Articles tagged “priceline”

There has been serious talk about artificial intelligence in travel for the past couple of years. While Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wasn't talking about implementing artificial intelligence for customer service in the next quarter or two, be assured that Expedia and others are working on it hard.

Moral of the story about the early years of online travel? Not to over-simplify, but be prepared to take risks, feel free to contradict conventional wisdom, and assemble the best damn team that you can.

There's no doubt that Booking.com already has the user base -- and can increase it -- to be successful in catering to unmanaged business travelers. Whether a loyalty program will turn out to be advantageous remains to be seen and can be adjusted as the situation merits. The real question is whether Booking.com, like Expedia's Egencia, will take the next step into managed travel by acquisition or otherwise.

Travel acquisitions have been humming along this year and we've seen several deals that will have a lasting impact on consumer behavior. Marriott-Starwood dominated headlines for months although Expedia and Priceline largely have been largely inactive in mergers and acquisitions so far in 2016. We still have a few months left, though.

OTAs have had it their own way for a long time but the boss of Booking.com seemed relaxed about the future. Different customers will continue to require different ways to book a room.

It's hard to disagree with the fact that travel planning and booking are set for a social revolution. But how long will it be until voice-controlled interfaces hit the mainstream?

They're back. The Brazilian economy and Hotel Urbano have both suffered a very rough stretch. Co-founders Joao Ricardo Mendes and Jose Eduardo Mendes have reasserted themselves in leading the company, but haven't publicly articulated in detail how they will navigate their way out of the online travel agency's current predicament. It will definitely be tough going.

Priceline.com downplayed Name Your Own Price four years ago as big thumbs and small screens on mobile phones made the relatively cumbersome bidding process anachronistic. Flight-bidding is gone. The services remains for hotels and car rentals but their days are probably numbered too.

There's so much excitement and anticipation around messaging and artificial intelligence that Priceline and Expedia CEOs' remarks remind us that this emerging technology is still too new to gauge regarding potential success. Still, CEOs of both companies seem pleased with how messaging has performed so far.

Metasearch sites such as Kayak, Hipmunk, Trivago, TripAdvisor and Tripping have a lot of heavy lifting to do because consumers will increasingly be demanding better ways to comparison-shop for alternative accommodations that are often unique and difficult to define. All things being equal -- and they aren't -- that's a big market opportunity for these sites.