Agoda and Singapore Tourism Board Sign Three-Year Deal Covering Data and AI

Strategy 4 min read

Agoda Executive: Reddit Is the Top Travel Source Feeding AI Models, and OTAs Have a Commercial Problem

Agoda VP of corporate development Timothy Hughes told WiT Queenstown that Reddit has become the number one travel source feeding large language models, and that keeping good content in front of those models is now a commercial necessity for OTAs rather than a moral one.

Sarah · Aug 14, 2026

Strategy 3 min read

Airbnb Will Sell Tripadvisor Experiences, Abandoning Its Build-It-Alone Approach

Tripadvisor will make a selection of its Viator and Tripadvisor tours, activities and attractions bookable on Airbnb later this year, ending Airbnb's decade-long attempt to build its experiences inventory entirely on its own.

Sarah · Aug 11, 2026

Strategy 3 min read

Google's Agentic Hotel Booking Pilot Is Live — and IHG Says the Reservations Land as Direct

IHG confirmed in its H1 2026 results that guests can now complete hotel bookings inside Google's AI Mode, with the reservations processed as direct. Booking Holdings says it is also in the pilot.

Sarah · Aug 11, 2026

Strategy 3 min read

Booking Holdings Folds Agoda, Booking.com and Priceline B2B Into One Unit

Booking Holdings is merging the B2B businesses of Agoda, Booking.com and Priceline onto one platform under Agoda CEO Omri Morgenshtern. Priceline partners are already being migrated, and none of it has been announced publicly.

Sarah · Aug 10, 2026

Tech Deep Dive 3 min read

Agoda Retires YCS, Replacing It With a Partner Portal Built Around Mobile and AI Suggestions

Agoda has replaced its long-running Yield Control System extranet with the Agoda Partner Portal, adding mobile workflows, AI review summaries and rate suggestions up to 90 days ahead.

Sarah · Aug 10, 2026

Market Pulse 3 min read

Airbnb Q2: Hotel Nights Grew Three Times Faster Than Homes as Revenue Rose 17%

Airbnb beat its own outlook on every metric in Q2 2026 and raised full-year guidance — but the number hoteliers should read twice is that hotel nights booked on the platform grew roughly three times as fast as its core homes business.

Sarah · Aug 06, 2026

Travel Trends 3 min read

Airbnb's World Cup Numbers: 150,000 New Listings, Sub-$250 Nightly Average, One in Seven Guests a First-Timer

Airbnb released post-tournament data for the FIFA World Cup 2026, its largest hosting event ever. The interesting figures aren't the totals — they're the average nightly rate, the first-time-user share and where the supply came from.

Sarah · Aug 06, 2026

Market Pulse 3 min read

Tripadvisor Q2: Hotels Revenue Falls 21% as SEO Pressure Costs Experiences Five Points of Growth

Tripadvisor's continuing-operations revenue fell 7% in Q2 while adjusted EBITDA dropped 21%. Management put a number on the search problem: SEO headwinds took roughly five percentage points off Experiences growth.

Sarah · Aug 06, 2026

Tech Deep Dive 3 min read

Google Maps Adds Live Hotel Prices and Availability to Its Conversational Layer

Ask Maps, Google Maps' Gemini-powered conversational interface, now returns real-time hotel prices and availability alongside local event booking links — and is rolling out to more than 150 countries.

Sarah · Aug 06, 2026

Market Pulse 2 min read

Expedia Group Raises Full-Year Guidance on a Q2 Where B2B Grew Nearly Three Times Faster Than Consumer

Expedia Group beat the top end of its Q2 guidance and lifted full-year gross bookings and revenue targets. Underneath the beat, B2B gross bookings grew 21% against 8% for the consumer brands — while B2B's margin went the other way.

Sarah · Aug 05, 2026

Market Pulse 3 min read

Trivago Reports 21% Revenue Growth in Q2, But Its Core Marketplace Grew 9%

Trivago's Q2 revenue rose 21% to €168.4 million and it hit positive adjusted EBITDA for the first time in a second quarter since 2023. Strip out the trivago DEALS acquisition and core referral revenue grew 9%. Expedia Group's share of referral revenue fell to 28% from 38%.

Sarah · Aug 04, 2026

Market Pulse 3 min read

Booking Holdings Q2: Revenue Beats, But Room Nights Grow Slowest in Six Quarters

Booking Holdings booked 325 million room nights in Q2 2026, up just 5% year over year, the slowest pace in six quarters. Revenue of $7.35 billion beat expectations, and the company raised its cost-savings target to $650 million.

Sarah · Aug 04, 2026