Marketing

✈ Giuseppe Ciminnisi, president of Fiavet Confcommercio, announced a historic agreement with Ryanair allowing travel agencies to sell the airline's tickets. After nine months of negotiations involving Fiavet, Adiconsum, and Aiav, the "Travel Agent Direct" section will launch on Ryanair's website by July 30, 2025, where agencies can create free accounts to sell products excluding promotions. Agencies must display Ryanair fares transparently, with refunds processed within 7 days and customers informed of changes or cancellations directly by Ryanair.

🚀 Italian travelers' bookings to Asia surged by 58% between 2022 and 2024, and searches for Asian flights grew 38% in early 2025 compared to the previous year. Japan is expected to welcome 49.3 million visitors by 2026, a 155% increase from 2019, while the Maldives anticipates 2.5 million visitors, marking a 148% recovery from pre-pandemic levels. Airlines, like Air France and KLM, are adding new flights to Asian destinations in response.

🏨 Sojern, a multinational digital marketing firm for the hospitality industry, serves over 10,000 active clients worldwide and boasts 300+ integrations with leading Booking Engines. The company analyzes 350 million traveler profiles monthly and has 100+ partnerships within the travel sector. Sojern's Travel Ecosystem helps hotels target likely bookers, optimizing campaigns in real-time across various channels, including Display advertising, Social media, SEM, and Metasearch. Its Pay on the Stay model requires no initial investment from hotels, as Sojern fronts the marketing costs and hotels pay a commission post-stay, ensuring a guaranteed and transparent ROI.

✈ Iberia, a major airline, implements significant policy changes for travel agencies, focusing on accelerating the transition to NDC (New Distribution Capability). As of today, base fares will exclusively be sold through NDC channels, affecting all European countries (except the UK) plus the US, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Additionally, short and medium-haul tourist products will now have different offerings between NDC and traditional GDS (Global Distribution Systems), with NDC providing exclusive benefits such as discounts, a commitment to customer quality, and a 21-day ticket issuance deadline, compared to the 49 days in GDS. Tour operator rates will still be available under the Iberia Óptima and Comfort fare families with more options in NDC.

📱 Alidays Travel Experiences and Allianz Partners launch a six-month communication campaign with impactful visuals and a full-funnel approach, starting April 2021. The campaign, including Digital Out-of-Home in Milan and a mix of online and social media, promotes four destinations: West USA (April-May), Japan (June-July), East USA and NY (September-October), and Maldives (October-November). Davide Catania, CEO of Alidays, and Marco Gioieni, CEO of Allianz Partners Italia, emphasize personalized, worry-free travel experiences and client-focused excellence.

💸 Expedia Taap enables travel agencies to add a service fee of up to 30% to lodging reservations on their platform. Agents can apply this fee to both standalone accommodation bookings and package rates. This feature, highly requested for compensating agencies' expertise and time, can be easily monitored through Expedia Taap's monthly reports. Vice President Robin Lawther highlighted the move as a natural platform evolution. The service fee option is available in markets including the US, Canada, Mexico, and various European countries.

🏠 Travelers with a family income over €75,000, aged 18-65, are altering accommodation preferences, favoring high-end facilities, with 3-star hotels losing ground and bed & breakfasts giving way to 4 and 5-star accommodations due to uneven quality levels. Italy remains the top destination with a preference for coastal areas, and 25% of the sample favor itinerary travel. There's a 40% shift in accommodation choices compared to 2-3 years back for enhanced comfort, budget changes, or different needs. Bed & breakfasts have halted evolution since 2022, with a 3% decrease in registered facilities totaling 33,400. Affluent clients (44%) tend to self-organize on platforms like Booking.com, yet 50% of them reserve directly or communicate with the property after visiting OTA sites. In dissatisfaction, 60% experienced it mainly with 3-star hotels, B&Bs, and vacation homes due to inconsistent service, while vacation villages maintain high standardization. Luxury clients expect mobility services, beauty centers, and information points within 5-star facilities, areas where Italy could improve.

📈 TrustForce, led by Gian Paolo Vairo, enters a partnership with Ecosfera, owned by Fabio Landini, acquiring a 20% stake in TrustForce. The collaboration aims to expand TrustForce's offerings, adding technology solutions to enhance booking and quoting activities. Vairo sought technological support to accelerate growth, finding a shared vision with Landini. Ecosfera, with over 20 years in the sector, co-owned by Landini and Marco de Roberto, developed the reputable booking software CHIARA.

🏨 OTA (Online Travel Agencies) like Booking.com and Expedia play a critical role for hotels by providing immediate visibility and increased bookings but charge high commissions up to 35%. Direct sales offer higher profit margins, tariff management freedom, and direct customer relationships without commissions. Balancing OTA and direct sales requires a clear strategy, including smart rate parity, optimized hotel websites, digital marketing, and strategic use of OTAs for customer acquisition. A well-calibrated mix can significantly boost profitability and commercial independence for hotels.

🏖 Fiavet President, Giuseppe Ciminnisi, identifies three key success factors for travel agents: self-planning, direct knowledge of destinations, and customer relationships. Roberto Gentile's research for Fiavet highlights post-pandemic effects and new perspectives in Italy's travel agency sector. Agents must now offer personalized packages to meet evolving market needs. The digital age has increased customer awareness, but personal experience and professional advice are crucial. Trust-based client relations are essential for sales, with agents as expert consultants. Successful agents will innovate and maintain a central role in tourism.