The merchant model is the most important thing happening at Booking Holdings. It is also the thing that lets it avoid proving whether Connected Trip actually works.
Even with the cut in total compensation, as well as in "compensation actually paid," we expect Fogel to be in the upper ranks of travel industry CEO compensation when the remaining companies report 2025 pay.
AI was all the rage at the Skift Global Forum this week, with the industry’s top executives revealing excitement, and uncertainty, as the tech takes center stage in travel.
Twenty years later, Google is the leading global player in travel metasearch. Steve Hafner can do little about that but argues travelers can snack on Google but they should come to Kayak for better results when they are ready to book.
One challenge for struggling travel SPACs beyond their stock prices is to create something new that's truly valuable to their customers. Booking.com did just that years ago, although others have caught up in the interim.