Travel, with positive impact

Travel4Impact is back for its fifth edition. The program, led by Amadeus and IE University, supports small travel companies working on social or environmental change. Since 2021, it’s helped more than 120 entrepreneurs strengthen their businesses without losing sight of their mission.

This year’s edition starts in September with 4 months of online training, covering topics like impact measurement, regenerative travel, digitalization, and storytelling. After that, participants join a growing network of like-minded professionals, get access to Amadeus experts, and new sessions on sustainability and tech trends.

The program is designed for travel founders or C-levels leading small, impact-driven businesses. You’ll need to have at least two full-time team members, two years in the game, and solid English.

And yes, it’s fully funded by Amadeus. No cost to join, which is great news for founders juggling purpose, strategy, and budgets. Applications are open until May 4.

Rome airport goes solar

Rome Fiumicino launched Europe's largest airport-based solar installation, which is enough to power half the airport. Think 55,000 panels stretching alongside runways.

But this is just the start: Fiumicino’s €200M sustainability investment includes everything from bike paths to EV chargers. They are aiming for net zero carbon by 2030, decades ahead of the industry.

Bali is asking nicely

Bali just introduced strict new rules banning temple selfies, disrespectful behavior, and even swearing on social media. Basically, they’re asking for fewer selfies and more respect.

With tourism booming again, the island has set up tourist police, tip lines, and real fines to back it all up. Their message is that tourists are welcome, but not at the expense of culture and community - which is what makes Bali, Bali.

From video to booking

Unravel just raised $7M in Series A funding to turn travel inspiration into actual bookings. Backers include Nauta Capital and Booking.com’s former CFO.

The app curates TikTok-style video feeds based on preferences and budget, then layers on AI to offer bookable options in seconds. It’s pitched not just to travelers, but to banks and telcos looking to embed travel into their ecosystems.

This is a topic we heard about again and again at the last FutureTravel Summit. People are watching creators, getting inspired, and wanting to go there. Not planning through clunky search anymore. Unravel taps into that moment, turning content into conversion and giving brands and financial platforms a new, intuitive way to reach customers.

Personalised, not popular

Dutch travel startup Maps Untold has raised €350K to finalise its minimum marketable product, enhance its data infrastructure, and prepare for an official launch in about two months.

Their tech integrates directly with hotel apps, tourism platforms and reservation system, using AI to deliver personalised travel recommendations based on users’ preferences and past travel behaviour. It’s free for partners, who earn a share of bookings and ticket sales.

Although the travel discovery space is crowded, Maps Untold goes after a specific gap: personalised recommendations delivered inside the platforms people already use. And offering tourism and hospitality partners a plug-and-play tool to engage users and drive revenue without building custom tech.

At the core of airport redesign

SITA just bought Italian airport design firm CCM to finally stop airports from building terminals that don’t match what travellers need.

Instead of awkwardly squeezing tech into spaces designed decades ago, they're bringing smart features (like biometric checks and self-service kiosks) right into the planning phase.

With airports packed (and getting busier) the timing couldn't be better to rethink how terminals actually work.