Large mergers can be messy affairs, but Global Business Travel Group officials are focused on cost savings now that the merger with CWT is slated to close soon.

“We expect to deliver approximately $155 million in identified net synergies and have a proven track record of integrating large acquisitions and achieving our synergy targets,” Paul Abbott, the CEO of Amex GBT, said during the second-quarter earnings call. Those savings would be over a three-year period.

The merger of the #1 (Amex GBT) and #4 (CWT) largest global players in business travel is on track to close before the end of September now that the U.S. Department of Justice dismissed its own lawsuit against the merger.

Abbott said that “given the recent clarity on CWT,” it plans to initiate additional share repurchases in the next few months.

The CEO said he can’t comment on CWT’s financial performance but will do so in November during the next quarterly presentation.

“Our commercial success, margin expansion and improved demand environment give us confidence to raise and narrow our full-year 2025 guidance,” Abbott said.

Customer Wins

The commercial success was a reference to market share gains and $3.2 billion in new customer wins over the past year. Some $2.2 billion of those wins were of small- and medium-sized businesses, a segment that has been traditionally hard to capture.

Amex GBT’s adjusted EBITDA increased 4% in the second quarter. Revenue rose 1% to $631 million.

After macro uncertainty saw corporate travel demand dip modestly in April, transactions grew a combined 2% in May and June. “We continue to see green shoots into July that give us confidence that the demand environment has improved,” Abbott said.

Spain’s short-term rental market is bracing for major disruption as its housing ministry prepares to delist thousands of unregistered tourist apartments during the peak summer season.

Starting in mid-August, Spain’s housing ministry will begin enforcing a 2024 law that requires all short-term rentals to display a unique rental registration number (NRA in Spanish). Listings that fail to comply will be removed from major platforms like Airbnb.

“We continue to put a stop to illegal tourist apartments to guarantee the right to decent housing,” Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez said in mid-July when the government and Airbnb announced an agreement to enforce the new law.

The first apartments will be removed from platforms in mid-August after they are given a 10-day grace period to appeal.

An Airbnb spokesperson told Skift on Tuesday that the company has led discussions at the European

Key Points

• The U.S. State Department will require travelers from Malawi and Zambia to post visa bonds of $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000 for B-1/B-2 visas starting August 20, 2025.
• The program aims to discourage visa overstays and is initially limited to business and tourist visas, with an estimated 2,000 travelers affected.
• Visa holders under this program must enter and exit the U.S. through specific airports, and the list of affected countries may be updated.

Summary

The U.S. State Department announced that, starting August 20, 2025, citizens of Malawi and Zambia seeking B-1 or B-2 visas will be required to post bonds ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 as part of a 12-month pilot program aimed at reducing visa overstays. The initiative, which may expand to other countries, is expected to affect about 2,000 travelers and requires participants to use specific U.S. airports for entry and departure. The full bond is refunded if travelers comply with their visa terms.