Interconnection Driving Innovation: The Power of TravelTech Partnerships
Disclaimer: This article was first featured in our annual MarketHub Pulse magazine, published prior to October 2025. For this reason, there may be some discrepancies in details, such as job titles. Access your complimentary copy of MarketHub Pulse Review by clicking here.
The MarketHub is an excellent incubator for ideation: from quality keynotes from thought leaders to cross-cultural networking opportunities, HBX Group’s flagship event is a must-attend for those seeking fresh perspective, and the solutions to support business growth.
Moreover, the MarketHub serves as a launchpad for new products and partnerships – and at the MarketHub Americas, attendees were introduced to Civitfun, a hospitality tech innovator specialising in digitalising hotel operations.
Why Civitfun? Acquired by HBX Group in May 2025, the company’s tech infrastructure and integrations will further the Group’s mission to simplify the travel ecosystem. Civitfun’s offering spans 60 PMS platforms and more than 3500 clients across 36 countries – combined with HBX Group’s portfolio of 250,000 properties, the ability to reduce operational headaches for hoteliers (and to enhance the guest experience) is multiplied significantly.
The streamlining of the end-to-end travel experience a sought-after goal of many, and not limited to travel players alone: with 70% of travellers desiring a fully-digital journey, but only 1 in 4 hotels able to offer such an experience, reducing friction at check-in has fast emerged as a priority. Coupled with the fact that 80% of hoteliers report struggles with staff shortages, intervention ought to come fast and affordably.
In Panama, Civitfun’s founder, Mariano Oleza de Espana, took to the stage to share his view that solutions don’t necessary call for intervention, but integration…and true partnership. Likening the perfect end-to-end travel experience to other facets of the tourism industry (‘Why can airports deliver a seamless digital experience, but hotels can’t?’), Oleza de Espana’s belief is that all systems should ‘talk to each other’: one platform, to connect all systems in real-time. Or, true digital partnership.
It’s through Civitfun’s integrations that such an experience can be brought to life, but takes more than a product to further simplification: it takes an ecosystem.
The acquisition of Civitfun by HBX Group underscores the Group’s position as an ecosystem partner, driven by a commitment to simplify travel for all. In addition to removing friction, this ‘ecosystem’ approach’ – in which constituents from all areas of the travel sector and even beyond can ‘plug in’ and share resources – grants seamless access to the sum of the industry’s greatest parts: powerful technology, a world-best product portfolio, data, and so on. HBX Group’s Chief Growth Officer, Mark Antipof, further outlined the benefits of partnering with an ecosystem player, with HBX Group itself bringing together those from the FinTech, InsurTech and Marketing space to drive growth, not only for those in traditional tourism spaces, but those who seek to benefit from one of the most lucrative industries on earth.
‘All of these elements exist today,’ shared Antipof, ‘either in their specific domain, or in another industry. So, why not here [in travel]?'
In many ways, HBX Group is paving the way: within its ecosystem offering, the Group drives partnerships between tech houses, banks and insurers, to name a few, as well as traditional travel players such as hotels, wholesalers, travel agents and airlines. In all regions where the MarketHub 2025 was held, representatives from each sector took turns to contribute their views across a range of keynotes and panels: InsurTech and FinTech players exchanged perspectives on their products’ roles in the ecosystem (‘What is the Future of Payments and Insurance in Tech?’); hoteliers, airlines and experience providers shared their unique experiences of working with a TravelTech partner, and the benefits of ‘leaning in’; while not to forget the essence of the MarketHub as a whole: to invite businesses across all sectors, to shape the future together – and that includes discovering new partnerships, and new revenue streams.
Across all events, Group CCO, Carlos Muñoz, revealed that the travel and tourism sector is said to be worth $11 trillion USD – leaving little wonder why financial institutions, employee benefits providers, and other such industry players might seek to partner with those more traditional members of the travel sector, for example, in order to start selling travel products via white label solutions. For those already within the travel sector, a growing product portfolio – including mobility and experience, insurance, and digital payment solutions – only strengthens their own offering. In all, ecosystem partnerships are evidentially a strategic lever: to lead the charge towards crafting the connected trip, to diversifying revenue streams, and to remain competitive, secure, and supported.
Sam Alamillo (Outpayce by Amadeus) concurred: ‘Our philosophy of how we work with our partners is one based on our relationship and trust. Even being here [at the MarketHub Americas], everything seems to be driven so much around relationships, and this mutual goal of all of us being successful. Those are the key principles [of partnership]: who is in it to make sure that you’re successful? Who is in it for the long run? And who can you trust to make that success a reality?’
