Articles tagged “booking”

OTA investors celebrated OpenAI's checkout retreat. They missed how AI is already reshaping trip discovery.

Marriott highlighted two forces shaping the hotel industry right now - geopolitical volatility and a race to build AI tools that keep travelers inside its direct channels.

Travel demand in Latin America remains strong, but affordability — not appetite — increasingly determines how far and how often people travel.

Travel companies are increasingly using AI to facilitate travelers’ booking experiences, but overuse could end up over-standardizing brands and, crucially, eroding human connection.

OTAs posted double-digit growth in the latest earnings cycle even as consumer travel spending declined. The industry needs a new framework for reading these results — and the signals that actually matter.

The 2026 travel landscape is increasingly bifurcated. Visa-free policies and growing airline capacity are accelerating growth in the East, while the West must navigate significant policy-driven uncertainty.

If AI becomes the front door to travel, who wins and who pays?

Hotel companies spent the last decade building brand portfolios for coverage and scale. The next phase of competition will reward sharper brands that drive pricing power, loyalty relevance, and visibility in AI-compressed discovery funnels.

Cruises are carrying TUI’s results, but distribution is moving away from the web and toward apps and artificial intelligence.

In 2025, travel matured from a post-pandemic sprint into a disciplined, value-driven market that prioritizes experiences and revenue quality over just driving volumes. As growth shifts Eastward and geopolitics redefine travel corridors, the industry’s success in 2026 will depend on its ability to remain tech-agile and price-resilient in a volatile world.