raised €423k to expand its autonomous guest communication platform across the Nordics.

Based in Oslo, Altek AI helps hotels automate guest messaging and operational requests, with a clear goal: taking work off screens so teams can spend more time with guests. The company now has 40+ hotels live on the platform, built so far by a founding team of just two people.

💬 “We believe hospitality happens in person, not behind screens, so this funding will help us give hotels more time back to spend with their guests.” said co-founder Jon-Fredrik Hopland.

The funding will help the team hire and move faster on product development. A nice full-circle moment, too: Altek AI was a finalist in last year’s FutureTravel Pitch Competition. We love seeing how these stories evolve once teams step off our stage. 🫶

_{FROM OUR RADAR} 📡

🇺🇸 Tripworks raises $6M to scale its platform for tours and activities operators, focusing on automation and operational efficiency in a segment that still runs heavily on manual processes.

🇸🇬 Heymax closes a $11M Series A round to expand its travel rewards model, pointing to continued experimentation around loyalty, points, and alternative reward mechanics beyond traditional airline and hotel programmes.

🇪🇸 GuestReady expands into the Canary Islands through the acquisition of Lightbooking. The deal nearly doubles GuestReady’s presence in Spain, marking its 12th acquisition (!) to date.

_INSIGHT

Greece is experimenting with a basic idea: rewarding what travelers do once they arrive. Through a collaboration between Marketing Greece, Global Nomad Pass, and Aegean Airlines, local spending can translate into a discount on a future flight.

As Safir Jamal, CEO of Global Nomad Pass, puts it, “most travel incentives are designed around arrival. This partnership links airfare to what travelers do once they’re on the ground.”

I like how this connects 3 parts of the trip that are usually handled separately: the airline, the destination, and local experiences. There’s no new app behind it or a complex behavior required, just an orchestration between local activity and airline value.

Before checking out

Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think twice…

🧘‍♀️ Chief Relaxation Officer (yes, really)
The Cayman Islands just opened applications for its first-ever Chief Relaxation Officer: a two-week stay with one job requirement… slow down. Sleep well, spend time by the water, no schedules, no pressure to document.

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

This week, we're skipping the warm-up and going straight to what caught our attention. From a massive funding round in hospitality tech to geopolitical scenarios and a literal trip to space.

_{FUNDING SPOTLIGHT}

Mews secures a $300M investment. They are definitely sitting in “massive round, massive valuation” territory now. Sure it is a great milestone for what Mews has been building, but also counts as a vote of trust for hospitality tech more broadly.

The growth story from being founded in Prague to the powerhouse it’s becoming is impressive. Their platform now powers operations for over 12,500 hotels, covering everything from front desk to housekeeping - and they haven’t been shy about acquisition along the way… 👀

What I keep coming back to, though, is payments. Last year I heard someone from the team describe it as “the hardest part for guests, and the best part for the property”, and… yes, it’s been on my head ever since.

With embedded finance expected to reach $7.2 trillion in size by 2030, it makes sense that Mews putting payments at the core of their strategy. We’ve been talking about “fintech <3 travel” for a while now, so I’m curious to see how they take this further 🍿

Before checking out

Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think twice…

 🇬🇱 Different futures for Greenland
Greenland has been in the spotlight this week, with a lot of tension around it. This scenario document from CIFS maps out long-term futures for the island, shaped by climate, politics, and global interests.

🚀 From tours on Earth to a trip to space
No business insight here, but Civitatis founder Alberto Gutiérrez took “experiences” to a new level with a trip to space with Blue Origin. Love to see how some tourism founders really don’t stop at borders :)

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

December has been a bit messy on my end. I usually love structure and routines, but the past few weeks have had a rhythm of their own…

It’s been a good reminder to pause and look back.

2025 was a strong year for FutureTravel, thanks to this community and the quality of conversations we’ve been able to have together. It’s been amazing!

As we start thinking about what’s next, I didn’t want to write a long reflection or do a lot of guessing games…

Instead, I’ve put together a small Christmas wishlist: what would you love to see from FutureTravel in 2026? new ideas & formats, or just more of what already works?

This only works with input from you.

But before anything else: thank you for being here. It really means a lot <3

We’ve partnered with Spendbase, a Google-backed spend management platform, to offer up to $100k in free AWS credits to early-stage startups in our community!

It's open to both new and existing customers, with an 85% eligibility rate. All you need is a startup under 10 years old and a live website on a corporate domain. Plus extra discounts on Atlassian, Slack, ClickUp, and more.

If cloud costs are on your mind right now, this is a solid one to look at ☁️

👉 Claim your credits

_{FUNDING SPOTLIGHT}

Italian startup Bestie Bite recently raised a €700K round to build what feels like a much-needed layer in hospitality: authentic discovery, powered by real people and real experiences.

The platform uses short-form diner videos to make restaurant discovery feel more natural, tapping into how younger travelers actually decide where to go and what to book.

💬 “The travel and hospitality tech space needs accessible, innovative solutions built on the latest technologies (including AI) which many businesses still struggle to adopt.” says Carlotta Robbe Di Lorenzo, CEO of Bestie Bite.

A lot of operators are still finding it hard to adopt with newer tech, especially when it comes to marketing, loyalty, and payments. Bestie Bite is trying to make that simpler, starting with discovery and growing into a more all-in-one platform.

With this round in place, the team plans to take its first steps internationally.

_{FROM OUR RADAR} 📡

🇮🇱 Duve raises $60M to scale its AI-driven guest experience platform for hotels, bringing more automation and personalisation into the stay journey.

🇩🇿 Völz secures $5M to modernise travel booking and operations across North Africa, pointing to growing regional momentum.

🇳🇱 There has been a lot of talks about Expedia’s move on Tiqets as it doubles down on experiences, with Airbnb passing and Expedia stepping in to strengthen its activities play.

🇳🇱 AirHelp acquires Trein Vertraging, expanding its passenger rights model beyond air travel and into rail.

Before checking out

Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think twice…

🎁 Keep the magic alive
Travelodge is offering free wrapping rooms for parents over Christmas. Nice idea, backed by some cute data to build brand love :)

👟 Adidas x hospitality
A sports brand dipped its toes on hospitality, with a pop-up hotel in London, built around athlete recovery and performance. Very niche - and spot on.

Happy holidays,
Ana 🎄

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

I’ve had a few messages asking about next year’s travel tech events: where to go, what to skip. I’m tempted to pull everything into one simple overview, but… would you actually use it? 🤔

And now to the stories that called my attention this week…

It was great to see that UN Tourism and France are teaming up again to spotlight tourism-tech startups working on efficiency, sustainability, and destination resilience.

I like this because it feels that governments and institutions are seeing tech as part of the structure of tourism’s future. But tbh these programmes are only as strong as what happens after the press release. Let’s say that if they turn visibility into actionable outcomes (with pilots and real adoption) the impact could be big.

For now, it’s promising, but still early days…

_{FROM OUR RADAR} 📡

Evolve is acquiring GuestWorks from Vacasa - the short-term rental tech world keeps moving around…

Pangea acquired social app Overlap, which feels like another step in the “travel x community” play we’ve been talking about: platforms trying to own not just transactions, but relationships.

_{FRESH & HIDDEN TRENDS}

If you need a little break from the never ending heavy end-of-year reports, GetYourGuide just shared its take on “Hidden Travel Trends for 2026” ... and it’s actually a fun read?

It feels refreshing to see something a bit more creative, instead of yet-another-data-dump. Not the usual buzzwords, no trying too hard. More like a simple peek into what people are actually doing… and yes, what they’re offering too.

Honestly, it goes straight onto my wishlist for 2026: more creativity ✨

Before checking out

Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think twice…

🎧 ”Since when is life about happiness, Dara?”
Highly recommend this chat with Dara Khosrowshahi, where he goes deep into what it means to lead Uber right now, with pleeenty of nods to what he learned back in his Expedia days.

🎥 Quarter-zips as a recession indicator?
I wouldn’t build a strategy around it, but it’s a quirky take on how culture reacts to downturns. Maybe there’s something there or maybe it’s just a funny observation. Either way, worth the 60 seconds :)

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

I spent a few hours at IBTM this week and left with a strange feeling…

IBTM is, of course, a trading show: it’s built for meetings, deals, and destination pitches. But even knowing that, I kept looking for a bit more storytelling on the floor. I know so many destinations are doing great work… and not much of that really showed up with the teams that were there.

At one booth someone even told me innovation and tech were “a waste of time,” which was… surprising to hear in 2025. 🥸

And then… there was Denmark.

Their stand was packed every time I walked by. They brought startup teams, hosted innovation talks, and even kicked off each morning with a 9AM sing-along (!!). I mean… only the Danes! 🇩🇰

So nice to see a DMO bring personality into a space that’s usually just business cards and meetings. 🎉

A few things we thought were worth having on your radar this week.

At the FutureTravel Summit, Trengo brought a calm space to the networking lounge and showed how travel brands are turning inbox chaos into seamless guest experiences.

WhatsApp, email, chat, and social, all unified in one calm, AI-powered inbox. Your team responds faster. Your guests get instant, personalized service. And support finally feels manageable again. 😌

Missed them (and the massage session!) at the event?

Book a demo and discover Trengo

_{FROM OUR RADAR} 📡

🇩🇰 MAIC raised €1M to keep expanding its AI-powered travel assistant, helping travelers plan and book in natural language.

🇧🇪 Rookoo secured €900k to help event organisers escape admin chaos with automation and collaborative tools.

🇮🇱 Localbird raised $7.4M to scale its AI concierge platform, giving STR hosts tools to automate guest requests, bookings, and local experiences.

🇮🇳 Tribe Stays landed a $2.8M seed round to scale its co-living and social living model across India. Their thesis: community + design-led spaces + affordability.

🌎 Cloudbeds x HTS announced a partnership that brings booking demand and on-property tools closer together. Being very practical, this can remove (a lot of) friction. We like it :)

_INSIGHT

I fell into McKinsey’s new “The State of Fashion” report and suddenly realised how much of it could’ve been written about travel.

A few broad brushstrokes I wanted to share: they say consumers are spending more carefully, looking for value, and saying no to things that don’t feel meaningful. Feels less like a fashion thing and more like a people thing, honestly.

The report talks a lot about wellness, emotional connection, authenticity. We’re seeing the same energy in travel: more nature, more purpose, more trips that feel like they “fit” who we are.

And of course: tech. Fashion says AI is becoming essential for discovery and purchase. Sounds a lot like AI trip planners, dynamic packaging, and smarter guest service.

I love wrapping my head around how these dots connect across industries… and sometimes hinting of where things are heading next. 🔮

Before checking out

Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think twice…

💤 Goodnight, bro
Far from me to endorse the “bro culture” but this viral trend made me smile and feels like a small mental-health boost.

🔍 2 travel brands in the Top 100
Interbrand released its Best Global Brands ranking, and travel is barely there; just 2 global brands made the list.

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

We pressed play on the Christmas playlists in the office this week… so yes, the countdown is officially on - but can't believe we’re 6 weeks away from Christmas 🎄

I’m deep in planning mode with partners about next year’s projects. If you want to work together in 2026, now is a good time to talk.

Just reply to this and we’ll find time for a call :)

_{FUNDING SPOTLIGHT}

Barcelona-based Amenitiz just raised $45M Series B to keep building systems for small hotels - aka most of European hospitality <3

The company has grown to more than 15,000 properties across Europe, helping process over €3 billion in bookings in just the past 18 months. The idea is to give independent hoteliers the tools they need to run smoother, make smarter decisions, and still keep that personal touch that makes their places special.

I remember when their CEO, Alexandre, shared on stage at the FutureTravel Summit (back in 2023) watching his parents run a small hotel in the Alps. In 2017, he built Amenitiz from that: from knowing what it means to juggle admin, guests, plus a thousand details. His main motivation was to power the real people behind the counter.

💬 “We started Amenitiz to help independent hoteliers thrive, and that hasn’t changed. AI can transform how hotels work day to day, freeing people from screens so they can focus on guests again. What matters now is making sure independents don’t get left behind, but lead this next wave. They missed the online turn once; with AI, they’ll be the ones ahead.” said Alexandre Guinefolleau, CEO.

Now, with fresh funding from Kfund, Thayer Ventures, and Columbia Lake Partners, plus continued support from Eight Roads, Point9, Otium, Backed, and Chalfen Ventures, Amenitiz is ready for the next steps. The focus now is on giving small hotels the same advantages big brands have... without losing what makes them unique.

Also on our radar:

🇧🇷 Blis AI raised around €160k to automate travel-agency workflows like ticket reissue, seat matching, and booking fixes using AI.

🇰🇷 Cletu (Mooncademy) secured a strategic investment to scale its sports-travel platform built around international running events.

🇺🇸 Evotrex came out of stealth with a $16M raise and an Anker-backed hybrid RV trailer built for off-grid, battery-powered adventure travel.

Search demand in travel is dropping:
🔻 16% in Europe
🔻 36% in the U.S.
🔻 18% worldwide

With international travel under pressure, now’s the moment to tighten up your paid search performance before the 2026 planning wave hits in January.

Digital Sardine is a boutique performance marketing consultancy working with high-growth travel brands to scale bookings and ROI across 30+ markets. From OTAs to direct booking sites, they bring deep expertise in localization, seasonality, and campaign structure for travel-specific growth. 

They’re now offering a free Google Ads audit to help you identify wasted spend, missed opportunities, and what to fix before peak season.

Request Your Free Audit

Before checking out

Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think twice…

📘 What comes next: The World Ahead 2026
The annual look at the year ahead is out. It’s not travel-specific, but the shifts it highlights (AI, geopolitics, trade flows) shape the world we build travel tech for. I love it because our industry moves with everything else around it. (via The Economist)

🏚️ Sonder’s collapse
Interesting podcast episode about this week’s news: after Marriott pulled the plug on their licensing deal, Sonder is shutting down entirely. Some partnerships can be very fragile - and stability matters. (via Skift)

⚙️ Decode Travel Barcelona
I love the “heads-down, let’s build this” vibe that only hackathons have. So I’m excited to be on the jury for this one. 3 days of making, breaking, and trying solutions for real problems.

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

We stopped by the FutureTravel Summit venue this week and I caught myself smiling. Maybe not because everything’s perfect (ha, it never is), but because I can already imagine the people, the noise, the ideas. Love that feeling :)

I have to say… the energy around this year’s event is incredible & we can’t wait!

The event is just 3 weeks away, so if you haven’t grabbed your ticket yet… now’s the moment. It’s gonna be a good one ✨

Now, moving forward… here’s what caught my eye this week:

_{TOGETHER WITH NUITÉE}

If you ever need a reminder of why travel tech is exciting, go spend a day at a hackathon.

Last week, the Google x Nuitée Hackathon took over Google’s London office: 60 developers, one looong day, and a whole lot of coffee. Lots of ideas followed by that buzz that happens when everyone’s deep in build mode. And it made me think: maybe we should just give builders a space (and the tools!) to build more often :)

The winning project, Roamin, turned city runs into discovery experiences. Abel built a hotel app focused on accessibility. And Guardia made corporate travel and expense management feel (almost) effortless. Totally different takes on real issues in travel… and together, they shared over $50,000 in prizes 💸

Nuitée’s liteAPI gave everyone a playground to try things out. And that’s the part I loved most. Because it goes back to that first thought: if you want to see what’s possible in travel tech, let’s give creative people the room (and freedom) to build. The rest follows.

Congrats to all the teams - can’t wait to see where these projects go next 🚀

_{FROM OUR RADAR} 📡

🇬🇧 The Medical Travel Company raised €3.8M to simplify cross-border healthcare and make medical travel more transparent and accessible.

🇺🇸 Boom raised €12.7M to scale its AI-powered PMS, automating operations, communication, and revenue tasks for short-term rentals and hospitality businesses.

🇪🇸 Immfly acquired Data Clarity, strengthening its retail and connectivity ecosystem for airlines with deeper data integration.

🇪🇸 Bookline raised €3.5M to accelerate its international expansion and grow its AI-powered communication tools for the hospitality industry.

🇨🇦 Plusgrade acquired Oaky to build a unified upselling platform for hotels and airlines. Guest experience and revenue innovation are finally shaking hands.

🇳🇱 Mews picked up Flexkeeping, which helps hotel teams manage housekeeping, maintenance, and daily coordination.

🇺🇸 Hospitable announced new funding and an employee ownership plan as it continues expanding tools for short-term rental hosts.

_INSIGHTS

It’s that time of the year again: report season!

To be honest, I do love a well-designed package of insights to make sense of. And right now, it seems like everyone decided to drop theirs at once… “so much data, so little time,” as they say 😅

You can click on the tiny images above to access the reports, but here is an overview:

• GetYourGuide looks at how travelers plan and book activities, and how reviews, AI, and discovery habits are shifting.

• Skyscanner dives into what’s shaping next year’s trips: from affordability to adventure and everything in between.

• SITA explores how AI, biometrics, and automation are changing the passenger experience end-to-end.

I know, that’s a lot of pages, charts and numbers. They mostly point to one thing: travelers are changing & opportunities are everywhere. I’ll dig deeper in a couple of weeks, once the FutureTravel Summit is over.

In the meantime - I’d love to know: what makes you look twice at these reports, beyond leaving them as open tabs in your browser? 👀

One more thing before closing. Just saw this post and it made me pause; felt relevant to share it forward.

Before checking out

Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think twice…

🇸🇪 Doctor’s orders: go to Sweden
Visit Sweden new campaign promotes travel as a health remedy. Very smart. (via BBC)

💸 Kyoto tourist tax
Visitors will pay a new tourist tax to ease overtourism and fund preservation. Cultural beauty needs care, and well.. a budget. (via Matador Network)

🤖 AI (travel) apps go mainstream
Of the 7 apps launched this week on ChatGPT, 2 are from travel: Booking and Expedia. Any doubt about travel making bit bets on AI-powered planning? (via Skift)

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

Between sharing the full agenda for the FutureTravel Summit last week and sitting down for an interview about my founder story, it’s been a whirlwind of FutureTravel conversations. On one side, looking back at how this all started. On the other, looking ahead at what we’re about to host in Barcelona ✨

So we're basically a month away from the event 😯

This means: boxes arriving at the office, speakers in prep-mode for their sessions, and ticket sales now in full speed. I love this type of busy - when you know something special is around the corner :)

Just before October sneaks up on us, here are a few stories and insights that stood out this week. Enjoy 🙃

_INSIGHTS

Amadeus published a report that runs over 100 pages on how people are planning, booking, and experiencing trips. Super interesting. I decided to highlight 5 insights from the report that felt too good not to share :)

1. AI going from hype to habit
   Use of AI tools for trip planning is up 64% year-on-year. Travelers like the time savings (42%), the fresh ideas (36%), and the confidence boost (35%). But 1 in 4 still report wrong or outdated info, so there’s (still) plenty of room to get this right.

2. Disruption is the real loyalty test
   73% of travelers say the true measure of an airline or provider is how they handle disruption. If it’s managed proactively, 74% would rebook with the same brand, and 72% forgive if they feel someone genuinely tried to help.

3. Pop culture drives bookings
   When Taylor Swift announced a world tour, Agoda saw destination searches spike 500%. White Lotus had the same effect for hotels in Sicily and Thailand. Culture sure inspires travel, and moves tickets too.

4. Loyalty plays differently by market
   Globally, loyalty schemes push 38% of travelers to book extra activities, and 37% to travel more often. But regional differences are quite strong: nearly half of Indian travelers say loyalty increases leisure travel, compared to about a quarter in France or the UK.

5. Business trips are changing
   Work trips don’t look the same anymore. People are mixing meetings, remote work, and a bit of personal time, all in one journey. Behavior changes, and tech follows.

For data-lovers, here’s the full 100+ page report if you want to dive in.

_{FROM OUR RADAR} 📡

🇫🇷 Futurail picked up €7.5M (seed) to advance autonomous train technology, aiming to bring driverless rail solutions to Europe and the US.

🇮🇪 Padel 100 raised €5M to accelerate padel court development in Ireland, betting on the sport’s fast-growing popularity and its tie-in with active travel.

🇮🇱 Fetcherr raised $42M Series C to accelerate its AI-powered pricing & inventory systems for airlines and modernize legacy revenue workflows.

🇫🇷 Le Walk closed €3.5M to grow its immersive audio-guide app for city exploration, offering travelers richer storytelling as they move through destinations. And what a cool website 👀

🇺🇸 Extend raised $20M (mix of debt + equity) and added a new CFO, as it expands its payments and expense tools for business travel.

🇺🇸 Cardless raised $60M Series C to expand its “card-as-a-product” platform. Already powering cards with Qatar Airways, Avianca, TAP and Bilt, the fintech lets brands launch their own cards without relying on traditional banks.

_{FUNDING SPOTLIGHT}

Multi-day travel has always been a bit of a patchwork to manage - which is exactly the opportunity WeTravel is chasing. The Amsterdam + San Francisco–based company just closed a €78M+ Series C to expand its platform.

WeTravel positions itself as the “operating system” for group trips, retreats, and tours, handling bookings, payments, supplier payouts, and logistics in one place. It’s a part of the industry that’s massive in size but slower to digitize than flights or hotels. This means giving thousands of smaller operators access to the kind of infrastructure that bigger players have long enjoyed.

💬 “When we remove friction from their businesses, we open the door to more transformative experiences for millions of travelers. We simply want to take away the work they don’t want to do … and give that time back to them.” said Ted Clements, CEO of WeTravel

With this new funding, WeTravel plans to strengthen its global payment rails and roll out AI-driven features to make life easier for operators.

Before checking out

Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think twice…

🏛️ Are the Big Four losing their grip?
There are signs the era of a few giants controlling most of travel is starting to shift. Smaller players and new models are breaking through. To me, that opens the door for more creativity, better partnerships, and new ways of doing things in travel. Very exciting to see what unfolds… (via Skift)

💵 Keep calm and carry cash
In a world where everything feels digital, the European Central Bank launched its “Keep calm and carry cash” campaign, reminding Europeans to keep some banknotes at home in case of crisis. A small reality check that even the most connected systems still need a backup. (via CNN)

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

One of the best (and hardest) parts of what I do is putting together the FutureTravel Summit agenda. And now, here it is.

Behind the scenes, it’s been moooonths of curating, editing, and connecting dots across travel, hospitality, mobility, and of course the tech + innovation driving it all. All of that so you can expect insights from some of the most brilliant minds in travel innovation right now.

We’ll probably add a few updates in the coming weeks. But for now, this is it: the starting point for what I hope will be our best conversations yet. ✨

^{and hey - you can use the code AGENDA-DAY for a nice discount on your tickets. Active until Monday, Sept. 22.}

_{TOGETHER WITH NUITÉE}

Not long ago, building in travel meant contracts, integrations, and months of development.

Now, with AI and a few lines of code, you’re live with 2.4M+ hotels. That’s the power of liteAPI - and it’s at the heart of the Travel-Lite Hackathon, co-hosted by Nuitée and Google.

The challenge: reimagine how we search, browse, and book travel.

The winners will receive:

🏆1st place: €10k + a weekend getaway
🏆2nd place: €5k + a weekend getaway
🏆3rd place: €3k + a weekend getaway

Check it out →

Funding Spotlight 💸

🇫🇷 Alltheway raised €3.5M in seed funding to expand its “luggage operating system,” working with airlines, rail, and urban mobility partners to streamline baggage handling for both travelers and operators.

🇬🇧 Nory secured $37M Series B to scale its AI-powered hospitality management platform, helping restaurants cut costs and grow more efficiently.

🇨🇦 Lake.com landed $2.6M pre-seed for its vacation rental discovery platform, with a niche focus on lakeside homes and cabins.

Before checking out

Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think twice…

🧲 Where B2B traveltech is heading
Nauta Capital shares an investor-lens take on one of our favorite topics: opportunities in B2B traveltech, and why the next breakout players may not look like today’s big names.

🕶️ A glimpse of smart glasses travel
Meta and Ray-Ban’s leaked ad shows AI-powered glasses overlaying digital context onto real-world views. Big shift on how we interact with spaces around us.

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe

Hi {{ first name | there }},

Earlier this week over coffee, I was chatting with 2 founders about how different it feels to build in travel right now. One of them mentioned that just a few years back it was all about waiting: waiting for contracts, waiting for access, waiting for someone to finally say yes.

“It’s still a messy puzzle, but at least the pieces are on the table now.” she said.

Exactly - seems like founders can finally get going.

Instead of focusing on permissions and gatekeepers, builders can build bridges: between old systems and new ideas, between corporates and startups, between travelers and the experiences still waiting to be created.

Honestly, it feels like one of the best times to be making stuff in travel.

Go find the spot for your puzzle piece :)

^{TOGETHER WITH NUITÉE}

Want to build a travel app but don’t know where to start?

The Travel-Lite Hackathon, hosted by Nuitée and Google at their London office, is your chance. With liteAPI, anyone (from students to founders) can launch a travel solution in hours, not months.

Reimagine the future of travel with Nuitée liteAPI. Build a unique travel experience, showcase your innovation, and get the chance to win 10,000 € + a weekend getaway. 🏆

Sign up here →

^{FUNDING SPOTLIGHT}

Think of all the small experience providers you’ve met while traveling: the guide who takes you kayaking at sunrise, the workshop host who teaches you local cooking, the family running tours in their hometown. Behind the scenes, most of them are juggling booking systems, payments, marketing, and lots of admin work through different tools.

That’s the headache Understory wants to fix. The Aarhus-based startup has just raised €12 million (Series A) to bring all of those moving parts into one AI-powered platform, so creators can spend less time on logistics and more time designing experiences travelers actually remember.

💬 “We see this as both recognition and responsibility. It validates the path we have been on and the bold vision we are chasing. With this investment, Understory is positioned to scale faster and push the boundaries of what the experience industry can be. Our aim is not incremental change, but real transformation.” CEO Lasse Kjær shared with FutureTravel.

Most big platforms are built around the traveler, getting them to click, book, and review. Understory is built around the creators. By handling bookings, payments, and promotion in one place, it gives experience makers the tools to run smoothly, get noticed, and keep their focus where it belongs: on the travelers standing right in front of them.

Other deals 💸

🇬🇷 Boatscribe picked up €250k to make yacht lending and access to the water more affordable. Some of you might remember them as a finalist at last year’s FutureTravel pitch competition :)

🇪🇸 Itinerary raised €260k to keep growing its personalized travel itinerary app, consolidating its spot in Spain’s travel-tech scene.

🇴🇲 Godoba got a boost as Omran acquired a stake to drive Oman’s digital tourism transformation.

🇸🇪 Standab secured €3.6M to roll out its micromobility network across Europe.

🇩🇪 Giata snapped up UK-based Smartseer to add AI-powered decisioning to its distribution tools.

🇳🇴 Travelin.ai is integrating SabreMosaic lodging content to make corporate trips smarter and more seamless.

Before checking out

Not funding rounds. Not product launches. Not deals. Just things we saw this week that made us think twice…

🔎 The oh-so-many layers of booking
Nice overview of just how many unseen players sit behind a “simple” hotel search. APIs, algorithms, and third-party systems quietly shape what travelers see... and what they don’t. A good reminder of how complex today’s distribution really is. (via LSE)

♟️ Airbnb’s “everything app” ambitions
At a Goldman Sachs event, Brian Chesky said Airbnb is leaning hard into AI and aiming to become more than rentals, a platform for living, community, and services. The challenge: scaling tech without losing the human touch. (via PhocusWire)

See you next week,
Ana

Thank you for reading until the end.

The content of this newsletter is curated and published by Ana Metz, an innovation expert, passionate about technology and excited about the future of travel.

Looking for a space to promote your business or service for more than 26k subscribers? Let’s talk.

FutureTravel is a weekly newsletter about the future of travel, featuring the most exciting news about innovation, trends and startups in the industry. Subscribe