The tourism industry in the Riviera Maya is looking to form its Social Media Club chapter to propel projects and initiatives to position the destination in social networks and reap benefits for both business and the Riviera Maya.

American Airlines and Travelport are apparently on the verge of coming to a temporary agreement that would mean that Travelport would display American’s fares through Jan. 31. 2012, according to a court filing made late last week. At the same time, this may not mean they have reached a full resolution of their differences. In fact, American said in the same filing that Sabre has dramatically raised the booking fees it charges American and that Travelport is about to do the same, in what American is calling a punitive action.

Priceline.com said that it is now booking over 1,000 tickets a day through American Airlines’ AA Direct Connect. American has been leading the airline industry’s charge in connecting directly to consumers and retailers rather than through the GDSs that have traditionally been the main marketplace for consumers and retailers to comparison shop and purchase airline tickets.

Orbitz has launched the Orbitz Hotels App, a native iPad application that gives customers an intuitive search-and-book experience designed specifically for iPad. The Orbitz Hotels App offers travelers the entire selection of Orbitz hotel properties, comparison tools and secure booking in just three taps.

American Airlines continues its forward momentum in the mobile application space once again as it launches apps for BlackBerry and Windows Phone smartphones. These latest additions to American’s suite of mobile apps make American accessible on more devices and through more channels than any other airline, underscoring its commitment to keeping its customers connected while on the go.

Travelport said next month it is introducing Travelport Rooms and More, a new hotel booking engine for travel agents. The new booking engine is designed to be a one-stop hotel shop for travel agents, and will be available to all travel agencies worldwide, even those who do not use the Travelport GDS platform.