The Conversation: May 2025

Welcome to BTN's monthly roundup of business travel distribution and technology topics as discussed on social media channels. In recent weeks, industry insiders weighed the importance of an industry first and an industry sale, and also waxed philosophically on the role of AI as the "why" of business travel evolves. 

Finnair's One Order Milestone 

Finnair this month created its first "native order," which aligns with the International Air Transport Association's One Order directive. Such orders enable carriers to manage customer orders in a single record, combining flight details, services, preferences and personal information.  

Eric Léopold, founder of consulting firm Threedot, on LinkedIn marked the milestone with congratulations to Finnair and posing the question of what it means for "airlines' transformation into multi-channel digital retailers."  

"Interestingly all low-cost carriers have managed orders natively," Léopold wrote. "For a full-service carrier to manage orders 'natively' it means a lot of work behind the scenes: servicing of the order, delivery of the order, accounting of the order, etc. Anyway, Finnair is one more step down the road." 

IBM Consulting global enterprise strategy partner John Nevin responded that he was "excited to see orders finally starting to happen. I realize the trepidation due to the expense, uncertainty around the business case, and need for alignment with partners, but once airlines start the transition, and see how freeing it can be not to be tied down to legacy structures, the move will become rapid." 

Systemic organization developer and coach Alexander von Bernstorff responded that "airlines and vendors should (finally) hurry up if they have any concerns with a single-vendor scenario that may manifest in less than 10 years. Congrats to Finnair to lead the crowd and benefit from early adoption. Congrats to Amadeus for finally building modern IT (OK, again, but last time was before 1990)."  

Boston Consulting Group principal Marcelo Cirelli recalled "when visiting IATA's HQ in Geneve the last physical paper ticket is displayed like a museum piece. Very cool. I wonder if there's a way to do a similar thing with the first-ever native Order." 

Sale of Sabre Hospitality Solutions  

Sabre Corp. recently announced that it is selling its Hospitality Solutions business, which it developed following its acquisition of reservation technology firm SynXis in 2005, to private equity and investment firm TPG for $1.1 billion. The company expects to close the deal in the third quarter of this year. 

Abe Salam, founder and CEO of hospitality revenue strategy consultancy Epic, said the acquisition is "big news" in the hotel technology industry. "This isn’t just another high dollar deal; it’s a signal that the future of hotel strategy and technology is being actively reshaped," Salam said on LinkedIn. "From SynXis to boardroom strategy, this deal sets off shockwaves that will reshape how operators, tech vendors, investors, and platforms do business across the global hospitality industry."   

Hospitality industry veteran Andrew Wheal disagreed. "Hospitality tech is not high-growth, high-value," he said in a response to Salam. "Sales for majority of hospitality tech are down, the hotels are prioritizing cost saving and are not investing. The acquisition by TPG is because they felt they got value from the purchase. As for Sabre, the fact they are offloading hotel tech and trying to save their travel tech tells you everything you need to know!" 

The Why of Travel in the Age of AI  

Travel tech storyteller and former Conferma executive Lucy Koleva explored the extensive history of travel—starting from early humans' migration out of Africa in 60,000 BCE—and posed the philosophical question of what the next chapter will be for business travel. 

"The next chapter of travel might be less about technical innovations and more about existential ones," Koleva said on LinkedIn. "It’s not just about faster planes or better apps—it’s about understanding why we travel. When should you rely on your trusted human agent, and when should your AI travel assistant handle the details? How can we prompt ourselves, our teams and technology to ensure every journey is meaningful? It’s not so much about deciding when or where to meet—but how to make that meeting matter. How do we get the most out of our time together? From nomads to networkers and back to nomads again, the goal of travel remains the same: to bring us closer together in the best possible way." 

Travel technology strategist Ann Cederhall responded: "Nothing replaces the human, BUT AI and LLM can help enormously with gathering and processing the data in a better way to help us focus on what matters. When I look at the processes in travel it is alarming how so much have not changed for the better, they have not become faster and better or cheaper. We need for that to happen."   

Consultant and former CWT executive Martijn van der Voort offered his thoughts as well.

"AI today is best for handling logistics: booking, real-time updates, analytics, expense tracking, thus freeing travellers to focus on the bigger picture. A human agent [caveat = for now] is key for personalized expertise, negotiations and managing the unexpected. I have to be clear though: Technology evolves. AI will continue to take on more and what still requires a human agent touch today won’t necessarily in the future. That’s just the way things are heading. Denying this will make life harder for buyers and suppliers. What works for me is to make travel meaningful, by setting clear intentions. In this new world, I can use AI to optimize my planning, leave space for real human connections. The best ideas rarely come from agendas but happen for example in conversations on the way to the hotel, or over a meal, or sitting in an airport waiting to board a flight while going over the day. Meetings should always be about impact, experiences rooted in engagement and follow-up that turns into action. That's just me though."