Online Travel News

Airbnb has long sought to add hotels into its inventory mix, but the dilemma has been how to do so and not become just another online travel agency like Booking.com or Expedia.

The most dominant players have kept their lead, but regional leaders like Trip.com and MakeMyTrip are increasingly challenging global incumbents.

MakeMyTrip wants to be a superapp, just adding more offerings to its portfolio will not help it get there. Its Gen AI trip planner is the next big differentiator for the online travel company.

Airbnb portrays itself as a growth story. It will take a lot more lobbying spend in the future to clear a path for that expansion.

Yatra is trading some headline consumer volume for steadier, higher-value corporate bookings. The last quarter shows early signs that the shift is working.

Expedia appears to be executing well on key priorities, and its B2B, international and advertising businesses are particular standouts.

Airbnb's Brian Chesky is close to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, but that doesn't mean that Airbnb will necessarily distribute its inventory through Altman's ChatGPT.

Many travel companies have tried to market experiences to both locals and travelers and failed to do so. If Airbnb can really tap into local demand in a substantial way it would be breaking new ground.

Trivago is making AI search and booking improvements that could stick — if larger factors such as the ChatGPTs and Geminis, and other Google travel products don't get in the way.

Spain's approach to de-listing units is similar to the one New York City has taken in the past couple of years.