Booking Holdings

Fintech is trending, and likewise for superapps in certain parts of the world. Getting into travel is too delicious to resist, but the world is not ending for incumbent travel competitors.

In what could be the travel industry’s most drawn-out launch of a booking tool, the final version will appeal to many small companies — but it could have offered so much more.

Some analysts believe the online booking giants of Europe, the U.S., and China will sweep the world. Call it "travel giant triumphalism." But Russia may prove a treacherous market for foreign brands, opening a gap for local players.

In its rough outlines, Expedia begot Trip.com Group while Kayak and ITA Software begot Google Travel. Get ready for a flurry of clones in fintech, superapps, and subscription services in travel. In fact, it's already happening.

Bookings Holdings Fintech boss Daniel Marovitz says payments is arguably the world's largest industry. Across the online travel universe, look for payments to eventually become a line item — and very material to companies' financials.

Yanolja means “Hey, let’s play” in Korean. If Softbank agrees to play, the travel startup will have the capital to go on an acquisitions spree to bolster its global reach. That way it will be more likely to have a successful public listing in the U.S. later.

Did Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Tripadvisor, Oyo, and Marriott, among others, squirm a bit upon learning of Chinese regulators' latest antitrust crackdowns, this time against ridesharing giant Didi and food-delivery and hotel booker Meituan? If not, they should.

Part of Expedia Group's long-running profit margin gap with Booking Holdings has been structural, but a significant piece of it has been inefficiencies. Expedia's Peter Kern is looking to bridge the great divide, but the outcome is far from assured.

Expedia's Vrbo isn't a global Airbnb killer, nor does it have to be. Vrbo will pick its spots, but that will be a disappointment to those hosts, frustrated and angry with Airbnb, who are looking for some company to take Airbnb down a peg.

In the long term, it's clear that Airbnb will revisit recalibrating its focus beyond stays and experiences, and will dabble in flights, hotels, and smart-home technology. It would be silly not to.