Accor, Booking.com, Cathay Pacific: New AI Tools Made With AWS

Delta has all eyes on Austin next spring with a record flight schedule to the Texas capital.

Safety is top of mind for many travelers as they plan out their trips for 2024 and beyond. But for those in the LGBTQ community, and their allies, knowing which countries are welcoming towards gay travelers is an important consideration. Part of measuring that sentiment is knowing where residents stand on rights, including same-sex marriage. The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about issues and attitudes shaping the world, released a new study showing which country’s residents support same-sex marriage the most, and which countries have the lowest level of support.

Hilton has some exciting news for 2024. Along with extra points available, 24 new properties will be added to the Hilton lineup in locations worldwide. Some of these new properties will also be the first for the major hotel brand. Here’s a quick preview of the new places to add to your travel list.

Surf’s up in the desert.

For most New Yorkers, Times Square is a place to be avoided at all times—especially and unequivocally on New Year’s Eve. The Ball Drop looks fun and exciting when watched from the warmth and privacy of your couch but in real life, it looks like a million people packed between police barricades and squished up against each other in the cold for way too many hours, waiting for a 10-second countdown. And there are no public restrooms.

Two Decembers ago, after years away, I went back to Oak Tree Road. That thoroughfare, straddling my New Jersey hometown of Edison and the neighboring Iselin, had been the site of my childhood in the early aughts. Sitting along that four-mile stretch were video stores with DVDs for Bollywood films you definitely couldn’t find at Blockbuster, sari boutiques with their dazzling display of color and pattern, and sweets shops whose indulgences ferried my Bengali immigrant family back to the country they’d left behind long ago.

Peek, a San Francisco-based tours and activities software vendor, is launching two artificial intelligence data features for its tour operator customers.  

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced that Hong Kong has won IBTM, the world’s leading Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) event brand, to organise its inaugural MICE trade show IBTM Asia Pacific 2025, in Spring 2025 in Hong Kong.

Christian Lee joined Mint House as CEO in March, and 100 days into the role and a year after the company’s $35 million fundraise, Lee has his work cut out for him. But the former WeWork CFO isn’t a stranger to a volatile industry. 

Hungary’s short-term rental hosts who offer their properties on Amsterdam-based Booking.com haven’t been paid for several months, leaving some having to decide whether they’ll need to shutter their businesses, according to published reports.

Scammers have been targeting Booking.com customers for years, and in the latest attempt to find victims, they have reportedly been placing ads on the dark web to obtain the passwords of Booking’s hotel partners.

Serengeti Explorer will offer a central, yet private location with panoramic views, extensive facilities and a competitive price point catering to an underrepresented market between budget and full luxury.