Pet Food Connect Launches Connected Wellness Platform to Strengthen Customer Relationships

New platform connects premium pet nutrition with fecal health testing, veterinary telehealth and ongoing wellness support to help brands increase engagement, retention and customer lifetime value.

New York, New York, United States, 19th Aug 2026 — Pet Food Connect today announced the launch of its Connected Wellness Platform, a new solution designed to help premium pet food brands extend their relationship with pet parents beyond the food bowl by integrating nutrition with measurable health insights, veterinary telehealth and ongoing wellness engagement.

As consumers increasingly seek premium, human-grade, fresh, frozen, freeze-dried, air-dried and other better-for-you nutrition options for their dogs, pet food brands face a growing challenge: delivering value that extends beyond the initial product purchase.

Pet Food Connect’s Connected Wellness Platform is designed to help brands address that challenge by creating an ongoing relationship between nutrition, pet health and the customer experience.

“Premium pet food brands are investing heavily in better nutrition, but the opportunity doesn’t end when the food reaches the customer’s home,” said Richard Gray, Founder of Pet Food Connect. “By connecting nutrition with health insights, veterinary support and ongoing engagement, brands have an opportunity to create a much deeper relationship with pet parents while demonstrating the value of the wellness experience they’re providing.”

Connecting Nutrition With Ongoing Pet Wellness

The Connected Wellness Platform brings together several complementary components that pet food brands can incorporate into their customer experience.

At-home fecal health testing provides pet parents with greater insight into their dog’s digestive and microbiome health while creating a personalized wellness baseline that can be monitored over time.

Veterinary telehealth provides convenient access to professional veterinary support when pet parents have questions or need additional guidance regarding their dog’s health and wellness.

Combined with ongoing education, engagement and wellness support, these services allow participating pet food brands to move beyond a traditional transactional relationship and become a more meaningful part of the pet parent’s ongoing wellness journey.

Helping Pet Food Brands Increase Retention and Lifetime Value

The platform is particularly suited for premium pet food brands competing on nutrition, ingredient quality and health—including human-grade, fresh, frozen, freeze-dried, air-dried and better-for-you dog food brands.

By adding health and wellness services around an existing nutrition offering, brands can create additional reasons for customers to remain engaged throughout the subscription or purchasing lifecycle.

The model is designed to help participating brands:

  • Strengthen customer engagement and loyalty
  • Increase retention and customer lifetime value
  • Differentiate premium nutrition offerings in an increasingly competitive market
  • Provide pet parents with meaningful health and wellness insights
  • Create stronger connections between nutrition and ongoing pet wellness
  • Support recurring and subscription-based customer relationships

Rather than requiring brands to build an entirely new wellness infrastructure internally, Pet Food Connect provides a framework for bringing these capabilities together around the brand’s existing nutrition offering.

Building a More Connected Pet Food Experience

Pet Food Connect draws on more than 30 years of experience helping food and pet food companies develop and grow new business opportunities. The Connected Wellness Platform builds on that experience by helping brands combine premium nutrition with the services and engagement tools increasingly expected by today’s health-conscious pet parents.

“Pet parents aren’t simply buying food—they’re making an investment in their dog’s long-term health,” Gray added. “The brands that can become part of that larger wellness relationship have an opportunity to create greater value for the customer and a much stronger long-term relationship with them.”

Pet food brands interested in learning more about the Connected Wellness Platform can visit PetFoodConnect.com.

About Pet Food Connect

Pet Food Connect helps pet food companies develop and grow differentiated nutrition and wellness opportunities through strategic consulting, product development, subscription and e-commerce expertise, logistics, and connected pet wellness solutions.

Led by industry veteran Richard Gray, Pet Food Connect works with brands and retailers to identify new opportunities, develop innovative offerings and create stronger, longer-lasting relationships with pet parents.

Media Contact

Organization: Pet Food Connect

Contact Person: Richard Gray

Website: https://petfoodconnect.com/

Email: Send Email

Contact Number: +18889988762

Address:150 Central Park South

City: New York

State: New York

Country:United States

Release id:48225

The post Pet Food Connect Launches Connected Wellness Platform to Strengthen Customer Relationships appeared first on King Newswire. This content is provided by a third-party source.. King Newswire makes no warranties or representations in connection with it. King Newswire is a press release distribution agency and does not endorse or verify the claims made in this release. If you have any complaints or copyright concerns related to this article, please contact the company listed in the ‘Media Contact’ section

file

Island-wide Field Tour: CMG Unveils the Development Momentum of Hainan FTP to the World

Every year during China’s Qixi Festival, the streets of Baoting in Hainan turn into a bustling carnival of mass water splashing. A unique blend of Li and Miao ethnic intangible cultural heritage and tropical rainforest charm comes alive here. The joyous bustle of water-splashing rituals, the elegant appeal of intangible heritage parades, and the relaxing comfort of rainforest wellness converge at the Hainan Qixian Hot Spring Water-Splashing Festival — one of Hainan’s most lively and down-to-earth folk cultural scenes.

This year, this grand festival gains a new storyteller: A Bus Tour Across China · Hainan Chapter, a convergence media program launched by Yangshipin under the China Media Group (CMG). Conducting an immersive, island-wide field tour along Hainan’s island ring road, the CMG team streams live footage of the vibrant festival celebrations to global audiences. The program serves as a vivid, firsthand window for the world to observe the robust development momentum of China’s Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP).

The spectacular water-splashing festival embodies the fruitful integration of culture and tourism across Hainan. Likewise, the program’s island-wide field tour presents a panorama of the FTP’s industrial layout. As a pivotal benchmark for China’s reform and opening-up in the new era, the Hainan FTP leverages its distinctive resource endowments and adheres to high-quality development. It focuses steady efforts on five core sectors — agricultural seed industry, marine economy, commercial aerospace, green and low-carbon development, and digital trade — to build an open, coordinated and modern industrial system, offering diverse cooperation opportunities for global partners.

Sanya’s Yazhou Bay hosts one of the world’s leading germplasm resource nurseries for wild rice and wild cotton. Ongoing deepening of international scientific research partnerships bolsters global food security. Along the coast of Danzhou, intelligent deep-sea aquaculture cages empower modern marine farming, while deep-sea tech innovation platforms extend exploration into the deep blue, charting a sustainable path for marine economic development. Nestled in Wenchang’s coconut groves, the low-latitude commercial space launch cluster gathers premium industrial resources. Capitalizing on superior geographical location and favorable policies, it broadens new horizons for international aerospace cooperation. Boao’s Dongyu Island is home to China’s first internationally certified zero-carbon demonstration zone in built-up areas, which operates efficiently and provides Chinese solutions for global zero-carbon development standards. On Haikou’s century-old Qilou Old Street, digital technology revitalizes traditional commercial formats, smoothens cross-border trade circulation, and energizes connectivity in global trade and commerce.

From lively folk festivals to frontline industrial development, from ecological conservation practices to opening-up endeavors, CMG’s island-wide bus tour captures far more than Hainan’s remarkable transformation. It narrates a vivid, authentic story of China’s firm commitment to high-level opening-up. As the island-wide customs closure moves forward steadily, Hainan continues to unlock institutional dividends, further upgrade trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and foster a more open market environment for global enterprises and talents. Drawing on CMG’s overseas communication matrix, A Bus Tour Across China · Hainan Chapter delivers a positive message to the world: sharing the development opportunities of the Hainan FTP and jointly fostering an open, win-win future. The program has garnered widespread attention and favorable feedback both at home and abroad.

STARPRIME Completes Beta Testing of Market-Maker Model for Retail Brokers

Port Louis, Mauritius, August 19th, 2026, FinanceWire

The Market-Maker Model developed by STARPRIME has completed an extensive beta-testing phase, working with a select number of clients. The term ‘market maker’ carries a stigma of being a bad actor in our industry. That reputation has identifiable origins, and some of it has been earned. What follows is how a properly governed market-making arrangement differs, and where it can materially improve outcomes for retail brokers. 

The driver of the product innovation and development has been to find the ‘sweet spot’ in solving some of the main challenges that larger retail brokers face:

  • Optimal efficiency in externalising Non-Risk Flow
  • Non-Risk Revenue dilemma (aka “flattening the curve”)

Optimal efficiency in externalising Non-Risk Flow

Whilst retail brokers seek the liquidity provided by traditional liquidity providers (Tier-1 LPs, ECNs, Banks), they struggle to make these offerings commercially viable, mainly as a direct result of wider spreads and higher margins compared to the retail model they operate under. This makes externalising flow commercially unviable, leaving retail brokers to manage greater exposure and risk than they would otherwise need to.

With the option of trading through a Market-Maker model, clients can trade on pricing and margins that are more closely aligned with the retail model, with the market maker managing the pricing and margin differential to LPs. The market maker absorbs the differential between retail-aligned pricing and LP pricing, supported by internal netting across aggregated flow and by scale. Retail brokers can access institutional-grade liquidity through a single relationship, reducing operational and capital costs.

Non-Risk Revenue dilemma (aka “flattening the curve”)

Retail brokers will be all too familiar with the changing dynamics and revenue streams in our industry. Over the past several years, the amount of Non-Risk Revenue being generated has been converging with the amount of risk revenue being earned. This comes as no surprise as the retail market is becoming more informed; with developing skill sets and technology (including AI), retail clients are becoming more profitable and are increasingly able to preserve their capital in volatile market conditions.

A number of participants in the beta release were able to identify client segments where the ‘Non-Risk revenue’ was close to or greater than the ‘risk revenue’. This highlighted the obvious Expected Value Trade-Off, where the most a broker could make would likely be the ‘Non-Risk revenue’, whilst the potential losses could be much greater. By externalising the flow through the Market-Maker model, they were able to manage their market risk and identify potential revenue opportunities across these segments of their client base.

Market Maker vs STP Solutions

In a like-for-like analysis, and in keeping with the general expectations of a Market-Maker Model, STARPRIME observed that the Market-Making model provided clients with key potential advantages across core metrics. Pricing included faster price updates and tighter spreads, particularly in volatile market conditions. Order fill efficiency was closer to optimal, particularly with larger order sizes. Market impact was greatly reduced, which ultimately resulted in greater overall efficiency. Naturally, the metrics will vary, primarily driven by the underlying nature of the order flow, although it was noted that there were clear improvements even on sharper flow.

Jay Mawji, CEO of STARPRIME, added: “As much as we may want to deny it, the pace of the Race to Zero is gathering each day. By deploying our market-maker solution and applying consistent pricing across the flow we accept, we are able to offer our clients execution at costs closer to their retail model than a traditional LP relationship allows. This promotes a healthy industry, where the Race to Zero is a phenomenon that should be embraced by all market participants in a responsible manner that promotes advancements in our industry with tighter pricing and stronger competition. 

Potential clients can view average pricing directly on the STARPRIME website (www.starprime.com)under the Pricing Section (https://www.starprime.com/spread/). This tool will be further enhanced to present execution metrics and use cases, in a bid to push for increased transparency and informed decision-making for potential clients.

About STARPRIME

STARPRIME was built around a clear understanding: institutional clients need more than access to liquidity. They need a partner that understands their business, responds to their changing requirements, and provides the infrastructure and expertise they can rely on as they grow.

Today, STARPRIME is an established institutional CFD liquidity provider and market maker, combining deep multi-asset liquidity with advanced pricing technology, low-latency execution, and dedicated client coverage. Its solutions are shaped around each client’s flow, scale, and market requirements, with a focus on transparency, consistent performance, and lasting partnerships.

Contact

STARPRIME
pr@starprime.com

STARPRIME Completes Beta Testing of Market-Maker Model for Retail Brokers

Port Louis, Mauritius, August 19th, 2026, FinanceWire

The Market-Maker Model developed by STARPRIME has completed an extensive beta-testing phase, working with a select number of clients. The term ‘market maker’ carries a stigma of being a bad actor in our industry. That reputation has identifiable origins, and some of it has been earned. What follows is how a properly governed market-making arrangement differs, and where it can materially improve outcomes for retail brokers. 

The driver of the product innovation and development has been to find the ‘sweet spot’ in solving some of the main challenges that larger retail brokers face:

  • Optimal efficiency in externalising Non-Risk Flow
  • Non-Risk Revenue dilemma (aka “flattening the curve”)

Optimal efficiency in externalising Non-Risk Flow

Whilst retail brokers seek the liquidity provided by traditional liquidity providers (Tier-1 LPs, ECNs, Banks), they struggle to make these offerings commercially viable, mainly as a direct result of wider spreads and higher margins compared to the retail model they operate under. This makes externalising flow commercially unviable, leaving retail brokers to manage greater exposure and risk than they would otherwise need to.

With the option of trading through a Market-Maker model, clients can trade on pricing and margins that are more closely aligned with the retail model, with the market maker managing the pricing and margin differential to LPs. The market maker absorbs the differential between retail-aligned pricing and LP pricing, supported by internal netting across aggregated flow and by scale. Retail brokers can access institutional-grade liquidity through a single relationship, reducing operational and capital costs.

Non-Risk Revenue dilemma (aka “flattening the curve”)

Retail brokers will be all too familiar with the changing dynamics and revenue streams in our industry. Over the past several years, the amount of Non-Risk Revenue being generated has been converging with the amount of risk revenue being earned. This comes as no surprise as the retail market is becoming more informed; with developing skill sets and technology (including AI), retail clients are becoming more profitable and are increasingly able to preserve their capital in volatile market conditions.

A number of participants in the beta release were able to identify client segments where the ‘Non-Risk revenue’ was close to or greater than the ‘risk revenue’. This highlighted the obvious Expected Value Trade-Off, where the most a broker could make would likely be the ‘Non-Risk revenue’, whilst the potential losses could be much greater. By externalising the flow through the Market-Maker model, they were able to manage their market risk and identify potential revenue opportunities across these segments of their client base.

Market Maker vs STP Solutions

In a like-for-like analysis, and in keeping with the general expectations of a Market-Maker Model, STARPRIME observed that the Market-Making model provided clients with key potential advantages across core metrics. Pricing included faster price updates and tighter spreads, particularly in volatile market conditions. Order fill efficiency was closer to optimal, particularly with larger order sizes. Market impact was greatly reduced, which ultimately resulted in greater overall efficiency. Naturally, the metrics will vary, primarily driven by the underlying nature of the order flow, although it was noted that there were clear improvements even on sharper flow.

Jay Mawji, CEO of STARPRIME, added: “As much as we may want to deny it, the pace of the Race to Zero is gathering each day. By deploying our market-maker solution and applying consistent pricing across the flow we accept, we are able to offer our clients execution at costs closer to their retail model than a traditional LP relationship allows. This promotes a healthy industry, where the Race to Zero is a phenomenon that should be embraced by all market participants in a responsible manner that promotes advancements in our industry with tighter pricing and stronger competition. 

Potential clients can view average pricing directly on the STARPRIME website (www.starprime.com)under the Pricing Section (https://www.starprime.com/spread/). This tool will be further enhanced to present execution metrics and use cases, in a bid to push for increased transparency and informed decision-making for potential clients.

About STARPRIME

STARPRIME was built around a clear understanding: institutional clients need more than access to liquidity. They need a partner that understands their business, responds to their changing requirements, and provides the infrastructure and expertise they can rely on as they grow.

Today, STARPRIME is an established institutional CFD liquidity provider and market maker, combining deep multi-asset liquidity with advanced pricing technology, low-latency execution, and dedicated client coverage. Its solutions are shaped around each client’s flow, scale, and market requirements, with a focus on transparency, consistent performance, and lasting partnerships.

Contact

STARPRIME
pr@starprime.com

Hotel Price Index 2026 Reveals Nearly 1 in 3 Hotel Comparisons Show Price Differences Above 10%

Jersey City, NJ, USA — Travorio reviewed hotel prices across major booking platforms to see how often travelers can find a meaningful difference for the same property and travel dates.

What we found

The study covered 394 hotel comparisons across 18 destinations. Rates were drawn from Booking.com, Expedia, and Hotels.com for a three-night stay in September 2026 for two adults. These figures build on Travorio’s broader look at average hotel prices around the world.

Most comparisons were fairly close. The median difference between the lowest and highest available rate was 4%. The average difference was 8%.

The larger gaps are where comparison becomes useful. Twenty-nine percent of the searches showed a difference of more than 10%, and 10% showed a difference above 20%.

The largest gap in the sample was 106%, equal to $213, for the Elasophia Hotel in Istanbul.

Key numbers

Measure Result
Hotel comparisons included 394
Destinations reported 18
Median price gap 4%
Average price gap 8%
Comparisons with gap above 10% 29%
Comparisons with gap above 20% 10%
Largest observed gap 106% ($213)

Where the biggest differences appeared

The size of the price gap varied by destination. Istanbul and Bangkok stood out in this sample, while several North American and European cities showed much tighter pricing.

Destination Average gap Median gap Hotels compared
Istanbul, Turkey 20% 13% 22
Bangkok, Thailand 19% 15% 30
Tokyo, Japan 14% 13% 22
Marrakech, Morocco 12% 8% 18
Cancun, Mexico 12% 10% 24
Rome, Italy 9% 6% 26
Lisbon, Portugal 9% 7% 27
Toronto, Canada 6% 0% 11
Amsterdam, Netherlands 5% 3% 26
London, UK 5% 0% 30
Dubai, UAE 5% 0% 4
Paris, France 5% 1% 27
New York, USA 4% 0% 28
Barcelona, Spain 4% 2% 25
Singapore 2% 0% 18
Miami, USA 2% 0% 29
Doha, Qatar 2% 0% 26

Sample note: Dubai had only four hotels with rates from two or more platforms. Sydney, Melbourne, and Bali were not included in city-level reporting because there was not enough multi-platform data.

What the numbers mean for travelers

A 4% median gap means that many travelers will see only a small difference when they compare major booking sites. The more useful finding is that larger gaps still appeared often enough to matter.

In 29% of the comparisons, the difference was above 10%. On a $2,000 hotel booking, a 10% difference is $200. On a $4,000 stay, it is $400.

Booking value 5% gap 10% gap 20% gap
$400 $20 $40 $80
$900 $45 $90 $180
$2,000 $100 $200 $400
$4,000 $200 $400 $800

Price variation by hotel rating

The widest average gaps in this sample appeared among 3-star hotels. The study did not test the cause, so these figures should be treated as a description of this dataset rather than a general rule about hotel categories.

Star rating Average gap Hotels compared
1-2 star 10% 20
3 star 12% 103
4 star 7% 125
5 star 6% 47

Why prices can differ

Hotel prices can vary from one booking platform to another because the platforms may receive inventory from different suppliers, use different promotions or markups, and update availability at different times.

  • Different supplier and distribution agreements
  • Platform-specific promotions and pricing
  • Changes in room availability
  • Taxes and mandatory fees
  • Breakfast and other inclusions
  • Cancellation and refund terms

The study compared total-stay prices in USD. It did not control for every room condition on every platform, so the lowest rate on one site was not always an identical room product to the lowest rate on another.

Methodology

The pricing data for this Hotel Price Index 2026 came from whhotel price aggregation API, which returned rates from Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, and VRBO for matching hotel properties.

Check-in: September 8, 2026

Check-out: September 11, 2026

Stay length: 3 nights

Guests: 2 adults

Rooms: 1

Currency: USD

A total of 600 hotel searches were run across 20 destinations. Of those, 394 returned prices from at least two platforms and were included in the analysis. Eighteen destinations had enough data for city-level reporting.

Hotels were matched using property name and geographic coordinates. Properties appearing on only one platform were excluded. Member-only and loyalty rates were also excluded.

Limitations

  • Prices were captured at one point in time and may have changed afterward.
  • The study does not show that any one platform is consistently the cheapest.
  • The comparison used the lowest available rate per platform, not identical room categories in every case.
  • The main platforms represented were Booking.com, Expedia, and Hotels.com.
  • The study used one travel window and one length of stay. Other dates and booking windows may produce different results.

Bottom line

Most hotel price differences in this sample were modest. Still, nearly one in three comparisons showed a gap above 10%. That is large enough to matter on expensive or multi-night stays, especially for travelers using pay later hotels options to spread out the cost. It is also a practical reason to compare rates before booking.

About Travorio

Travorio is an online travel platform for hotels, flights, and event tickets. It also offers flexible payment options in supported markets, including pay-in-4 installments and cryptocurrency. Guests can also book hotels with PayPal Pay in 4 for added flexibility. Travorio compares hotel inventory from multiple travel supplier networks.

Learn more at travorio.com

Media Contact

Company Name: Travorio

Contact Person: Media Relations

Website: hi@travorio.com

Website: travorio.com

Freedom Holding Marks New Türkiye Milestone as Freedom Yatırım Secures Brokerage License

Istanbul, Turkey, August 19th, 2026, FinanceWire

Istanbul, Türkiye – August 18, 2026. Freedom Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş., a subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: FRHC), has received an operating license from the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (CMB). Freedom Yatırım has become the first broadly authorized foreign brokerage firm to receive such a license in Türkiye since 1992.

The license marks an important step in Freedom Holding Corp.’s expansion in Türkiye and supports its broader strategy to grow its brokerage business and international capital markets infrastructure in the country.

“Receiving this operating license is an important milestone for Freedom Holding Corp. It marks our entry into the Turkish brokerage market as the first broadly authorized foreign firm to receive such a license in 34 years,” said Timur Turlov, Founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp.

Freedom Holding Corp. operates through more than 200 offices in over 20 countries across North America, Europe, and Asia. According to its latest financial statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company’s total assets stood at US$14 billion as of June 30, 2026. Brokerage remains one of its core business lines, accounting for approximately 39% of total net revenue.

Freedom Yatırım will draw on Freedom Holding Corp.’s international brokerage expertise, technology, and infrastructure as it prepares to launch investment services in Türkiye.

Connecting Türkiye with International Markets

Freedom Yatırım plans to offer more than traditional brokerage services. Using TraderNet, Freedom Holding Corp.’s proprietary trading platform, the company intends to build infrastructure that provides two-way access between the Turkish market and international capital markets.

For investors in Türkiye, the goal is to gradually broaden access to international markets through Freedom Holding Corp.’s global brokerage capabilities.

Freedom Yatırım has also completed its integration with Borsa İstanbul, giving clients across the Group’s international brokerage network access to investment opportunities in the Turkish market. The network has more than 870,000 client accounts.

Freedom Holding Corp. expects this infrastructure to help increase international participation in Türkiye’s capital markets and strengthen links between Borsa İstanbul and global financial markets.

Building an Integrated Digital Ecosystem

Freedom Holding Corp. recently completed the acquisition of a 99.32% stake in Turkish Bank A.Ş. through its subsidiary Freedom Finansal Hizmetler A.Ş. Following the acquisition, the bank’s shareholders approved the change of its trade name to Freedom Bank A.Ş.

Together, Freedom Bank and Freedom Yatırım are expected to form the core of Freedom Holding Corp.’s digital financial ecosystem in Türkiye, combining banking and investment services with other digital offerings.

“Our ambition in Türkiye goes beyond brokerage. We plan to build an integrated digital financial ecosystem around Freedom Bank and Freedom Yatırım, bringing banking, investment, and other digital services together over time. We will draw on our experience in Kazakhstan, where Freedom SuperApp already combines financial and everyday digital services within a single platform, while adapting the model to the needs of the Turkish market,” Turlov stated.

For the local team, the next stage will be to combine the Group’s international capabilities with expertise in the Turkish market.

“Türkiye is a long-term market for us. We want to combine the Group’s technology, financial strength, and international capital markets expertise with strong local knowledge to build a sustainable business here,” said Vladimir Pochekuev, Partner at Freedom Holding Corp. and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Freedom Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş.

Pochekuev also expressed his appreciation to the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye for its constructive and professional engagement throughout the licensing process.

Preparing to Launch Operations

Following receipt of its operating license, Freedom Yatırım is continuing to prepare for the launch of full-scale operations in the Turkish market. The company is conducting comprehensive system testing and finalizing its operational readiness.

Freedom Yatırım intends to offer clients technology-driven, user-friendly investment services tailored to the regulatory requirements and specific needs of the Turkish market.

“Türkiye has a large and increasingly sophisticated investor base, with growing interest in diversifying portfolios across markets and asset classes. Our focus will be on combining access to international markets with strong local expertise and a high standard of client service,” said Vusal Mamedov, Senior Adviser to the Board of Directors of Freedom Yatırım.

About Freedom Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş.

Freedom Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş. operates under Freedom Finansal Hizmetler A.Ş., a wholly owned subsidiary of Freedom Holding Corp. The company received approval for its establishment from the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (CMB) in 2025 and, upon completing all regulatory requirements, obtained its operating license in 2026 to provide brokerage services in Türkiye’s capital markets. Freedom Yatırım seeks to leverage its international expertise and in-depth understanding of the Turkish market to provide investors with innovative investment solutions.

About Freedom Holding Corp.

Freedom Holding Corp. provides financial services in 24 countries, including Kazakhstan, the United States, multiple EU countries, Uzbekistan, and Armenia. The Company’s principal executive office is located in New York City. In Kazakhstan, Freedom is actively developing its financial and digital ecosystem, which includes Freedom Bank, Freedom Broker, the insurance companies Freedom Life and Freedom insurance, as well as a lifestyle segment that features Arbuz.kz, Freedom Ticketon, and Aviata. Freedom Holding Corp. shares are traded on the U.S. technology exchange NASDAQ, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), and the Astana International Exchange (AIX) under the ticker symbol FRHC. Freedom Holding Corp. is regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the common stock is included in the Russell 3000 Index.

Contact

Head of Public Relations
Natalia Kharlashina
Freedom Holding Corp.
prglobal@ffin.kz
+77013641454

Hotel Price Index 2026 Released – Nearly 1 in 3 hotel comparisons showed price differences above 10%

Jersey City, NJ, USA — Travorio reviewed hotel prices across major booking platforms to see how often travelers can find a meaningful difference for the same property and travel dates. Travelers who want more flexibility can also book now, pay later hotels through supported payment options.

What we found

The study covered 394 hotel comparisons across 18 destinations. Rates were drawn from Booking.com, Expedia, and Hotels.com for a three-night stay in September 2026 for two adults.

Most comparisons were fairly close. The median difference between the lowest and highest available rate was 4%. The average difference was 8%.

The larger gaps are where comparison becomes useful. Twenty-nine percent of the searches showed a difference of more than 10%, and 10% showed a difference above 20%.

The largest gap in the sample was 106%, equal to $213, for the Elasophia Hotel in Istanbul.

Key numbers

Measure Result
Hotel comparisons included 394
Destinations reported 18
Median price gap 4%
Average price gap 8%
Comparisons with gap above 10% 29%
Comparisons with gap above 20% 10%
Largest observed gap 106% ($213)

Where the biggest differences appeared

The size of the price gap varied by destination. Istanbul and Bangkok stood out in this sample, while several North American and European cities showed much tighter pricing.

Destination Average gap Median gap Hotels compared
Istanbul, Turkey 20% 13% 22
Bangkok, Thailand 19% 15% 30
Tokyo, Japan 14% 13% 22
Marrakech, Morocco 12% 8% 18
Cancun, Mexico 12% 10% 24
Rome, Italy 9% 6% 26
Lisbon, Portugal 9% 7% 27
Toronto, Canada 6% 0% 11
Amsterdam, Netherlands 5% 3% 26
London, UK 5% 0% 30
Dubai, UAE 5% 0% 4
Paris, France 5% 1% 27
New York, USA 4% 0% 28
Barcelona, Spain 4% 2% 25
Singapore 2% 0% 18
Miami, USA 2% 0% 29
Doha, Qatar 2% 0% 26

Sample note: Dubai had only four hotels with rates from two or more platforms. Sydney, Melbourne, and Bali were not included in city-level reporting because there was not enough multi-platform data.

What the numbers mean for travelers

A 4% median gap means that many travelers will see only a small difference when they compare major booking sites. The more useful finding is that larger gaps still appeared often enough to matter.

In 29% of the comparisons, the difference was above 10%. On a $2,000 hotel booking, a 10% difference is $200. On a $4,000 stay, it is $400. Before booking, it can be worth a moment to compare hotel prices across a few sites.

Booking value 5% gap 10% gap 20% gap
$400 $20 $40 $80
$900 $45 $90 $180
$2,000 $100 $200 $400
$4,000 $200 $400 $800

Price variation by hotel rating

The widest average gaps in this sample appeared among 3-star hotels. The study did not test the cause, so these figures should be treated as a description of this dataset rather than a general rule about hotel categories.

Star rating Average gap Hotels compared
1-2 star 10% 20
3 star 12% 103
4 star 7% 125
5 star 6% 47

Why prices can differ

Hotel prices can vary from one booking platform to another because the platforms may receive inventory from different suppliers, use different promotions or markups, and update availability at different times.

  • Different supplier and distribution agreements
  • Platform-specific promotions and pricing
  • Changes in room availability
  • Taxes and mandatory fees
  • Breakfast and other inclusions
  • Cancellation and refund terms

The study compared total-stay prices in USD. It did not control for every room condition on every platform, so the lowest rate on one site was not always an identical room product to the lowest rate on another.

Methodology

The pricing data came from whhotel price aggregation API, which returned rates from Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, and VRBO for matching hotel properties.

Check-in: September 8, 2026

Check-out: September 11, 2026

Stay length: 3 nights

Guests: 2 adults

Rooms: 1

Currency: USD

A total of 600 hotel searches were run across 20 destinations. Of those, 394 returned prices from at least two platforms and were included in the analysis. Eighteen destinations had enough data for city-level reporting.

Hotels were matched using property name and geographic coordinates. Properties appearing on only one platform were excluded. Member-only and loyalty rates were also excluded.

Limitations

  • Prices were captured at one point in time and may have changed afterward.
  • The study does not show that any one platform is consistently the cheapest.
  • The comparison used the lowest available rate per platform, not identical room categories in every case.
  • The main platforms represented were Booking.com, Expedia, and Hotels.com.
  • The study used one travel window and one length of stay. Other dates and booking windows may produce different results.

Bottom line

Most hotel price differences in this sample were modest. Still, nearly one in three comparisons showed a gap above 10%. That is large enough to matter on expensive or multi-night stays, and it is a practical reason to compare rates before booking.

About Travorio

Travorio is an online travel platform for hotels, flights, and event tickets. It also offers pay later hotels options in supported markets, including pay in 4 installments and cryptocurrency. Travorio compares hotel inventory from multiple travel supplier networks.

To learn more, visit travorio.com

Media Contact

Company Name: Travorio

Contact Person: Media Relations

Website: hi@travorio.com

Website: travorio.com

Tribal Partners with ServiceNow to Empower Enterprise Teams to Build and Deploy Apps & Agents

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, August 18th, 2026, FinanceWire

Tribal launches Tribal for ServiceNow, enabling enterprise teams – not just developers – to build and personalize AI where work already happens. 

Tribal today announced their partnership with ServiceNow to launch Tribal for ServiceNow. Through this collaboration, Tribal’s AI agents now support the ServiceNow AI Platform, helping teams maintain, migrate, and enhance their ecosystems. By mapping the platform with Tribal’s Metadata Fabric, users can build with full enterprise context, without breaking dependencies or business workflows.

When Tribal announced its $10 million seed round in May, expanding to ServiceNow was a strategic roadmap priority shaped by strong demand from CIOs. Just thirteen weeks later, ServiceNow support is live, advancing Tribal’s cross-platform reach across the enterprise’s most critical systems. 

The next phase of enterprise AI will not be defined by who deploys the most agents or AI assistants. It will be defined by who empowers the most people across the enterprise to build safely with AI. Tribal believes enterprise AI is entering the Builder Era: 

“Every enterprise has spent years shaping its systems around the way it works. AI should understand those systems and not force the company to start over. That is what Tribal brings to ServiceNow: the context people need to build on their existing systems faster and with confidence”, said Yoav Kolodner, CEO and Co-Founder, Tribal

Driven by strong demand from CIOs and enterprise technology teams, the ServiceNow integration marks the first step in Tribal’s broader strategy to extend its capabilities across systems of record and enable enterprises to build AI where work already happens. 

Gartner’s recent research on AI-augmented citizen development points to the same shift: as AI-powered development expands beyond software engineers, CIOs must enable more builders without sacrificing governance, security, or architectural integrity.* Enterprise systems need to adapt for AI-native work. Years of custom workflows, permissions, integrations, dependencies, and business rules make generic AI difficult to trust in production without the proper guardrails.

Tribal’s Metadata Fabric creates a shared, dependency-aware understanding of an enterprise across its systems of record – mapping objects, automations, permissions, business rules, and the relationships between them. That context powers metadata-native AI agents that can build production-ready applications, workflows, and automations in days, not quarters. The result is AI that adapts to the business, operates natively within each platform, and can extend across the enterprise rather than remaining trapped in a single system. 

With Tribal for ServiceNow, the people who know the business best, not just developers, can turn their operational knowledge into working AI applications while maintaining enterprise governance and oversight.

ServiceNow customers can now:

  • Accelerate workflows across requests, approvals, case management, and asset tracking while maintaining security, governance, and auditability.
  • Modernize legacy environments safely by migrating custom tables to standard ServiceNow architecture with full visibility into dependencies and downstream impact.
  • Build and deploy enterprise-native AI applications directly within ServiceNow, grounded in existing data, permissions, and business logic.

Enterprise technology leaders are confronting the same challenge as AI moves from pilot projects into production.

“What makes Tribal different is that it understands the actual enterprise environment – its workflows, permissions, dependencies, and business logic. That context gives teams a practical way to turn their expertise into governed AI applications”, said Tal Carmi, Chief Information Officer at WalkMe.

The first wave of enterprise AI rewarded experimentation. The next will reward organizations that empower more builders. The companies that move first will not simply use AI differently. They will build differently; at scale, while moving fast in production with full organizational context.

Enterprises interested in evaluating Tribal for ServiceNow or scheduling a personalized demonstration can visit https://gotribal.ai.

Read more about Tribal for ServiceNow: https://www.gotribal.ai/blog/mastering-servicenow-complexity-introducing-tribal-for-servicenow.

About Tribal

Tribal is an enterprise-native AI platform founded by Salesforce, Wix, and Spot.io veterans. Its context-aware AI agents learn the complete metadata graph of enterprise systems, including Salesforce, Snowflake and ServiceNow, so teams can build and deploy AI with full organizational context.

The result: development backlogs cleared up to 10x faster, maintenance costs reduced by up to 80%, and AI solutions that compliance and IT leaders can trust from day one.

For more information, visit https://gotribal.ai/.

*Based on Gartner research and webinar content concerning AI-augmented citizen development and the governance required to scale AI-powered building across the enterprise. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service.

ServiceNow, the ServiceNow logo, and other ServiceNow marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ServiceNow, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Is this an official ServiceNow partnership?

A: Yes. Tribal is a ServiceNow partner, and Tribal for ServiceNow is live as of August 2026.

Q: Does Tribal replace ServiceNow’s native AI?

A: No. Tribal deploys native ServiceNow code and inherits the platform’s governance, RBAC and audit trails. What it adds is the customer’s own instance: the objects, business rules, permissions and dependencies that make a change safe or unsafe to ship.

Q: Which platforms does Tribal support?

A: Salesforce, Snowflake and ServiceNow today, with SAP, NetSuite and Workday on the roadmap.

Contact

Orian Tal
The Pitch PR
orian@thepitch.media

Tribal Partners with ServiceNow to Empower Enterprise Teams to Build and Deploy Apps & Agents

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, August 18th, 2026, FinanceWire

Tribal launches Tribal for ServiceNow, enabling enterprise teams – not just developers – to build and personalize AI where work already happens. 

Tribal today announced their partnership with ServiceNow to launch Tribal for ServiceNow. Through this collaboration, Tribal’s AI agents now support the ServiceNow AI Platform, helping teams maintain, migrate, and enhance their ecosystems. By mapping the platform with Tribal’s Metadata Fabric, users can build with full enterprise context, without breaking dependencies or business workflows.

When Tribal announced its $10 million seed round in May, expanding to ServiceNow was a strategic roadmap priority shaped by strong demand from CIOs. Just thirteen weeks later, ServiceNow support is live, advancing Tribal’s cross-platform reach across the enterprise’s most critical systems. 

The next phase of enterprise AI will not be defined by who deploys the most agents or AI assistants. It will be defined by who empowers the most people across the enterprise to build safely with AI. Tribal believes enterprise AI is entering the Builder Era: 

“Every enterprise has spent years shaping its systems around the way it works. AI should understand those systems and not force the company to start over. That is what Tribal brings to ServiceNow: the context people need to build on their existing systems faster and with confidence”, said Yoav Kolodner, CEO and Co-Founder, Tribal

Driven by strong demand from CIOs and enterprise technology teams, the ServiceNow integration marks the first step in Tribal’s broader strategy to extend its capabilities across systems of record and enable enterprises to build AI where work already happens. 

Gartner’s recent research on AI-augmented citizen development points to the same shift: as AI-powered development expands beyond software engineers, CIOs must enable more builders without sacrificing governance, security, or architectural integrity.* Enterprise systems need to adapt for AI-native work. Years of custom workflows, permissions, integrations, dependencies, and business rules make generic AI difficult to trust in production without the proper guardrails.

Tribal’s Metadata Fabric creates a shared, dependency-aware understanding of an enterprise across its systems of record – mapping objects, automations, permissions, business rules, and the relationships between them. That context powers metadata-native AI agents that can build production-ready applications, workflows, and automations in days, not quarters. The result is AI that adapts to the business, operates natively within each platform, and can extend across the enterprise rather than remaining trapped in a single system. 

With Tribal for ServiceNow, the people who know the business best, not just developers, can turn their operational knowledge into working AI applications while maintaining enterprise governance and oversight.

ServiceNow customers can now:

  • Accelerate workflows across requests, approvals, case management, and asset tracking while maintaining security, governance, and auditability.
  • Modernize legacy environments safely by migrating custom tables to standard ServiceNow architecture with full visibility into dependencies and downstream impact.
  • Build and deploy enterprise-native AI applications directly within ServiceNow, grounded in existing data, permissions, and business logic.

Enterprise technology leaders are confronting the same challenge as AI moves from pilot projects into production.

“What makes Tribal different is that it understands the actual enterprise environment – its workflows, permissions, dependencies, and business logic. That context gives teams a practical way to turn their expertise into governed AI applications”, said Tal Carmi, Chief Information Officer at WalkMe.

The first wave of enterprise AI rewarded experimentation. The next will reward organizations that empower more builders. The companies that move first will not simply use AI differently. They will build differently; at scale, while moving fast in production with full organizational context.

Enterprises interested in evaluating Tribal for ServiceNow or scheduling a personalized demonstration can visit https://gotribal.ai.

Read more about Tribal for ServiceNow: https://www.gotribal.ai/blog/mastering-servicenow-complexity-introducing-tribal-for-servicenow.

About Tribal

Tribal is an enterprise-native AI platform founded by Salesforce, Wix, and Spot.io veterans. Its context-aware AI agents learn the complete metadata graph of enterprise systems, including Salesforce, Snowflake and ServiceNow, so teams can build and deploy AI with full organizational context.

The result: development backlogs cleared up to 10x faster, maintenance costs reduced by up to 80%, and AI solutions that compliance and IT leaders can trust from day one.

For more information, visit https://gotribal.ai/.

*Based on Gartner research and webinar content concerning AI-augmented citizen development and the governance required to scale AI-powered building across the enterprise. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service.

ServiceNow, the ServiceNow logo, and other ServiceNow marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ServiceNow, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Is this an official ServiceNow partnership?

A: Yes. Tribal is a ServiceNow partner, and Tribal for ServiceNow is live as of August 2026.

Q: Does Tribal replace ServiceNow’s native AI?

A: No. Tribal deploys native ServiceNow code and inherits the platform’s governance, RBAC and audit trails. What it adds is the customer’s own instance: the objects, business rules, permissions and dependencies that make a change safe or unsafe to ship.

Q: Which platforms does Tribal support?

A: Salesforce, Snowflake and ServiceNow today, with SAP, NetSuite and Workday on the roadmap.

Contact

Orian Tal
The Pitch PR
orian@thepitch.media

Why Catrina Bodamer Says Your Best Ideas Won’t Come from Staying in One Discipline

  • Catrina Bodamer, a litigation consultant and Chartered Financial Analyst based in Atlanta, Georgia, explains why interdisciplinary learning solves problems that specialization alone cannot.

The Problem with Staying in Your Lane

Georgia, USA, Aug 18, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — Sarah had spent eight years climbing the ladder in corporate finance when she hit a wall. Her models were flawless, her forecasts precise, but when stakeholders challenged her assumptions in meetings, she struggled to respond. The questions came from legal, operations, and compliance angles she had never studied. She felt trapped by her own expertise.

Then she met a consultant who had worked in law, finance, and real estate. The consultant asked questions Sarah had never considered, connected dots across industries, and reframed problems in ways that opened new solutions. Within six months, Sarah enrolled in a part-time law program. Two years later, she was leading cross-functional teams and solving the kind of problems that had once left her stuck.

“I’ve always been interested in understanding how things work,” says Catrina Bodamer, a litigation consultant and Chartered Financial Analyst whose career spans law, finance, and real estate. “The more you learn about different industries and different perspectives, the better equipped you are to solve problems.”

What Interdisciplinary Training Actually Looks Like

Bodamer earned a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology, with minors in Economics and History. She went on to complete an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, then earned a Juris Doctor from Georgia State University College of Law. Along the way, she achieved the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and earned FINRA Series 7 and Series 66 licenses.

Her career has included litigation support, legal research, financial analysis, investment evaluation, securities compliance, wealth management, and real estate brokerage. She has assisted with the development and launch of investment funds, conducted valuation and cash flow analyses, supported regulatory compliance efforts, and advised clients on financial planning and investment strategies.

“I’ve learned that ideas often come from unexpected places, and staying curious helps me approach challenges from different angles,” Bodamer explains.

The Hidden Cost of Narrow Expertise

Specialists are valuable, but they often miss connections that generalists see immediately. A lawyer who understands finance can spot issues in deal structures before contracts are signed. A financial analyst who knows real estate can evaluate investment opportunities with a more complete picture. A consultant who has worked across industries can ask the questions that prevent costly mistakes.

Bodamer’s work involves evaluating public equities, modeling investment opportunities, and supporting complex litigation matters. Each of these tasks benefits from her ability to move between disciplines.

“You have to be willing to put in the work before you see results,” she says.

Copy This Framework: Five Phases to Build Cross-Disciplinary Expertise

Phase 1: Identify the Adjacent Discipline That Complements Your Core Skill Look at the problems you struggle to solve or the questions you cannot answer. If you work in finance and regulatory issues confuse you, consider legal training. If you are a lawyer who avoids financial projections, study finance. Choose one discipline that sits next to your current expertise.

Phase 2: Commit to Structured Learning, Not Just Casual Reading Enroll in a degree program, earn a certification, or complete a professional credential. Bodamer earned three advanced degrees and the CFA designation. Structured learning forces you to go deeper than reading articles or attending webinars.

Phase 3: Apply New Knowledge to Real Projects as You Learn Do not wait until you finish a program to use what you are learning. Look for opportunities at work to apply new concepts. Volunteer for cross-functional projects. Offer to help colleagues in other departments. The friction of applying unfamiliar ideas is where real learning happens.

Phase 4: Build Habits That Support Continuous Learning Bodamer identifies her most focus-intensive task first thing in the morning before checking emails. She reads daily about law, business, economics, and other topics. She does her best thinking early in the day. Create routines that protect time for learning and deep work.

Phase 5: Translate Your Interdisciplinary Experience into Clear Value for Others Once you have built expertise across disciplines, show others how that combination solves problems they face. Bodamer’s ability to support litigation, evaluate investments, and navigate regulatory compliance comes from her training in law, finance, and real estate. Make your interdisciplinary skill set visible and useful.

Quick Wins: Start This Week

  • Read one article or chapter outside your field every morning for the next seven days.

  • Reach out to one colleague in a different department and ask what problems they are working on.

  • Research one certification or graduate program that complements your current role.

  • Volunteer to join a cross-functional project team at work.

  • Block one hour on your calendar each week for focused learning, before email or meetings.

Red Flags: When Cross-Disciplinary Learning Backfires

  • You collect credentials without applying what you learn to real work.

  • You spread yourself so thin that you never develop depth in any area.

  • You pursue degrees or certifications just to impress others, not to solve problems.

  • You skip foundational courses because they seem boring, then struggle with advanced material.

  • You avoid the hard work of translating theory into practice.

Why Discipline Matters More Than Talent

Bodamer grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, including communities such as Canton, Cumming, Alpharetta, and Marietta. She was active in softball, cheerleading, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes while excelling academically as an Honor Graduate and Academic Scholar.

“Sports taught me discipline,” she says. “You learn how to work toward a goal, how to prepare, and how to keep going even when things don’t go exactly as planned.”

That discipline carried into her academic and professional life. She scored in the 95th percentile on the GMAT and the 96th percentile on the LSAT. She earned a perfect score in Real Estate Transactions, received multiple CALI awards, and was awarded full academic scholarships. She served as Treasurer of the Moot Court Board.

Each achievement required sustained effort over time, not bursts of inspiration.

Apply This Framework to Your Own Situation This Week

Choose one discipline adjacent to your current expertise. Research a program, certification, or structured learning path that will deepen your knowledge in that area. Block time on your calendar this week to begin. Identify one project at work where you can apply what you learn. Start building the cross-disciplinary skill set that will help you solve problems others cannot.

About Catrina Bodamer

Catrina Bodamer is a litigation consultant and Chartered Financial Analyst based in Atlanta, Georgia. Her career spans law, finance, real estate, investment analysis, and regulatory compliance. She holds a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, and a Juris Doctor from Georgia State University College of Law. She also holds FINRA Series 7 and Series 66 licenses and is a member of the CFA Institute and the Atlanta Track Club.