Booking Holdings

News / Finance

Tracking travel startup funding rounds and acquisitions in Q3

By Linda Fox | October 16, 2026

Travel startup funding rounds were elusive in Q3, while acquisitions were more abundant. Read More

News / Startups

Booking Holdings launches Vayo AI travel agent, plans $100M investment

By Abby Crotty | October 14, 2026

Vayo organizes travel bookings from users’ inboxes and monitors trips for savings and disruptions, including reservations made outside Booking Holdings’ brands. Read More

News / Technology

Booking.com develops internal platform to build modular AI agents

By Abby Crotty | October 5, 2026

Booking.com said AgentHub’s configuration-driven setups and shared infrastructure allow teams to build and iterate on agents faster. Read More

Opinion / Technology

AI agents are having their 'Spotify moment': Why travel needs to take note

By Mario Gavira | October 2, 2026

Mario Gavira discusses Instinct, a new agent operating straight out of WhatsApp and iMessage, which he calls "the breakout surprise of the agentic era." Read More

News / Technology

Booking Holdings-backed Lola unveils membership model for AI travel and experiences assistant

By Abby Crotty | September 29, 2026

Kayak founders Steve Hafner and Paul English share new details on Lola, the new AI assistant they are building with paid memberships, booking capabilities and ad-free recommendations. Read More

News / Distribution

European hotels maintain direct distribution lead over OTAs

By Linda Fox | September 17, 2026

HOTREC's hotel distribution study revealed that 51% of bookings are made directly with hotels, while almost 30% are made through OTAs. Read More

News / Finance

OTA marketing spend rose again in Q2

By Abby Crotty | September 15, 2026

The travel industry's largest players are still pouring money into marketing, even as AEO becomes more relevant. Read More

News / Online

Booking loses Etraveli acquisition appeal

By Linda Fox | September 9, 2026

Booking Holdings said it is considering an appeal to the European Court of Justice after losing the latest round in its Etraveli acquisition battle. Read More

News / Online

IHG working with Google agentic booking pilot, wider AI initiatives

By Linda Fox | August 11, 2026

IHG confirmed its participation in Google's agentic AI booking pilot during its H1 2026 earnings report. Read More

News / Technology

What the EU AI Act means for the travel industry

By Mark Frary | August 11, 2026

The EU AI Act requires clear labeling of AI-generated content and transparency when customers are interacting with AI systems. 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

Opinion / Online

Booking Holdings' 'connected trip' vision never materialized, and AI is the latest threat

By Mario Gavira | July 21, 2026

According to Mario Gavira, the AI wave is increasing pressure on the OTA to deliver the connected trip. Read More

News / Online

AI risk to OTAs is margin squeeze, not disintermediation

By Linda Fox | July 17, 2026

The risk of OTAs being disintermediated by AI might have been exaggerated as pressure on margin is perhaps the more likely outcome, according to investment bank BTIG. Read More

News / Online

Booking.com's James Waters on the human psyche, AI and shiny things

By Linda Fox | June 18, 2026

James Waters, chief business officer of Booking.com, spoke about the ways AI is impacting the travel industry and human behavior during an interview at Phocuswright Europe 2026. Read More