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United States Online Travel Agencies Bet on Loyalty, AI and B2B – Image Credit Unsplash+    After years of strong demand, U.S. online travel agencies (OTAs) are shifting from growth at all costs to strategies that secure their future. According to Phocuswright’s U.S. Online Travel Agency Market Essentials 2025, the road ahead is defined by three themes: loyalty, B2B expansion and the rise of virtual agents. B2B on the rise Behind the consumer business, B2B is fueling growth. Expedia’s B2B business surged 21% in 2024, now making up 30% of revenue, with partners like Walmart and Chase Travel. Booking (via Rocket Travel) and Hopper (via Hopper Technology Solutions) are also embedding travel into retail, telecom and finance platforms worldwide. In Asia, where shopping and loyalty ecosystems overlap, this race is only heating up. Winning customers directly Expedia’s One Key loyalty program now drives nearly half of its room nights across Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. Booking’s Genius tiers represent 55% of hotel nights, with two thirds of its B2C bookings coming directly through its mobile apps. Both players are betting big on loyalty to curb marketing costs and keep travelers coming back.  AI-Powered agents Virtual travel assistants like Expedia’s Romie, Priceline’s Penny and Kayak.ai are early steps toward agentic artificial intelligence (AI) booking. At the same time, OTAs are partnering with the likes of OpenAI and Microsoft to expand their reach—and eyeing AI startups as future acquisition targets.  Connecting the trip Dynamic packaging and “connected trip” strategies are becoming central. Expedia’s air/car/hotel packages hit $5.3 billion in 2024 and are projected to reach $6 billion by 2028. Booking’s Connected Trip transactions jumped 35% in the first quarter of 2025. Both aim to be the one-stop shop for travelers. The Airbnb factor Vrbo is doubling down on pure vacation rentals, while Booking continues to expand its alternative lodging supply, now topping 8 million listings. Competing with Airbnb is increasingly critical to OTA lodging growth.  The bottom line: OTAs are adapting to a plateauing U.S. market with new bets on loyalty, B2B partnerships and AI-driven innovation. The full report unpacks these strategies and the market forces that will reshape OTAs through 2028.  Phocuswright Research’s U.S. Online Travel Agency Market Essentials 2025 Read More

HVS ANAROCK Insights – Image Credit Unsplash    With new deals reshaping the landscape, strategic partnerships and acquisitions are back in focus across India’s hospitality sector. From tech-driven budget brand partnerships to midscale acquisitions, strategic deals are fast emerging as a defining trend in India’s hospitality sector. As global and domestic brands double down on the Indian opportunity, many are moving beyond organic growth to accelerate scale, reach, and distribution networks. India has witnessed several notable strategic partnerships and acquisitions over the years, from Louvre Hotels Group’s 2017 acquisition of Sarovar Hotels to Lemon Tree Hotels’ 2019 strategic acquisition of Keys Hotels and IHCL’s investment in Tree of Life Resorts. Now, with several recent acquisition-led developments, this trend is firmly back in focus. These moves are strategic, aligned with long-term brand objectives, and aimed at bridging critical gaps in segment presence and operational capability. IHCL made headlines recently with its ₹204 crore acquisition of a 51% stake each in ANK Hotels and Pride Hospitality. The deal brings 135 hotels from The Clarks Hotels & Resorts portfolio into its fold, many set to be rebranded under Ginger. This significantly strengthens IHCL’s midscale presence and puts the brand on track to operate 250 Ginger hotels nationwide. Accor and InterGlobe Enterprises have also stepped up their game, acquiring a majority stake in Treebo Hotels. With more than 800 properties across 120 cities, Treebo offers deep domestic reach, a tech-driven model, and strong budget-segment expertise. This alliance positions the combined Accor-Treebo portfolio as India’s third-largest hospitality player, with a target of 300 Accor-branded hotels by 2030. Marriott International is expanding its footprint through a partnership with CG Hospitality and launching a new midscale and upscale-focused brand, Series by Marriott, in India. Backed by a minority equity investment, the deal integrates 84 operational Fern Hotels, approximately 6,000 rooms, into Marriott’s portfolio, supporting rapid growth in the midscale and upscale categories. Adding to the momentum, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has partnered with SAMHI Hotels to create an upscale and upper-upscale investment platform. With a 35% stake acquired for about ₹752 crore, the platform launches with five hotels and over 1,000 rooms, helping SAMHI deleverage and fuel expansion. Meanwhile, the rumored merger of Radisson Hotels and Sarovar Hotels, if finalized, could create the largest hotel portfolio in India by number of properties, further accelerating consolidation in the sector. What’s Fueling the Momentum Today? These developments come at a time when India’s hospitality sector is on a strong growth trajectory. With a branded supply of around 199,000 hotel keys, the industry supported an estimated 2.5 billion domestic tourist visits in 2023 and 9.65 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2024. With just one room for every 12,600 travelers, India has one of the lowest room-to-traveler ratios globally, highlighting a substantial gap in branded supply. India also has a strikingly low number of leisure hotels. Despite robust domestic tourism, supply has not kept pace with demand, leading to higher average rates and making consolidation a compelling strategy for rapid expansion. As demand continues to surge, particularly in Tier-2, 3 & 4 markets, companies are seeking quicker and more efficient ways to scale. While organic growth remains a key pillar, it is time-consuming and capital-intensive. By contrast, strategic acquisitions offer a faster path to market expansion by providing access to operational systems, distribution networks, and local expertise. Today’s wave of deals marks a shift in strategy: brands are not just adding room inventory but diversifying across segments and geographies. The focus is now on building a stronger, more diversified presence across segments. The Accor-Treebo partnership, the Marriott-CG Hospitality alliance, and IHCL’s recent acquisitions all center on the budget and midscale categories, which are expected to anchor the next wave of growth. There is also growing interest in tech-enabled platforms that offer operational efficiencies, improved guest acquisition, and dynamic pricing models. As the sector matures, more mergers and acquisitions are expected to follow. Listed hotel companies, in particular, are well-positioned to expand both organically and inorganically, backed by fresh capital raised through IPOs. With thousands of unbranded hotels still operating in India, the pipeline for strategic deals remains strong. These moves also signal growing investor confidence in India’s long-term hospitality potential and are likely to attract increased attention from private equity and institutional investors. Strategic partnerships and acquisitions will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Indian hospitality. As the world’s fourth-largest economy, India’s rising per capita income and discretionary spending will fuel sustained growth in the travel sector. By bridging gaps in scale, capability, and market presence, strategic deals provide a compelling, accelerated path to growth, one we can expect to see more of in the years ahead. Mandeep S. Lamba, President – South Asia, oversees the HVS practice in South Asia. Mandeep has spent over 30 years in the hospitality industry having worked with International Hotel Companies such as Choice Hotels, IHG and Radisson Hotels before becoming President for ITC Fortune Hotels in 2001. Having successfully built the Fortune brand in India’s mid-scale hospitality sector, Mandeep ventured into an entrepreneurial stint for over 8 years, setting up JV companies with Dawnay Day Group UK and Onyx Hospitality Thailand before joining JLL in 2014, as Managing Director, Hotels & Hospitality Group – South Asia. An established industry leader, Mandeep has won several awards and recognitions for his accomplishments. Recently, he was featured in the Hotelier India Power List of the most respected hoteliers in India for the second year in a row. Contact Mandeep at +91 981 1306 161 or mlamba@hvs.com. Dipti Mohan, Senior Manager – Research with HVS South Asia, is a seasoned knowledge professional with extensive experience in research-based content creation. She has authored several ‘point of view’ documents such as thought leadership reports, expert opinion articles, white papers and research reports. Contact Dipti at dmohan@hvs.com. Read More

IHG to Expand Bengaluru Portfolio with Dual Hotel Signing – Image Credit IHG Hotels & Resorts    IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreement to develop two new hotels in Bengaluru, adding over 420 rooms to its portfolio by early 2028. IHG Hotels & Resorts has entered into a management agreement with Hotel Chetan International to open two new hotels in Bengaluru, India. The development will include the Crowne Plaza Bengaluru KIADB Aerospace Park and the Holiday Inn Express Bengaluru KIADB Aerospace Park. Both properties are scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2028, collectively adding more than 420 rooms to IHG’s portfolio in the region. The hotels will be situated in Bengaluru’s KIADB Aerospace Park, a major industrial and aerospace hub. This location, situated near Kempegowda International Airport, is expected to attract demand from aerospace and technology companies, as well as Global Capability Centres and other corporate entities in the area. The proximity to the upcoming BCCI Centre of Excellence and National Cricket Academy, along with nearby residential and commercial developments, is also anticipated to drive demand from social, leisure, and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) segments. The Crowne Plaza Bengaluru KIADB Aerospace Park will feature 210 rooms and offer four dining options, including an all-day dining restaurant, a specialty restaurant, a lobby lounge, and a pool bar. The hotel will offer extensive meeting spaces across four venues, including a ballroom, as well as retail spaces and parking facilities. The Holiday Inn Express Bengaluru KIADB Aerospace Park will feature 210 rooms, a fitness center, and parking spaces. The hotel is designed to meet the needs of time-conscious travelers seeking comfortable accommodation with essential amenities. IHG currently operates 51 hotels across six brands in India, with a pipeline of 72 additional hotels set to open in the next three to five years.  Read More

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA (September 2, 2025) — Revinate, hospitality’s leading direct booking platform, today announced the appointment of Ankur Bhandari as Chief Financial Officer. Bhandari brings over two decades of finance and operational leadership experience from Fortune 500 companies and leading private equity-backed firms across SaaS, healthcare, and financial services. The appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Revinate as the company accelerates the rollout of its omnichannel journeys powered by its hospitality-specific customer data platform (CDP) – a breakthrough that’s already being deployed across global hotel brands, groups, and properties to unlock massive growth opportunities. “Ankur’s track record of scaling high-growth businesses makes him the perfect partner as we enter our next chapter of growth,” said Bryson Koehler, CEO of Revinate. “His expertise in growth engineering and operational excellence will be invaluable as we accelerate the rollout of our omnichannel journeys and expand our leadership in direct bookings.” Bhandari joins Revinate from TurnRiver Capital, where he served as Head of Portfolio Finance. Previously, he held CFO roles at portfolio companies of leading private equity funds, including CVC and Madison Dearborn, and served as treasurer for two Fortune 500 companies, including Omnicare Inc. He will report directly to CEO Bryson Koehler. His experience spans successful exits, complex M&A transactions, and scaling businesses across multiple industries. “What attracted me to Revinate was its unique blend of purpose and performance,” Bhandari said. “Hospitality is fundamentally about creating lasting human connections, and Revinate empowers hotels to achieve this at scale through its data-driven approach. I believe this is a large untapped market, and finance has a unique opportunity to be a catalyst for scaling Revinate and potentially transforming the industry.” Omnichannel journeys: Scaling personalized guest experiences Revinate’s omnichannel journeys represent a significant leap forward in hospitality technology. Powered by the company’s industry-leading, hospitality-specific customer data platform, this capability is now being rolled out to global hotel brands, groups, and properties, enabling them to orchestrate seamless, personalized guest experiences across email, SMS, voice, and digital channels throughout the entire guest lifecycle. The omnichannel journeys build on Revinate’s successes of driving direct bookings for hotels. The company’s platform currently powers over 950 million Rich Guest Profiles across 12,500+ hotels, having generated more than $17.2 billion in direct revenue for its customers to date. A proven track record of scaling success Throughout his career, Bhandari has demonstrated expertise in “growth engineering” — the science and art of identifying opportunities and creating processes for continuous improvement. “I’m passionate about the art and science of growth engineering — digging deep to uncover opportunities, structural process re-engineering, and instilling disciplined weekly reporting cadences that drive iteration and embed lasting, growth-oriented habits across the organization.” Bhandari holds an MBA in Finance from the Indian Institute of Management and a Bachelor of Commerce from SRCC, Delhi University. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, playing golf, and photography. About Revinate Revinate is a direct booking platform that leads the hospitality industry in driving direct revenue and increased profitability. Our products and our people combine to give hoteliers the superpowers they need to crush their goals. With Revinate, hoteliers shift share away from OTAs and drive tangible results across an individual property or a portfolio. Our industry-leading, AI-powered customer data platform collects, unifies, and synthesizes data to give hoteliers a foundational advantage. Hoteliers gain critical intelligence — guest lifetime spend, stay preferences, ancillary revenue, and more. With Revinate’s Rich Guest Profiles™ data, hoteliers don’t need to guess who their most profitable guests are or struggle to drive conversions across email, voice, messaging, and digital channels. Revinate’s direct booking platform and omnichannel communication technology powers 950+ million Rich Guest Profiles across 12,500+ hotels to drive over $17.2 billion in direct revenue. Media TeamMedia team | Revinate+1 415 671 4703 View source Read More

Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa is not a simple operation. With 275 luxury accommodations ranging from oceanfront hotel rooms to large private homes, nine pools, a dozen restaurants, two signature golf courses, and a private membership community, it’s more than just a resort – it’s a lifestyle destination. Managing such a diverse property requires seamless coordination across departments. According to Campbell, that coordination starts with centralizing the data. A huge benefit for us is making sure everything communicates. Having a bunch of different programs out there that don’t communicate to each other is going to put a huge wrench in things. Scott Campbell, the property’s Director of Revenue Management, told Otelier in a recent webinar Watch the full webinar replay here. By leaning on Otelier’s IntelliSight, a modern hospitality business intelligence platform, Hammock Beach ensures that its PMS, POS, and other systems integrate to give leaders across the property a clear view of occupancy, demand, and guest spending patterns. Using Data to Balance Business Mix Like many resorts, Hammock Beach relies on a mix of leisure and group business. Today, that split is roughly 60% leisure and 40% group. Campbell emphasized the importance of using data to evaluate displacement risk, measure ancillary spend, and target the right type of travelers for profitability. We try not to displace transient guests with group business. There may be a time where we have a heavy golf group that’s going to have a lot of ancillary spend… We’ve got to look holistically at everything and see if it makes sense so that we’re not doing any kind of displacing. Scott-Campbell-Hammock That holistic approach requires drilling into real-time data. By evaluating booking windows, segmentation, and ancillary revenue potential, Hammock Beach can adapt to demand shifts – from post-pandemic revenge travel highs to today’s softer leisure environment. Forecasting to Inform Staffing and Service One of the clearest ways Hammock Beach puts data to work is in forecasting. Campbell and his leadership team rely daily on 14-day and 45-day forecast reports to align staffing and service levels. Scheduling is very important when we look at how occupancy is pacing, Campbell said. As we’re scheduling a week out, don’t schedule based on the 45-day if you’re sitting at 50%. Within the 14-day, now you’re at 80% and it’s going to change dramatically. This disciplined use of forecasts ensures that food and beverage, spa, golf, and housekeeping teams have the right labor in place to deliver service without overspending. It also highlights the need for hotels to adapt to shrinking booking windows, with many guests today waiting until the last minute to book. Encouraging a Culture of Adoption Centralizing data is one thing. Ensuring department heads use it to make decisions is another. Campbell credits Hammock Beach’s long reliance on IntelliSight with creating a culture of adoption. One thing we’ve always said is, for the most part, data is the truth, he said. But you also need to trust but verify – understand the story behind the numbers and what may be impacting them. That philosophy has encouraged leaders across departments – from golf to F&B to recreation – to use data not just as a snapshot, but as a foundation for deeper analysis. Over time, this has built trust in the system and helped align the property around fact-based decision-making. While Hammock Beach already uses data and AI-powered revenue management for rooms, Campbell sees opportunities for dynamic pricing across other revenue streams. Currently, golf, spa, and F&B pricing remains mostly static due to system limitations. There’s definitely a lot of opportunity within each hour of what can be done, Campbell noted when discussing golf pricing. The resort is now evaluating upgrades that would allow more flexible, demand-based pricing across outlets – a step many hotels and resorts will need to consider as guest expectations evolve. Best Practices Hoteliers Can Learn from Hammock Beach The Hammock Beach story offers several best practices any hotel or resort can apply: Centralize Your Data – Ensure your PMS, POS, Golf, and Spa systems communicate so you’re not missing insights. Balance Business Mix Strategically – Use displacement analysis and ancillary revenue tracking to optimize group vs. leisure demand. Forecast Labor Intelligently – Shortened booking windows mean staffing decisions should be based on near-term occupancy data, not outdated assumptions. Build a Culture of Trust in Data – Reinforce that data is the truth, but encourage teams to verify anomalies and understand context. Explore Dynamic Pricing Beyond Rooms – Evaluate tools that allow you to flex pricing in golf, spa, recreation, and even F&B to capture additional profit. A Culture That Drives Performance For Campbell, the combination of a complex property, a fast-changing market, and a culture rooted in data makes Hammock Beach a compelling example of what’s possible when hotels prioritize business intelligence. Data allows us to go back 20 years and pull trends, see what happened during past downturns, and learn from it, he said. That history makes it easy for us to not have to be a hard sell when it comes to understanding and buying into the data. For other hoteliers, the lesson is clear: building a data-driven culture isn’t just about technology. It’s about creating trust, applying insights across departments, and using data as the foundation for profitability. 📌 Interested in how IntelliSight can help your hotel centralize data and build a culture of smarter decisions? Learn more here. View source Read More

Luxury and upscale assets accounted for almost 85% of the total hotel investment in the Asia Pacific region during 2024, according to the latest research from Global Asset Solutions. The company’s Asia-Pacific Hotels Transactions & Market Snapshot for full-year 2024 and first half of 2025 reported that an increase in liquidity, driven by the strong dollar, had helped to bolster deals. For all hotel deals exceeding $20 million, the total transaction volume in the region during 2024 reached $11.2bn, with 139 transactions. The study found that Japan was the most in-demand hotel market, with a weak yen and near-zero interest rates, resulting in the country accounting for over $4 billion in hotel transaction volume, nearly 40% of the total for the year. The largest single-asset transaction was the acquisition of the Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba by a consortium led by TPG Angelo Gordon and Kenedix, for approximately ¥106bn ($695.4 million), The 882-room luxury hotel, located on Tokyo’s Odaiba waterfront, was purchased from Hulic Co. and valued at nearly $788,000 per key – a record-breaking price for the Japanese hotel market. Asia Pacific rebounded strongly from the pandemic and its rising RevPAR and ADR have attracted investors eager to share in its growth. The luxury sector represents the greatest opportunity for returns and has attracted the majority of capital. At Global Asset Solutions, we share investors’ enthusiasm for this dynamic and innovative sector, but understand that, to maximise the potential of an asset, specialist knowledge of both the sector and the wider region is essential. Alex Sogno, CEO of Global Asset Solutions The market was further supported by limited new supply, with expansion hindered by high borrowing costs, construction inflation and labour shortages. Most new supply was found in the upscale and luxury segments, with developers and investors attracted to the possibility of high rates. Hotel transaction activity in the Asia-Pacific remained resilient but moderated in the first half of 2025, reaching just over $5bn across 56 deals, marking a decline from $5.74bn in the same period last year. Despite the reduction in both deal volume and number of transactions, investment remained heavily focused on the luxury and upper-upscale segments, which together accounted for approximately 70% of total volume year-to-date. — Source: Global Asset Solutions Looking ahead, hotels are facing rising labour costs and increased expenses for energy, maintenance, and insurance, with wages outpacing revenue growth in markets including Japan and Australia. Urban and resort locations remain much-sought after in the region and we are seeing strong competition for prime assets. A keen operational eye will be required to manage cost pressures and drive profits in these attractive, but complex assets. Douglas Louden, managing partner, Global Asset Solutions The study was released as Global Asset Solutions opened a dedicated Asia Pacific office in Singapore. Download the full report About Global Asset Solutions Global Asset Solutions operates worldwide providing independent hotel asset management services. Clients include PE firms, institutional investors, sovereign funds and family offices, with over $20bn of assets managed in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The company leans on decades of experience in the luxury sector to deliver bespoke solutions which allow investors to grow their asset value and realise the potential of their assets. www.globalassetsolutions.com Alex SognoCEO & Senior Hotel Asset ManagerGlobal Asset Solutions Read More

Travel brands are racing to meet the new demands of digital-native travelers. From AI-powered personalization to seamless guest journeys, everyone claims to be reimagining the guest experience. However, the lived reality for many travelers tells a different story: disconnected systems, impersonal service, and frustrating support during critical moments. In my recent conversations with global travel leaders, one truth has become clear: the industry is overpromising what it can deliver with AI. Guest experience hasn’t been reimagined; it’s been rebranded. And unless brands rethink their approach, they risk losing both loyalty and relevance. The Myth of Personalization Every travel brand talks about personalization. However, true hyper-personalization, the kind that anticipates guest moods, preferences, and values, remains elusive. Personalization isn’t knowing someone’s loyalty tier or sending a birthday email. It’s recognized that a frequent flyer prefers late check-ins, travels with family, and values sustainable transport options. Hyper-personalization is remembering to leave a handwritten note in the room, not pushing a mass email that reads like a template. Today, most guests see right through automated flattery. And when brands fall back on templated interactions, they don’t just lose trust; they lose the opportunity to build long-term loyalty. Enhancing Direct Customer Relationships In today’s travel landscape, maintaining a direct relationship with customers is crucial for delivering a seamless and personalized guest experience. When travelers book directly with the brand, it allows for better communication, more tailored services, and a stronger sense of trust and accountability throughout their journey. By focusing on direct bookings, travel providers can ensure they have full control over the guest experience, from the initial booking to post-trip support. This approach not only enhances customer satisfaction but also fosters long-term loyalty and brand advocacy. Over-Automation Is Undermining Empathy AI has transformed back-office operations and front-line service. But in our pursuit of efficiency, we’ve often removed the human touch exactly when it’s needed most. When a traveler is stranded, anxious, or facing a disruption, forcing them to navigate a chatbot is not service; it’s abandonment. In high-stress moments, human support isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. Brands need to design service models that prioritize empathy over automation. AI should assist, not replace, the ability to speak to a real person when urgency and emotion are at play. The Problem Behind the Platform AI is only as good as the data that powers it. Yet most travel brands are operating with disconnected tech stacks, legacy infrastructure, and siloed systems. The promise of AI-driven guest experiences can’t be fulfilled until brands fix their foundations. Predictive service, real-time personalization, and seamless support all rely on integrated data. Without it, even the best AI will backfire. For example, British Airways leverages AI systems to analyze weather data and proactively reroute flights, saving over 240,000 minutes in delays so far. Delta, meanwhile, employs predictive maintenance to prevent in-flight disruptions before departure. These implementations work because the backend data is structured and connected. However, for most travel brands, that foundational discipline is still missing. Seamless Travel Is the Industry’s Greatest Missed Opportunity Despite years of digital transformation, no major brand has cracked the code on seamless travel. Booking a flight, arranging a ride, or checking into a hotel still feel like isolated transactions, not parts of a cohesive journey. A true guest experience must span every stage: planning, travel, and post-trip. From airport to hotel to car rental, the entire ecosystem must work together. Today, it doesn’t. That’s why over half of travelers say their digital travel experiences fall short. Not because individual services are broken, but because no one is connecting them. What Needs to Change The path forward isn’t more tech. It’s smarter orchestration. The travel industry’s core mistake is thinking AI will save the guest experience on its own. But AI is just the surface layer. It can’t function without the hard work of fixing disconnected, outdated back-end systems. And it won’t deliver loyalty unless brands shift from thinking in silos to building for the full end-to-end journey. Travel brands must invest in connected ecosystems that drive end-to-end visibility and service. That means unifying customer data, coordinating across partners, and designing for the full traveler lifecycle. Platforms like Dialpad are experimenting with Agentic AI, systems that proactively monitor enterprise signals and autonomously resolve issues before the customer even detects a problem. If successful, this could reshape how brands orchestrate support across the guest journey, provided the backend systems can keep up. It also means understanding that no brand can do this alone. Solving for seamless travel requires collaboration with integrators, data partners, and service providers who can bridge the gaps between platforms. No brand can solve this in isolation. It’s time for travel leaders to stop building alone and start co-creating—with partners who can unify fragmented platforms and deliver true traveler-centric design. AI will eventually enable the personalized, intuitive, and adaptive travel journeys we all envision. But we can’t build that future on fragmented systems. To truly reimagine guest experience, brands must look beyond AI and toward holistic, human-centered transformation. The future isn’t just automated. It’s connected, contextual, and co-created. About WNS WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE: WNS) is a leading Business Process Management (BPM) company. WNS combines deep industry knowledge with technology, analytics, and process expertise to co-create innovative, digitally led transformational solutions with over 400 clients across various industries. WNS delivers an entire spectrum of BPM solutions including industry-specific offerings, customer experience services, finance and accounting, human resources, procurement, and research and analytics to re-imagine the digital future of businesses. As of March 31, 2023, WNS had 59,755 professionals across 64 delivery centers worldwide including facilities in Canada, China, Costa Rica, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. For more information, visit www.wns.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Read More

Noida – RateGain Travel Technologies Limited (NSE: RATEGAIN), a global provider of AI-powered technology solutions for the hospitality and travel industry, today announced the introduction of the industry’s first Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration for its Booking Engine, available within Claude and other AI assistants. This breakthrough further strengthens RateGain’s position as an AI-first company by expanding the AI capabilities of UNO, its unified platform designed to simplify hotel commerce and power every step of the guest journey. According to KPMG, 66% of consumers now use AI tools in their daily lives, highlighting the urgency for hotels to stay aligned with this shift. The MCP integration for RateGain’s Booking Engine enables hoteliers and travel providers to deliver seamless conversational booking experiences to their guests, a first for the hospitality sector. For customers, this innovation enables faster adoption of conversational AI without heavy investment or complex integrations. Guests can simply search, compare, and book rooms using natural language with AI assistants and chatbots, helping hotels improve conversion, enhance guest experience, and stay competitive. Unlike approaches that focus only on visibility in AI-driven searches, RateGain’s solution makes hotels both AI-discoverable and AI-bookable, with real-time rates, availability, and amenities accessible directly from the booking engine. This ensures properties stay front and center as travelers increasingly turn to AI-powered planning. At RateGain, our mission is to help the world travel more by constantly reimagining how technology can simplify the journey. As travel discovery moves from clicks to conversations, the MCP integration for our Booking Engine is another step in UNO’s AI roadmap, empowering our customers to make their booking channels conversational and ensuring they are not just visible but bookable across every channel where guests explore and plan. Ashish Sikka, Business Head, UNO Platforms, RateGain Combined with UNO’s expanding suite of AI-powered solutions, this milestone underscores RateGain’s mission to deliver the future of travel technology, today. About RateGain RateGain Travel Technologies Limited is a global provider of AI-powered SaaS solutions for travel and hospitality that works with 3,200+ customers and 700+ partners in 100+ countries helping them accelerate revenue generation through acquisition, retention, and wallet share expansion. RateGain today is one of the world’s largest processors of electronic transactions, price points, and travel intent data helping revenue management, distribution and marketing teams across hotels, airlines, meta-search companies, package providers, car rentals, travel management companies, cruises and ferries drive better outcomes for their business. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in India, today RateGain works with 26 of the Top 30 Hotel Chains, 25 of the Top 30 Online Travel Agents, 3 of the Top 4 Airlines, and all the top car rentals, including 16 Global Fortune 500 companies in unlocking new revenue every day. For more information, please visit  www.rategain.com. Aastha KhuranaDirector, Corporate Communications Read More

The flooring company Interface might not be known to the average consumer, but in sustainability circles its reputation is hard to beat. In 2000, under the leadership of the late Ray Anderson, Interface said it would eliminate its impact on the environment within 20 years. A quarter of a century later, most other large companies have still not committed to anything so ambitious. Interface met Anderson’s goal a year early. Then, last April, it unveiled a new commitment for 2040. Trellis checked in this week with Liz Minné, the company’s head of global sustainability strategy, for an update. From Mission Zero to ‘All in’ To hit the emissions component of its 2000 goal, which Interface dubbed “Mission Zero,” the company ratcheted up use of renewables and sourced low-carbon materials.  It also factored in “ripple effects,” defined as emissions benefits that take place out of its value chain as a result of Interface actions. These included encouraging a supplier to provide nylon made from recycled materials — a product other companies then used — and helping capture methane from a Georgia landfill, which Interface and other companies then purchased. These two projects avoided 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which Interface subtracted from its total. The company also purchased offsets to certify some products as carbon-neutral. Both those tactics have been discontinued under Interface’s “All In” strategy, with the offsets spending being diverted to projects aimed at cutting emissions and storing carbon in materials it uses. By 2040, the company now wants to be carbon negative across its value chain without using offsets. (It’s worth noting that the company has not quantified the extent to which it aims to be carbon negative. In theory, it could make a carbon-negative claim the moment its emissions cross from zero to negative.) In the near term, Interface is working towards 1.5-degree-aligned science-based targets, which call for a 50 percent drop in absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 from a 2019 base year, alongside a cut of the same size in Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services and a 30 percent reduction in emissions from business travel and employee commuting. Quitting offsets didn’t impact Interface’s emissions accounting, Minné noted. Interface used the offsets to market specific products as carbon neutral, but under the rules of the Science Based Targets initiative, which has validated Interface’s 2030 goal, they could not be counted against near-term emissions. Carbon negative materials It’s too early to evaluate progress toward the 2040 goal, but Interface remains comfortably on track for its 2030 targets. The Atlanta-based company is more than halfway to its goals for Scopes 1 and 2, for instance. Combined these account for just 3 percent of the nearly 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent Interface emitted in 2024 and, like many other companies, Scope 3 remains a much bigger challenge. But emissions from purchased goods and services, one of the hardest Scope 3 categories to tackle, have fallen by 43 percent. Incorporating low carbon materials is one tactic behind the Scope 3 cuts. Interface has worked with a partner — Minné would not say more beyond describing it as a major chemical supplier — to source a material containing carbon captured during manufacture. Interface said last year that the unnamed ingredient is used in all carpet piles it produces in Europe and the U.S. That helps cut the tiles’ carbon footprint. To tip products into carbon-negative territory, Interface sources bio-based ingredients, which contain CO2 captured during growth. Minné was similarly reluctant to reveal details of these materials, citing commercial considerations, but noted that Interface targets sources such as agricultural waste or other “rapidly renewable” environment products. The carbon-negative material is used in the backing for carpet tiles and is now standard in Europe, with production growing in the U.S. The path to 2040 In addition to eschewing offsets, Interface has raised its ambition by expanding the scope of the emissions covered by its 2040 target. This raises some thorny challenges. Downstream emissions associated with use of its floors are included, which means Interface needs to estimate the carbon released when its floors are vacuumed or washed — and somehow persuade the organizations doing so to adopt lower-carbon methods.  As a first step, Interface is gathering data on how customers clean its floors. Then it will look at issues such as use of renewables. “If they aren’t doing that, are there ways we can help them make the connection so that they can look for RECs or other mechanisms to do renewable energy?” said Minné. “And then in the cleaning space there are some interesting things happening with carbon captured materials that can be used for cleaning.” The expanded scope for 2040 also includes end-of-life product emissions, something Interface has been working on for some time. Since 2016, the company has collected more than 80 million pounds of post-consumer carpet, close to 70 percent of which has been reused or recycled into its production processes. As a fraction of total production, Minné said this was “relatively low,” adding “we need it to get higher — this is one of our critical strategies.” Tracking the fate of flooring is not easy. “The reverse logistics are incredibly challenging because most often we don’t know where that product is 10 years after we send it out,” said Minné. New regulations, including tougher carpet recycling requirements passed last year in California, will provide an assist, she added. The forthcoming Circular Economy Act, currently open for consultation in the European Union, may further accelerate progress. Companywide buy-in will be needed to deliver on all these goals, but Interface does not tie compensation to sustainability targets, an oft-touted means of ensuring support. Interface’s reputation as a sustainability pioneer removes the need for that, Minné said: “Our leadership at the highest level — our CEO, our board — understand and support our targets. That trickles down.” Read More

RIP, carbon-neutral. Just a decade ago, the term was a byword for climate ambition. Its credibility has since been wrecked by court cases — including a defeat for Apple last week — and negative press coverage. Next year, new European Union regulations threaten to kill it off altogether. Retiring the language has opened the door for more rigorous approaches to capturing corporate action. But any assessment of the carbon-neutral movement needs to recognize that by ditching the term, companies have also lost a valuable method for communicating sustainability goals. The rise … The claim’s appeal lies partly with its simplicity: By measuring and offsetting the emissions associated with a product, or an entire organization, companies can declare one or both to be carbon neutral — a term consumers intuitively understand. One early user on the product side was the flooring company Interface, which launched a series of carbon-neutral carpet tiles in 2003. A smattering of brands followed, and the concept gained cultural currency as conferences and sporting events made the claim. In 2006, the “New Oxford American Dictionary” named it word of the year.  Meanwhile, an infrastructure for certifying the claim was emerging. In 2010, the Australian government launched a process for businesses to get certified. The Carbon Trust, an influential standard-setter, did the same two years later for products.  Another organization that saw the momentum behind the idea was the non-profit Climate Neutral, which in 2019 launched a label designed to help consumers easily identify carbon-neutral products. “We thought here’s an opportunity, a moment, to harness the consumer recognition,” recalled Austin Whitman, the organization’s co-founder and CEO. “It’s the best hope we have to mobilize consumers.” By the start of this decade, carbon-neutral claims were attached to everything from sneakers and automotive lubricants to tea, beer and consumer electronics. The list included emission-intensive products, such as flights, and even fossil fuels: In 2019, Shell began offering carbon-neutral shipments of liquified natural gas (LNG). … and the fall The logic behind carbon-neutral claims might be simple; their execution is not. Offset quality is one weak point. If offsets fail to deliver promised emissions benefits, the carbon-neutral claim that rests on them is voided. In the early 2000s, media coverage suggested that was happening all too often. Delta and Credit Suisse were among the companies accused by Bloomberg of using “junk credits” to make carbon-neutral schemes. A report from the non-profit Corporate Accountability added Gucci, Volkswagen, ExxonMobil, Disney, easyJet and Nestlé to the list, while the New Yorker weighed in with an exposé that damaged the reputations of South Pole, a leading offsets provider, and Verra, the most prominent carbon credit registry. The lawsuits started around the same time, with accusers arguing that unreliable offsets rendered carbon-neutral marketing misleading. One advocacy group — Environmental Action Germany — won cases in its home country against the airline Eurowings, BP, TotalEnergies, meal-kit company HelloFresh, Adidas and, last week, Apple. More recently, class-action suits have been filed in the U.S. against Clif Bar and the tobacco company R.J. Reynolds, which sold carbon-neutral vapes. Unsurprisingly, many brands have now abandoned carbon-neutral marketing. But reputational issues are not the only reason. What constitutes robust ambition on climate has expanded over the past 10 years to include science-based targets, transition action plans, commitments to invest in decarbonization, supplier engagement and other strategies. Most carbon-neutral certifications required additional steps beyond just purchasing offsets, such as committing to emissions targets. Still, the idea at the heart of the claim — getting to neutral via offsets — can feel flimsy in comparison. In 2023, Climate Neutral rebranded the organization as the Change Climate Project and its certification as the Climate Label. To earn it, companies commit to creating a fund in proportion to their emissions, and to spending it on climate projects. That could include decarbonizing company operations or those of suppliers, as well as purchasing high-quality credits. Whatever the focus, the emissions benefits that follow are not used as offsets. What’s been lost There remain no shortage of carbon-neutral claims out there, from carbon-neutral shipping (UPS) to laptops (Acer), packaging (Tetra Pak) and meetings (Hilton). Need some carbon-neutral LNG? Shell still has you covered. Yet it’s clear the term is fading. And a year from now it will become even rarer, at least in Europe. That’s when new EU regulations will prohibit offsets from being used in carbon-neutral claims, meaning only products with zero lifecycle emissions will qualify. The shift reflects a more sophisticated and rigorous approach to corporate sustainability, but it’s not without drawbacks. Apple is phasing out the term, for instance, but has cited EU rules as the reason and said the change will make it harder to communicate climate action to consumers.  “People started to understand it,” said Whitman. “And we are now faced with a much more difficult challenge. We have had companies come to us and say, ‘We’re not going to do the Climate Label, because we just don’t think it means anything to individuals.’” The old labels created what Whitman acknowledges as a “blunt, high-level impression that somebody’s climate impacts are just gone, neutralized. And that’s not what’s happening behind the scenes.” But, he added “the other side of that coin is that’s why marketers love it — because it’s like, boom, that’s what we did, right?” Read More