AI in Travel

Amadeus didn’t answer Sabre’s monopoly accusations so much as argue the battlefield has moved on. That may be strategically useful, but it won’t make the questions disappear.

Generative AI platforms now shape travel shortlists at the inspiration stage. With 94% of hotels invisible in AI search results, only a narrow set makes it into consideration. Brands not present in the media sources informing these tools risk being filtered out before booking even begins.

Expedia’s B2B engine is proving the partner model works. The catch: It is still the smaller business, and AI is not yet big enough to change that.

Airbnb's Chesky is nothing if not ambitious. Given that people's preferences can change at any moment, the ability to serve customers with only a hotel or home, depending what they need in that instant, seems a long way off, even with agentic AI.

Sabre didn't just report a strong quarter — it used that to publicly pick the biggest fight in airline technology.

IHG is changing how guests search on its own channels. The bigger question is whether its content infrastructure will make it show up when they search everywhere else.

Tripadvisor had a tough first quarter, adversely impacted by cancellations in Mexico, Hawaii, and elsewhere because of the Middle East conflict. Its quest for strategic alternatives has been a multiyear slog.

In addition to other Booking Holdings' brands, Seat Geek is listed as a partner. Users would presumably be able to use conversational AI to get "insider access" and discounted rates from Booking brands and partners.

The U.S. is holding up for the company better than the mood music suggests, but the Middle East is a deepening drag that goes beyond the region.

In his first earnings call as CEO, Josh D’Amaro laid out a vision for Disney theme parks that leans more heavily on emerging technologies like AI.