Here's our roundup of the people, product and partner news from the global travel industry this week (a few days early due to the holiday in the United States).
Hometime
Vacation rental booking and property management specialist Hometime has appointed Alvan Aiau Yong to the newly created role of chief operations officer. Aiau Yong joins from payments platform PayCargo and was previously supply lead for Australia and New Zealand at Airbnb. He will have responsibility for Hometime’s host network and the acquisition of “at-scale” short-term rental operators.
Reed & MacKay
Reed & Mackay has hired former Ovation Travel Group executive Jennifer Achim for the new role of senior vice president of U.S. sales and marketing.
The travel management company said the hiring is part of its strategy to accelerate its growth in the United States.
Read more details here.
Trip.com Group/Prioticket
Trip.com Group is partnering with Prioticket, a Netherlands-based connectivity platform for tours and activities.
Through an API integration, Trip.com Group will now connect with suppliers, aggregartors and platform partners that work with Prioticket. This means travelers using Trip.com, the company's online travel agency, will be able to book experiences around the world, giving the online travel agency more products in Europe, the Middle East and the United States.
Read more details here.
TUI Group, Lastminute.com
TUI Group is growing its tours and activities business as a preferred partner for Lastminute.com, an online travel agency specializing in holiday packages.
TUI will provide Lastminute.com and a selection of its brands with a platform that will offer thousands of experiences in more than 100 countries around the world. The system is already operational for Lastminute.com and will go live this summer for Bravofly, Rumbo, Volagratis and Weg.de.
Read more here.
HBX Group, PerfectStay
HBX Group and PerfectStay are joining forces to "create a new global leader in B2B2C package travel solutions."
The two companies began collaborating last year to offer packaged travel solutions for airlines, hotels and banks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Brands currently working with the partners include Air France, Emirates, Transavia, Kenya Airways and American Express.
Now HBX Group said it is "accelerating the global rollout of HBX Group and PerfectStay curated travel experiences."
Read more details here.
Sabre, Canadian North
Sabre Corporation has signed an agreement with Canadian North, a 100% Inuit-owned Canadian airline, to extend its SabreSonic Passenger Service System (PSS) contract and add two new solutions designed to help increase sales conversions and improve revenue forecasts.
“Canadian North and Sabre are long-term business partners. Throughout the years Sabre has supported Canadian North’s ambitions to grow in a strategic way by increasing efficiencies using technology solutions, while making life better in the communities we serve,” said Claudio Silvestri, chief information officer for Canadian North.
Read more details here.
Hostaway's new pricing tool
Vacation rental software provider Hostaway has launched a dynamic pricing tool.
The new feature helps vacation rental managers by offering an automated solution that updates rates daily and has customizable options such as minimum price settings, stay lengths and adjustments based on upcoming occupancy.
“Our dynamic pricing tool is more than just a pricing engine. It's a comprehensive
approach to rate management that lets property managers focus on what really
matters – growing their business,” said Marcus Rader, CEO and co-founder of
Hostaway.
“With this tool, we are excited to offer our customers a further way
to maximize their revenue and streamline their operations, giving them more
control and better results with less effort.”