Luxury Escapes, a leading Australian exclusive travel provider, and Cover Genius, a leader in embedded protection, have expanded their longstanding partnership with the launch of Cancellation Protection, a new protection product available for Australian and New Zealand customers booking domestic travel, as well as for international travellers worldwide.The partnership extension brings additional peace of mind to customers travelling from Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia with cancellation protection backed by a seamless claims process, reinforcing both companies’ commitment to offering a superior experience for customers.This protection provides a 100% refund for cancellations due to unforeseen events including but not limited to: sickness, accident, injury, pre-existing medical conditions, flight disruption, adverse weather, theft of documents, transport failure, home emergencies, professional obligations, workplace redundancy and other unexpected events that may disrupt travel plans.Cover Genius’ embedded cancellation solution provides a seamless, customer-friendly experience for travellers booking through Luxury Escapes. Whether it’s for flights, hotels, or unique travel experiences, the protection ensures that customers are refunded swiftly and efficiently in almost any currency, protecting getaways and bucket-list moments.As part of this latest development, customers can now also purchase Cancellation Protection from within the Luxury Escapes app as well as on the website or through the call centre, making the travel booking experience even simpler regardless of how customers make their booking, building on the protection offering previously available for customers travelling from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.Cover Genius is a trusted protection, compliance and regulatory partner for major digital brands worldwide, offering global reach with licenses or authorisations in over 60 countries and the ability to co-create tailored protection solutions for customers. As a reliable partner for insurers and underwriters, Cover Genius enables its partners to access key markets and expand their customer base across the globe.“This expansion reflects our ongoing dedication to providing our customers with a reliable, one-stop-shop for all their travel protection needs,” said Luxury Escapes CEO and Co-Founder Adam Schwab. “With the addition of Cancellation Protection which now also covers experiences, we’re offering even greater flexibility and protection to travellers, ensuring they can book with confidence, no matter their destination.”“We are proud to continue our strong partnership with Luxury Escapes, expanding our protection services to more regions as they continue to grow worldwide,” said Angus McDonald, CEO and Co-founder of Cover Genius.“Globally, we are seeing customers shift towards protection solutions tailored to their specific needs and demographics, rather than traditional bundled offerings. By integrating these solutions into the online and app-based Luxury Escapes booking journey, we’re making it easier for customers to confidently choose the right travel protection and tick cancellation coverage off their pre-travel to-do list.”This milestone marks another significant step in the collaboration between the two companies, which has been expanding over several years. With a shared vision of delivering superior value to customers, this partnership continues to evolve, providing more tailored and accessible protection options across a growing list of destinations and experiences

Here's our roundup of the people, product and partner news from the global travel industry this week.HRS, AmadeusHRS, a global technology company, has announced the extension of its partnership with Amadeus Cytric, a platform that provides end-to-end solutions for corporate travel and expense.The announcement reflected on the highlights of the extended agreement, which included optimized property shopping, automated hotel rebooking, driving the use of more sustainable hotels and automated payment and invoice collection.Tobias Ragge, CEO of HRS said, “By unlocking new data-infused avenues to optimize program performance, maximize savings and enhance sustainable travel operations, we’re working together to make business life better for corporations and their travelers.”Read more details here.Sabre, Air CanadaSabre, a software and technology provider that powers the global travel industry, and Air Canada, Canada’s largest airline, have announced that Air Canada’s full content will now be available through Sabre NDC.This launch is said to empower travel agencies to consume Air Canada’s expanded new distribution capability offers and services, which will enable them to provide personalized travel experiences to their customers.Kathy Morgan, vice president of product management distribution experience for Sabre said, “Our robust technology ensures scalability, allowing agents to seamlessly access Air Canada's latest pricing and bundled offerings without compromising service levels. Additionally, our comprehensive end-to-end booking management streamlines the process, reducing the burden on agency resources.”Priceline, Cover GeniusPriceline, an innovator of online travel, and Cover Genius, the insurtech for embedded protection, have announced a partnership to enhance travel protection for any flights, hotels, rental cars and packages booked with Priceline.This new integration allows Priceline’s customers to access support, file claims and receive instant payments for approved claims through Cover Genius’ global distribution platform, XCover.Angus McDonald, CEO and co-founder of Cover Genius, said, “We avoid ‘off-the-shelf’ offerings and build technology-driven solutions that we constantly test and iterate for the best possible insurance experience. This helps develop meaningful touchpoints with customers and drives additional revenue for our partners. In fact, after launching with us, Priceline saw an increase in insurance attach rates.”Read more details here.Nezasa updatesNezasa, a leading provider of e-commerce solutions for travel brands, has announced a partnership with Globespan, an industry leader in travel management.Globespan will integrate Nezasa’s TripBuilder platform into its channels, which will allow them to curate personalized experiences for their members and provide a leisure benefit site that offers discounted content and product offerings.In addition to their developments, Nezasa has announced the appointment of Lisa Katsouraki to the board of directors, who will continue to strengthen the company’s mission to empower travel providers with tools to sell itineraries efficiently while driving growth and enabling them to streamline operations.LATA, Safer Tourism FoundationThe Latin American Tourism Association (LATA) has partnered with the Safer Tourism Foundation as part of a strategy to promote traveler safety. Through the partnership, LATA will access STF's expertise and content, which is based on anonymized safety incident data. The data helps travel specialists understand, boost awareness of and minimize risk around preventable harm, injuries, illnesses and deaths while traveling.SITA, Heathrow AirportAviation technology specialist SITA has extended its partnership with Heathrow Airport for a further five years

InsurTech firm AutoRek has partnered with J.P. Morgan Payments to help insurance companies overcome data challenges with a more connected, streamlined infrastructure. With these capabilities, insurance companies can unlock new market opportunities, the companies said in a press release. “By working together, we will unlock many opportunities for insurance firms to streamline the premium receivables process,” Piers Williams, global insurance lead at AutoRek, said in the release. “This will help them to increase efficiency, accelerate cash flow, reduce write-offs and enhance controls.”