Wyndham and Marriott’s Agentic Plans Put Pressure on Booking. Are the Concerns Justified?
Photo Credit: Booking.com application icon on an iPhone screen. Adobe Stock / Aleksei
Skift Take
Booking Holdings could survive hotel chains switching allegiances to the LLMs. But how long would it take for independent hotels to likewise jump ship?
Marriott and Wyndham revealed more of their plans to use agentic AI this week, and such efforts are a potential threat to online travel agencies.
Many investors seemingly think agentic AI will enable hotel chains to cut OTAs out of the picture. One reflection of that fear: Booking Holding share price is down roughly 30% over the past few weeks despite a recent strong earnings report.
But BTIG analyst Jake Fuller said the fears are overstated.
For one thing, the vast majority of the world's hotels are independents and less able to break away from OTAs.
And the top 15 global chains contro
