PhocusWire travel tech news briefs: Agoda, FCM Travel, HomeToGo and more... Here's our roundup of the people, product and partner news from the global travel industry this week. This roundup was created with the assistance of Claude. Hospitable adds inventory tracking. Hospitable has added inventory management and credit card payments to Hospitable Tasks, its platform for managing short-term rental operations. The inventory feature allows property teams to leave voice notes about supplies and property conditions, which are automatically converted into restocking lists for managers to review. Costs can also be recorded against properties and included in owner statements. Property managers in the U.S. can now pay cleaners and other team members by credit card in addition to bank transfer. Hospitable said its Tasks platform has nearly 15,000 team members and has processed more than $3.8 million in payouts. Emerging Travel Group, Agoda partner on hotel distribution. Emerging Travel Group (ETG) and Agoda have entered into a partnership to expand accommodation distribution across their platforms. Agoda will access ETG's hotel inventory through the RateHawk API, adding accommodation options across Europe, the U.S., Latin America and the Middle East. ETG will also incorporate Agoda's hotel supply into its distribution network, expanding its inventory in Asia and other markets. ETG said bookings to East and Southeast Asia have grown by an average of 30% in 2026. HomeToGo names CBO. HomeToGo has appointed Christine Prauschke chief business officer and a member of its management board, effective January 1, 2027. She will lead HomeToGo Originals, the group's property management division, which includes Interhome. Prauschke succeeds Valentin Gruber in overseeing the division. She was most recently CEO of ESG management platform Leadity and previously held executive roles at Enpal and Check24 Health Insurance. HiJiffy launches AI email assistant for hotels. HiJiffy has launched Email Copilot, an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that drafts responses to guest emails for hotel reservations and front-desk teams. Integrated into HiJiffy's guest communications platform, the tool uses hotel-specific templates and knowledge bases to generate replies, summarize email threads and translate responses. Each draft includes references to the information used, with missing details flagged for staff to complete. All messages require human review before being sent. Email Copilot is available as an add-on for HiJiffy customers using Aplysia 3. Loveholidays appoints partnerships director. Loveholidays has appointed Ady Guthrie senior director of partnerships to lead a new division focused on offering the online travel agency's technology to other businesses through white label and API solutions. Guthrie brings more than 20 years of experience in travel and technology partnerships, including previous roles at Rentalcars.com, Booking.com, Meili and Auto Europe. The division will build on existing partnerships with HolidayPirates and Urlaubstracker, targeting travel companies and businesses in adjacent sectors, including financial services and loyalty programs. Retailaer launches airline retailing pilot program. Retailaer has launched an early access program that allows airlines to test new retailing capabilities without replacing their existing passenger service systems. The program offers six use cases, including automated group bookings, vouchers and gift cards, split payments, self-service booking management, digital wallets and AI-powered booking and servicing through model context protocol. Participating airlines can test individual capabilities using their own data and measure their impact on revenue before expanding deployment. The program is open to a limited number of airlines by application. FCM Travel launches browser extension. FCM Travel has launched a free browser extension for its Sam digital travel assistant that connects external flight searches with corporate booking tools and automates expense reporting. Available for Chrome and Edge, the extension allows travelers to transfer flight search details from sites such as Google Flights, Expedia and Skyscanner into FCM Booking or other supported booking tools. It also uses AI to extract information from uploaded receipts and populate expense reports in Concur Expense. The extension is available to all travelers, including those who are not FCM customers. Alaska Airlines, Meili. Alaska Airlines has partnered with Meili to offer car rental bookings through the company's direct distribution platform. The integration gives Alaska access to rental car providers through Meili's technology while allowing the airline to manage its own booking experience, branding and customer data.

Emerald Coast By Owner and Hospitable launch new integration to make Gulf Coast direct bookings easier. September 28, 2026, 18:00 GMT Vacation rental hosts can now seamlessly connect their Hospitable properties to ECBYO, reach more Gulf Coast travelers and offer guests direct bookings DESTIN, FL, UNITED STATES, September 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ - DESTIN, Fla. - September 28, 2026 - Emerald Coast By Owner (ECBYO), a Gulf Coast-focused vacation rental marketplace, has announced a new integration with Hospitable, a leading vacation rental management platform. The integration allows Hospitable users to connect eligible properties to ECBYO and streamline the process of reaching travelers who prefer to book directly with vacation rental hosts. The integration brings together two companies that support the Book Direct movement and its goal of creating a more transparent relationship between vacation rental hosts and guests. Instead of relying exclusively on large online travel agencies that may add service fees to the advertised rental rate, ECBYO connects travelers directly with property owners and professional managers. Depending on the property, travel dates and booking platform being compared, booking directly may help guests save up to 20% on their vacation rental. "Travelers should be able to understand what they are paying for, communicate directly with the people responsible for their rental and avoid unnecessary platform fees whenever possible," said Joe Godar of Emerald Coast By Owner. "Our new Hospitable integration makes it easier for hosts to reach direct-booking guests without adding another complicated system to manage." A Simpler Way to List on ECBYO Hospitable users can connect their account to their ECBYO owner account and select the properties they want displayed on the ECBYO network. Once authorized, ECBYO can synchronize important property information from Hospitable, including: Property descriptions Photographs Rates and pricing Calendar availability Blocked dates This process reduces the repetitive work associated with joining another vacation rental marketplace. Hosts do not have to manually rebuild every listing, upload the same photographs again or maintain a separate availability calendar. Travelers can view current property information, check availability, receive a quote and complete their booking through ECBYO. Reservations generated through ECBYO are then managed within the host's Hospitable account. Depending on the host's Hospitable plan and account configuration, hosts can review booking requests, communicate with guests, make reservation changes, manage cancellations and request or send payments through their existing Hospitable workflow. Gulf Coast Marketing Meets Vacation Rental Automation ECBYO is designed specifically for travelers searching for Gulf Coast Vacation Rentals. Its inventory includes beachfront condominiums, beach houses, pet-friendly properties, private-pool homes and other professionally managed vacation accommodations. ECBYO promotes properties across Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, including the Florida Panhandle, Southwest Florida, Florida's west coast and the Florida Keys. Hospitable provides hosts and property managers with tools that help simplify the daily operation of short-term rentals. Its platform supports synchronized calendars, centralized guest communication, automated messaging, direct-booking management, team access, task coordination, payment processing, reporting and channel management. Together, the two platforms offer a practical combination. Hospitable helps hosts manage their rental operations, while ECBYO places Gulf Coast properties in front of travelers actively searching for direct-booking opportunities. Hosts can maintain property information and manage reservations through Hospitable while using ECBYO as an additional source of bookings. This can reduce administrative work, lower the risk of outdated availability and help hosts diversify beyond the largest online travel agencies. Direct Booking Benefits Hosts and Guests Direct booking gives hosts greater control over the guest relationship. Owners and managers can answer property-specific questions, explain rental policies and provide local recommendations before the reservation is completed. This direct communication is particularly valuable along the Gulf Coast, where travelers may need detailed information about beach access, parking, boats, pets, pools, accessibility, resort amenities and local rules. Hosts can also build stronger guest relationships, generate repeat business and establish a recognizable rental brand. Returning guests can contact the host directly for future vacations rather than starting over on an unrelated travel platform. For travelers, one of the most significant advantages is the potential savings. Major vacation rental platforms may add guest service fees that increase the final price beyond the nightly rate initially displayed. These charges can become substantial for longer stays, larger homes and peak-season reservations. ECBYO does not charge travelers a traditional guest service fee. Because guests can book directly with the host or property manager, the final cost may be up to 20% lower than a comparable reservation that includes a large platform service fee. Actual savings will vary based on rental rates, taxes, host charges, travel dates and the platform being compared. Helping Hosts Diversify Their Marketing The ECBYO and Hospitable integration does not require hosts to leave their other booking channels. Instead, it provides another way to diversify their marketing and reduce dependence on any single marketplace. A balanced distribution strategy can help vacation rental businesses reach more travelers while gradually increasing their share of direct reservations. The integration can be especially valuable for professional property managers with multiple Gulf Coast rentals. Synchronizing property information can save significant time compared with manually creating and maintaining individual listings. Managers can select which properties to publish and manage resulting reservations through the Hospitable system they already use. How to Get Started Hospitable users can begin by creating an ECBYO owner account and selecting the number of properties they want to list. From the ECBYO owner dashboard, users can open the Integrations section, select "Connect with Hospitable" and securely authorize the connection through Hospitable. After authorization, the host selects the appropriate properties, and the ECBYO team reviews the imported listings before publishing them on the relevant Gulf Coast destination pages. The new integration is available now. About Emerald Coast By Owner Emerald Coast By Owner, also known as ECBYO, is a direct-booking vacation rental marketplace connecting Gulf Coast travelers with verified property owners and professional managers. ECBYO promotes vacation rentals across Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas while supporting transparent pricing, direct communication and bookings without an ECBYO guest service fee. Visit EmeraldCoastByOwner.com to search Gulf Coast vacation rentals or learn more about listing a property. About Hospitable Hospitable provides vacation rental software that helps hosts and property managers automate guest communication, synchronize calendars, coordinate operations, manage reservations and grow direct bookings. Visit Hospitable.com for more information. Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above. You just read: September 28, 2026, 18:00 GMT EIN Presswire's priority is author transparency. We do our best to weed out false and misleading content. The content above is the sole responsibility of the author who makes it available. If you have any complaints, kindly contact the author above. +1 513-708-3071