Hi {{ first name | there }},

The past weeks have been atypical, with quite some traveling and even took (unplanned) time off for my birthday last week. So I didn't want to wait until the end of this week to tell you the good news: the tickets are officially open for this year's FutureTravel Summit. The event is back in Barcelona on October 29th, at the same venue and tbh I can't wait to bring everyone together again.

Creating this space has been one of the most rewarding things we've built, and every year it gets better. If you are building, investing in, or shaping the future of travel tech in Europe, you know this is the place to be. But if it's your first time hearing about the event, no problem! here you can check out last year's edition:

The conversations that happen there turn into deals, partnerships, insights and decisions that shape what travel looks like in 2-3 years from now. The people deciding what travel looks like in five years are in that room. Come be one of them 🙌

And! this also means that very very soon we will open the applications for the pitch competition and the call for speakers. If you have something to say (or to show) we want to hear from you! 👀

If you are representing a company that wants to be part of shaping this event with us, we're also welcoming partners for this year's edition. You can reply to this email and let me know.

For now: secure your ticket. We sold out last year and would hate to see you miss this edition 🙃

Let's get into the latest news:

🇪🇸 Perk secured a $300M private credit facility to fund AI and product investment, with the US launch of its integrated travel and spend platform next on the list. A credit facility isn't the flashiest announcement, but at this scale it's like a “certificate of confidence” - lenders don't back you at this level without having seen the work behind the scenes…

🇨🇦 Pricepoint closed a $4.8M seed round to scale its AI-native revenue management platform for hotels and accommodation providers.

🇨🇭 SITA acquired Big Blue Analytics and its OCCam platform, which helps airlines recover from disruptions faster by solving aircraft, crew, and passenger issues simultaneously rather than one at a time. Airlines using it have cut disruption costs by up to 30%.

🇺🇸 Juniper Group acquired corporate booking tool Deem from Travelport, three years after Travelport bought it from Enterprise Holdings. With Sabre also having sold GetThere to Serko, the GDS model of owning the full booking stack seems to be unwinding.

🇮🇳 Ziptrrip acquired HelloTravel to expand from corporate travel into MICE and business-leisure, gaining access to 7,000+ verified travel partners and over 200,000 experience-led packages

Phocuswright Europe is back in Barcelona next week and we'll be covering it on the ground! It brings a good mix of travel industry leaders in Europe, and with it happening in our city, we figured it was worth flagging for anyone thinking of going.

If you're heading over, FutureTravel readers get a startup ticket for €895 (that's €100 off the standard rate, but you have to mention futuretravel in your application). For everyone else, code FutureTravelBCN26 gets you €200 off a general ticket at checkout.

Let us know if you’re going - would love to cross paths 👋

🚀 Apply for the Startup Ticket
👉 Register for General Ticket

🤖 Bots have officially overtaken humans on the internet.
According to Cloudflare, 57% of web requests are now bot-generated, a milestone its own CEO expected to hit in late 2027. The detail that's been living in my head: a human browses 5 websites before buying something, an AI agent browses 5,000. If you're building anything that depends on web traffic, this is worth reading.

See you next week,
Ana

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.

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