Expedia Group expands Meta partnership amid push to connect social, booking

Expedia Group is partnering with Meta on in-feed travel planning as it expands its B2B strategy and seeks to meet travelers wherever they may be searching and booking travel.

The company announced the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered feature and a suite of other products and partnerships at its annual partner conference, EXPLORE, Tuesday in Las Vegas.

“We’re focused on advancing our intelligent, trusted global marketplace that takes on the complexity of travel, so travelers and partners can focus on what really matters: unforgettable experiences,” said Ariane Gorin, CEO of Expedia Group.

With the expanded Meta partnership, the two companies will test capabilities in advertisements that allow travelers to begin planning a trip or ask questions with one tap. The in-feed planning tool expands Expedia’s collaboration with Meta following last year’s launch of Trip Matching in Instagram.

Gorin said the conversion rate tied to Trip Matching was decent but relatively small volume due to the user having to reach out to Expedia for an itinerary to be generated.

"What we're doing here is using some of the same technology but it's basically allowing people, when they see the Reel—and in this case, it's an Expedia ad ... they have these prompts that they can click on, and they'll start to have a conversation with us without having to invoke the DM to us," Gorin said during a press conference.

The company is betting that shift will solve some of the scale issue.

Gorin said she is excited to be able to reuse Expedia's technology that turns reels into itineraries.

"This is an example of innovation, where we had an initial idea, which was people are getting more of their inspiration in social. It's happening in videos. How do we connect that more seamlessly into our apps?" Gorin said.

She envisions this as a longer journey. The technology is likely to look different "many years down the line," she said.

Expedia Group said the move reflects both companies’ commitment to furthering agentic experiences for consumers.

Madeline List, manager of research and special projects for Phocuswright, said the collaboration reflects trends Phocuswright has observed in social media research.

Travelers use social media for discovery but go elsewhere before converting.

“They make categorical decisions like a type of accommodation to stay in or type of activity to do—but are less likely to convert to a specific provider they saw on social,” she said. “The right tools can help bridge this gap by reducing the need to go to research on other platforms, or helping travelers understand how the content they're seeing could fit into a real itinerary.”

The partnership signals an understanding of consumer behavior—whether the initiative is successful in practice depends on execution, List said.

“Do the tools work well with practical travel needs, like budget and availability?” List asked. “Will they have up-to-date information?”

The announcement follows TikTok’s formal launch of in-app travel booking with TikTok GO after a travel booking test last summer.  Expedia was named as one of the social media giant’s partners last week along with Booking.com, Trip.com, GetYourGuide, Viator and Tiqets (which Expedia Group acquired in December).

B2B push, partnerships

On the back of B2B revenue growth of 25% in Q1, Expedia Group unveiled partnerships beyond those with Meta and TikTok.

The company is working with identity verification platform CLEAR to offer One Key members tiered pricing and direct access to CLEAR if they sign up through Expedia.

"Expedia helps you book with confidence and CLEAR helps you win the day of travel,” said Caryn Seidman Becker, CEO of CLEAR. “Together, we’re connecting the journey so travelers can go from booking to boarding with less friction and more control.”

Hotels.com is partnering with flexible workplace company International Workplace Group (IWG) for a limited time to offer U.S.-based IWG members loyalty status with Hotels.com on a complimentary basis

Expedia Group also emphasized its recently launched and deepened partnership with Uber, which includes its hotel inventory in the Uber app. Expedia will also offer discounted Uber rides through its app starting in June, Gorin said during a press conference.

During the company's earnings call earlier this month, Gorin said B2B results in a flywheel, boosting assets across Expedia Group. She looks at B2B in a similar way to how one might view Vrbo or Expedia—as another brand.

“We've talked in previous quarters about our ambition in building out more lines of business in B2B to become a one-stop shop,” Gorin said at the time. 

Tuesday's news follows reorganization efforts by Expedia Group, including the merger of its global supply and B2B segments. Going forward, the company's chief commercial officer, Alfonso Paredes, will head up the combined organization, with Greg Schulze leaving Expedia Group after a transition period.

Technology innovations

The company discussed new and ongoing innovations in AI and beyond across subsidiaries brand Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo on Tuesday:

• AI Property Compare and Property Expert: Coming later in the year on Hotels.com, AI Property Compare aims to enhance property comparison based on factors such as amenities, vibe and location). Meanwhile, Property Expert will answer property and neighborhood questions with property info and guest review data.
• Package Price Insights: Also later this year on Expedia, Package Price Insights will alert travelers when Stay + Flight package prices are lower than usual or typical.
• Natural language AI trip planning: Expedia will launch Activity Planner, an AI tool that uses natural language to turn “open-ended ideas into a personalized, bookable itinerary,” it said. And, Vrbo will offer natural language search to expand past filters. The capability will then be expanded to other Expedia Group brands.
• Booking tools for families: With an eye on family travel, Expedia Group has expanded its Buy Now, Pay Later options for a more streamlined, flexible checkout. It has also improved its Family Highlights discovery feature that shows family-friendly properties and its Bundle & Save feature that combines select flights, stays and rentals with “clearer savings,” it said.
• Personalization in business travel: Starting in July, Hotels.com will give travelers the option to create business trip preferences with its Business Profiles tool to better match with relevant stays. Hotels.com is also adding a new Quick Rebook option.

Expedia Group revealed on its Q1 earnings call that AI has boosted efficiencies—and on Tuesday, Gorin said during a press conference that she sees AI as the company's "third chapter."

The first chapter was about the internet, the second was mobile and now the AI chapter has opened.

"With AI, it's really about what is the new travel experience going to be," Gorin said. "Whether it's in our app, whether it's sort of an AI that's roaming with you anywhere—it's really still being written."

*This reporter's attendance at the event was supported by Expedia Group.