🛎️ Airbnb bets on activities, Amadeus chases insights and Accor enters the group chat

💰 ForwardKeys joins Amadeus to boost travel data

Amadeus is going deeper into data, and it just bought a new set of eyes. The travel tech giant announced its acquisition of ForwardKeys, a company known for predicting travel demand by analyzing flight bookings and schedules.

The two companies already had a partnership, so the acquisition seems like a natural next step.

If you're thinking this could help hotels move faster and smarter on pricing and marketing, you're probably right.

The terms of the deal weren’t shared, but it’s clearly part of Amadeus' broader plan to become an end-to-end data powerhouse in travel.

🚀 A fresh chapter for Airbnb experiences

Airbnb wants you to stop scrolling and start exploring (again). The company just relaunched Airbnb Experiences, giving it a new mission: local activities that are more curated than algorithmic.

Experiences now come in “Collections” such as food tours or wellness walks, and Airbnb says each one is handpicked. It’s a shift back to its 2016 vision, but with better UX and some extra tools for hosts. You can now see a host’s track record with guests and get clearer pricing.

I think this is Airbnb admitting it went too far into real estate and wants to reconnect with its roots.

By the way, as a side note, this week Spain blocked more than 65,000 Airbnb listings due to regulatory issues. So not everything’s going smoothly in Europe.

🤝 Civitfun joins HBX group’s digital toolkit

HBX Group (formerly Hotelbeds) just added Civitfun to its portfolio, a startup focused on simplifying hotel check-in through automation.

If you’ve ever waited behind a family of six at the front desk, you probably understand why this matters.

Civitfun allows guests to complete their check-in online, upload ID and even handle tourist tax payments in advance.

HBX says it’ll integrate Civitfun’s tools across its hotel distribution network, which could make this more than just a convenience feature.

This is part of a bigger push to improve the guest-facing digital layer, something I think has been lagging behind booking tech. Especially in countries with heavier regulations when it comes to guest registrations.

Civitfun already works with major PMSs like Mews and Opera, so it could scale fast within HBX’s network.

💼 New digital tools for meetings and events at Accor

Accor just announced a major upgrade to how it handles group business: a digital ecosystem for booking meetings and events.

The platform, expected to roll out in phases starting this year, will connect real-time pricing and group contracting in one place. They’re working with Cvent and Groups360, which is a smart move.

Instead of just listing venues, this setup could automate a lot of the annoying back and forth hotels deal with today. Accor says this will cover 3,000 of their properties and eventually allow for instant booking of rooms and spaces.

I like this approach because group business has been slower to digitize compared to leisure, and this could finally push it forward.

As a side note, Accor also just named iVvy as one of its listed Sales & Catering software vendors. Over 115 Accor properties already use the platform, and this new agreement should speed up adoption across more hotels.