Serko's Quest to Conquer the World With Its Artificial Intelligence-Powered Booking App

New Zealand-based expense management company Serko has undergone some big changes over the past year and a half. The company in 2018 launched Zeno, its comprehensive booking app powered by artificial intelligence, emphasizing tech features and user experience. A few months later, the startup brought Zeno to the United States, and Serko nearly doubled its headcount in May.

The company is now emphasizing its global expansion, seeking to sink its roots deeper into North America and continental Europe. The travel management platform is employing a partnership strategy, signing agreements with key players such as CWT and Flight Centre to expand its inventory and reach new markets.

Most recently, the company expanded its agreement with Booking Holdings, which Serko CEO Darrin Grafton views as proof of Zeno’s viability as a global product. Both at home and abroad, the number of Zeno customers has been steadily increasing, the company reported in an earnings release Wednesday.

Read this story, and many more, below.

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— Isaac Carey, Travel Reporter

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Expense Manager Serko Accelerates Global Expansion With Booking.com Partnership: Now that Zeno is well-established in Serko’s home market, the next step is to bring that same popularity abroad. The expense management company is forming partnerships with major players to help it gain traction in the U.S. and Europe.

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Did Booking.com Swallow Kayak? No, It’s Just a Marketing Thing: Booking.com may be a household name in Europe, but Kayak and OpenTable are far better known in the United States. Parent company Booking Holdings is touting the three companies’ ties to advantage Booking.com in a way that might be a tad confusing to travel industry executives or NYU Hospitality students, but consumers could care less.

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Travel Reporter Isaac Carey [ic@skift.com] curates the Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Thursday.

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