Travel is the only major industry getting hit from both directions at once: AI search volumes are exploding without converting while total AI token bills internally are rising.
Africa’s hotel boom is real thanks to growing demand for alternatives to overtourism, and TUI’s expansion signals confidence. But the long-term test will be whether TUI can convert pipeline optimism into actual openings.
Booking.com sees growing its flights business as a strategic priority. An eTraveli deal may still be on its agenda if it can get the courts to overturn a competition decision.
TUI's ambition to reinvent itself as a "global curated leisure marketplace" that sells travel a la carte as much as in packages deserves credit for its scope. But it will be a tough trick to pull off.