Booking.com News

As a global leader in online accommodations and travel services, Booking.com continues to shape the digital travel experience through innovation, platform evolution, and strategic partnerships. PhocusWire delivers the latest Booking.com news to keep industry professionals informed on how this travel giant is adapting to shifting market dynamics and consumer expectations.

Key Booking.com updates, partnerships, and market trends

Follow developments in Booking.com’s core technology, loyalty strategies, and supplier relationships, along with its expansion into flights, experiences, and payments. Our reporting covers how the brand is responding to competitive pressures, regulatory environments, and the increasing demand for seamless, personalized travel.

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News / Technology
Could Google or Amazon end up owning the traveler profile?
By Linda Fox | November 9, 2018
Who owns the customer profile is going to change, and it could be an online giant such as Google or Amazon. Read More
Direct vs. third-party: The distribution landscape for vacation rental property managers
News / Distribution
Direct vs. third-party: The distribution landscape for vacation rental property managers
By Jill Menze | November 7, 2018
Vacation rental property managers in Europe are increasingly turning to Airbnb and Booking.com as distribution channels, however they are seeing gains in direct bookings for certain kinds of properties. Read More
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News / Technology
Travel tech bosses on chatbots and the need for human interaction
By Linda Fox | November 7, 2018
Carlson Wagonlit Travel is running several chatbot pilots to see how and where the technology can best help the travel management company and its customers. Read More
Booking Holdings Q4 earnings 2018
News / Online
Booking Holdings reports 200M room nights milestone during upbeat Q3 earnings
By Mitra Sorrells | November 6, 2018
Booking Holdings saw an acceleration in the rate of its room night growth in the third quarter of 2018, exceeding the high end of its guidance, driven by a delayed summer travel peak and improved... Read More
An honest view from the sharp end of tours and activities
News / Distribution
An honest view from the sharp end of tours and activities
By Kevin May | November 2, 2018
There's been a huge amount of attention on tours and activities during 2018 - perhaps more than any other sector in the industry. Read More
Booking new tools professional rental partners
News / Technology
Booking.com creates new filters and tools for short-term rental partners
By Mitra Sorrells | November 1, 2018
Tools to help professional vacation rental managers save time and control who can book their properties are part of a new suite of products launched this week by Booking.com.   Read More
It's the end of the hotel metasearch model as we know it
Opinion / Online
It's the end of the hotel metasearch model as we know it
By Max Starkov - HEBS Digital | October 30, 2018
The very promise to compare rates on hundreds of sites for the same hotel is what makes hotel metasearch inherently flawed. Read More
Booking Holdings Grab investment partnership
News / Online
Booking Holdings invests $200M in SE Asian ride-hail company Grab
By Mitra Sorrells | October 29, 2018
Booking Holdings is making a major investment and creating a strategic partnership with Grab Holdings, a Singapore-based on-demand transportation platform that operates in 235 cities in eight countries... Read More
Shaken, not stirred, by a travel sector now following a familiar pattern
News / Technology
Shaken, not stirred, by a travel sector now following a familiar pattern
By Stephen Joyce - Rezgo | October 9, 2018
The path that I was dutifully walking ended up not being the path that the rest of the industry was taking. Read More
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News / Online
Maintaining the power and influence of online travel agencies
By PhocusWire | October 4, 2018
One of the central tenets of the Power Paradox in travel is how some of the biggest brands ever assembled in the industry "have aggregated the content, established the trust and amassed the war chests... Read More
To win with online travel in Asia, go local (or go home)
News / Online
To win with online travel in Asia, go local (or go home)
By Siew Hoon Yeoh - WebInTravel | October 3, 2018
Developments in APAC will require different thinking and tactics on the part of foreign brands that wish to be part of the “next billion users” market. Read More
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News / Technology
VIDEO: FareHarbor on being acquired by Booking.com
By Kevin May | October 3, 2018
In what has been a transformative year for tours and activities, perhaps one development stood out more than any other. Read More
Hotels are right to be obsessed with direct bookings
Opinion / Distribution
Hotels are right to be obsessed with direct bookings
By Patrick Bosworth - Duetto | October 2, 2018
Because Airbnb, the online travel agencies and other billion-dollar third parties are waging an arms race to be the world’s biggest travel brand, hoteliers obviously want to optimize their booking... Read More
VIDEO: Two opposing views on Google's entry into tours and activities
News / Online
VIDEO: Two opposing views on Google's entry into tours and activities
By Kevin May | September 28, 2018
Google has always been involved in tours and activities - suppliers and online travel agencies would spend their digital marketing dollar with the search, as other brands do elsewhere in the industry. Read More
homeshare-hotels-learnings
News / Distribution
Why hotels should take cues from home-sharing, stop "obsession with direct booking"
By Linda Fox | September 25, 2018
Though traditional hotel operators have been beleaguered by the march of brands such as Airbnb, they have taken steps to embrace the trend in recent years. A good example is the Marriott... Read More
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