Airbnb’s ‘One-Stop-Shop’ Plan to Own Your Entire Trip
Mission creep? Nope, Airbnb is intentionally reverting to its pre-pandemic ambitions and expanding beyond homes and even hotels to fill in the "entire trip."
Dennis Schaal is Skift’s Founding Editor and Executive Editor. Dennis has been a reporter focusing on online travel and short-term rentals for more than two decades at Skift, Tnooz, USA Today, and Travel Weekly. He is well-known for tough one-on-one interviews on stage at Skift events, including with the CEOs and top execs of Expedia, Uber, Booking Holdings, Priceline, Kayak, Hopper, and more.
Booking CFO: The AI Threat Isn’t ‘Really a Risk at All’
In the face of the LLM threat, Booking Holdings thinks it can repeatedly grow its top line 8% annually over the "medium term" and earnings per share 15% over the same timespan.
Expedia CFO: ‘We Radically Changed the Direction of the Company’
Expedia has been downsizing its workforce over the last year, and plowing some of the savings into machine learning and AI. It's a playbook that's taking place across industries.
Amadeus Acquired SkyLink to Infuse Its Products With Conversational AI
Amadeus has always been out-front about the adoption of new technologies, and this acquisition will strengthen its position in conversational AI.
Kayak’s New Ad Campaign Signals a Marketing Dilemma as AI Grabs Share
Booking Holdings sees AI as the future of travel. Its Kayak brand's marketing doesn't touch on AI, but is trying to convince Millennials it's OK to book on smartphones and to use Kayak to navigate social media distractions.
Airbnb Is Testing Airport Pickups. Are Flights Next?
Airbnb likely sees how flights are driving Booking Holdings' connected-trip vision. The timing is unclear, but it needs flights if it wants to be a true "travel concierge."
Wyndham and Marriott’s Agentic Plans Put Pressure on Booking. Are the Concerns Justified?
Booking Holdings could survive hotel chains switching allegiances to the LLMs. But how long would it take for independent hotels to likewise jump ship?
Tripadvisor CEO Issued Confidential Memo to Employees on ‘Challenging’ Month: Scoop
There are conflicting messages at Tripadvisor these days. Goldberg told employees that it "will take time" for its 3-month-old strategy revamp "to show up in the numbers." Meanwhile, activist investor Starboard Value argued "the time for incrementalism is over."
Booking CEO Touts Ties With Independent Hotels as Agentic AI and Airbnb Seek Gains
We sometimes think of independent hotels as relatively powerless given the strength of the OTAs and the big hotel chains. Will agentic AI turn the tables?
Airbnb Tests Loyalty Benefits. Chesky Says Program ‘Could Be a Massive Accelerant’
In 2018, Airbnb had a "superguest" loyalty plan in the works to reward frequent guests with premium benefits, but it never came to be. Might the loyalty benefits being tested resurrect some of those plans?