Plenty of travel companies have introduced search features for travelers with no destination in mind and flexible timing. Google's Flight Deals adds an AI element.
Airbnb's Brian Chesky is close to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, but that doesn't mean that Airbnb will necessarily distribute its inventory through Altman's ChatGPT.
For this Friday episode, we look at Google's new partnership with Amadeus and its resilience in the face of AI (so far). We also preview new Skift Research about AI and changing traveler habits.
The long-term attractiveness of Google Search is still an open question. Booking and others have long looked to diversify their marketing channels, and now they are starting to have real choices.
The idea of hotels partnering with ex-Googlers and DirectBooking trying to undercut OTAs is not without its ironies. Still, the concept of hotels working more closely with LLMs is one that could gain traction.
When Travalyst and its partners release information on what they have learned from this, it could offer valuable insights into how emissions transparency influences traveler choices.
Google Hotels is still strong, but weakened by the Digital Markets Act — and Google's own AI Overviews. Agentic AI may one day make the changes we've seen to date under the DMA a mere footnote in the evolution of travel search.