Travel Planning

News / Distribution

Tours and activities growth is outpacing travel overall, distribution is lagging

By Phocuswright Research | August 5, 2026

The Travel Experiences 2026 report, produced jointly by Phocuswright and Arival, sizes and forecasts the global experiences market through 2029 and examines how consumers engage with experiences in... Read More

News / Finance

Booking Holdings: AI visibility is up, but referrals stay under 1% of room nights

By Abby Crotty | August 4, 2026

Traffic from LLMs accounts for less than 1% of Booking Holdings' room nights, CFO Ewout Steenbergen said during the company's second-quarter earnings call. Read More

News / Distribution

Airbnb partners with boutique hotel operator Lark

By Abby Crotty | August 4, 2026

Lou Zameryka, Airbnb’s global head of hotel enterprise and connectivity partnerships, said the STR giant is focused on adding “unique, localized-feeling, hospitality-driven hotel partners.” Read More

Interview / Startups

Startup Stage: Bizey wants to streamline T&E

By Abby Crotty | August 4, 2026

Mumbai, India-based Bizey wants to eliminate manual expense workflows with automated processes. Read More

News / Technology

Navigating the future of OBTs in an AI-driven travel industry

By Mark Frary | August 4, 2026

Business travel has reached an "inflexion point" on the use of AI, with companies determining how to best incorporate the technology. Read More

News / Online

How Nikhil Ravishankar is navigating Air New Zealand’s 'perfect storm'

By WiT | August 3, 2026

Air New Zealand has rebuilt its team since the pandemic, with 70% of its 12,000 staff members joining since COVID. Read More

News / Technology

Meeting travel agents where they are: Why conversational chat decides agentic AI adoption

By Ami Goldenberg - Oversee | August 3, 2026

Oversee CTO and co-founder Ami Goldenberg argues that agentic AI in travel operations succeeds or fails on adoption—and what decides adoption is the interface agents touch every day. Read More

News / Technology

Engine acquires Options Travel to build modern OBT

By Abby Crotty | July 31, 2026

Engine and Options Travel started working together nine months ago, with Engine now developing an AI-native OBT for TMCs. Read More

News / Technology

Expedia calls on Layla to speed up its AI strategy

By Linda Fox | July 31, 2026

Expedia Group wants to marry its supply and scale with Layla's personalization and planning functionality. Read More

News / Technology

PhocusWire's travel tech news briefs: Katanox, Airbnb, Amex GBT and more...

By PhocusWire | July 31, 2026

Keep up with all the latest people, partner and product news from around the global travel industry. Read More

News / Technology

Beyond chatbots, is AI working in travel?

By Linda Fox | July 31, 2026

Travel industry leaders debated the impact of AI so far, where startups stand and the challenges we're not discussing enough during a session at Phocuswright Europe 2026. Read More

News / Finance

Accor says most conversations with hotel owners now about AI

By Linda Fox | July 30, 2026

Accor's CEO believes there are significant savings and RevPAR to be gained through AI. IHG and Radisson unveil latest AI developments. Read More

News / Technology

CEO Spotlight: Filip Filipov of OAG

By Abby Crotty | July 30, 2026

Filip Filipov reflected on his first six months as CEO of OAG during an interview at Phocuswright Europe. Read More

News / Technology

Busbud sets up parent company, adds travel veterans to board

By Linda Fox | July 29, 2026

The formation of Terra Mobility combines consumer ground transport booking platforms Busbud, Buson and Recorrido with an ground travel operating system called TerraOS. Read More