HTS and Virgin add hotels. K-Pop fuels travel surge. PKFARE expands hotel reach. COMO boosts B2B. Stories to sales.

Virgin Australia launches hotel booking with HTS Stays

Virgin Australia has teamed up with HTS, the B2B division of Hopper, to launch a new hotel booking portal powered by HTS Stays. This marks the first official rollout of HTS’s modern accommodation solution, designed to help airlines boost cross-sell potential directly through their digital channels. Available via Virgin Australia’s website and mobile app, the new portal offers customers a booking experience and the opportunity to earn three Velocity Frequent Flyer points for every Australian dollar spent.

This partnership reflects both companies’ shared focus on enhancing the travel experience through digital innovation. HTS President Dakota Smith added that the collaboration embodies their mission to enhance travel through cutting-edge UX and loyalty-driven rewards.

PKFARE partners with Archipelago to boost global hotel reach

PKFARE has announced a strategic partnership with Archipelago, Southeast Asia’s largest privately owned hotel group, to strengthen global hotel distribution. The collaboration aims to enhance PKFARE’s direct-contract hotel inventory while expanding Archipelago’s access to PKFARE’s network of over 2,000 global distribution partners, including OTAs, wholesalers, airlines, and super-apps. This move aligns with Archipelago’s international growth across Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East, and reinforces PKFARE’s strategy to secure high-quality, reliable hotel supply.

Executives from both companies emphasised the mutual benefits of the partnership. Archipelago’s CEO John Flood highlighted how the integration of Archipelago’s hospitality strengths with PKFARE’s global platform will drive growth and improve guest and partner value. CCO Chris Legaspi added that the partnership will streamline distribution and boost global service efficiency. PKFARE’s Senior VP Jason Sui noted this marks another milestone in PKFARE’s expansion, citing similar agreements with other hotel groups like Chroma, Ormond, and Vinpearl. In 2025, PKFARE recorded a 326% year-over-year increase in direct-contract hotel bookings.

K-Pop fever drives travel surge to Seoul and Busan

Travel interest in South Korea is surging in June, driven by a wave of K-pop excitement including BTS’ much-anticipated comeback, the Busan One Asia Festival, j-hope’s encore concerts, BTS Festa events, and the Seoul Music Awards. According to Booking.com, international searches for Seoul and Busan have jumped 30% and 50% year-on-year respectively. Domestic interest is also strong, with Korean travellers increasing searches to Seoul and Busan by 20% and 38%. The BTS Festa announcement at the end of May spurred a notable spike in hotel searches for Seoul between June 12–15, especially from fans in the Philippines (106%), Germany (108%), and France (64%).

Different traveller types are driving the trend: solo and group travellers are flocking to Seoul, with 36% and 32% respective increases, while family travel to Busan spiked 57%. German travellers are super enthusiastic, with Seoul accommodation searches doubling and Busan quadrupling compared to 2024. The top five international markets searching for Seoul are the U.S., Taiwan, Japan, France, and Germany, while Busan saw the most interest from Taiwan, Germany, the U.S., Russia, and Japan. This aligns with Booking.com’s 2025 Travel Trends report, which found that 58% of global travellers plan to travel for music events.

COMO Hotels taps TA Network to support B2B distribution

COMO Hotels and Resorts has partnered with Trip Affiliates Network (TA Network) to aid and modernise its B2B distribution through advanced digital solutions. The collaboration will see COMO implement TA Network’s platform across its portfolio, enabling real-time inventory and rate management, automated contracting, and streamlined operations with global travel partners. 

The partnership also introduces dynamic pricing, instant booking confirmations, and secure, multi-currency payment infrastructure. Both companies highlighted the move as a step toward driving efficiency, enhancing global connectivity, and supporting COMO’s mission to enhance guest experiences through innovation and new operational tools.

TourRadar Moments turns travel stories into bookable adventures

TourRadar has launched Moments, a new feature inside its mobile app that turns real traveller stories into immersive, short-form content to inspire and guide users toward their next adventure. By allowing users to browse and upload videos and photos from past tours – tagged to actual destinations and bookable experiences – Moments bridges the gap between authentic discovery and seamless booking. The social-first feature rewards creators with up to $250 in travel credits for uploading content, while enabling users to book instantly from the inspiration they see.

With over 1,000 creator-submitted videos already live and hundreds more expected, Moments strengthens TourRadar’s vision of community-powered, mobile-led experiential travel. The feature supports a wide range of content creators—from everyday travellers to guides and operators – and serves as an extension of the company’s “Adventure Simplified” tagline.