Dennis Schaal travel tips

Expedia Group has pulled a Vrbo ad in Canada because its use of a traditional Newfoundland and Labrador folksong triggered a backlash.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, February 15. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel.

On the back of its November acquisition of GamePlanner.AI, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said his company can create a new AI interface, and that it will help transform Airbnb into a “cross-vertical company” like Amazon or Apple.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, February 14. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel.

Travelers may choose an Airbnb over a hotel for a number of reasons, but let’s face it: They’ll often go for the cheaper option.

One potential issue with Airbnb’s growth plans has been whether it could boost its ranks of hosts and listings enough to meet the demand from guests around the world.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, February 13. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Expedia Group frequently talks up the benefits of its sale of corporate travel agency Egencia to American Express Global Business Travel. Benefits include: A 10-year pact to supply Amex GBT with lodging inventory, and Expedia’s equity stake in it, initially valued in 2021 at $815 million.

In December 2019, Ariane Gorin, president of Expedia Business Services, moderated a fireside chat with Chairman Barry Diller and Vice Chairman Peter Kern at an all-hands employee meeting. Expedia Group had just parted ways with its CEO and CFO, and Kern would soon be named CEO.

Seven-year-old travel tech startup Journera, which aimed to provide data to hotels and airlines to enable seamless customer trips, announced Thursday that it ceased operations.

A revamped Trivago Guy campaign, this one using just one actor whose monologue is powered by AI, is getting a mixed reaction in the 20 or so markets it’s running in around the world.

With competition getting more intense in performance marketing channels, Germany-based metasearch company Trivago saw its fourth quarter profits nosedive.

In a letter to employees — obtained by Skift — after the news broke that he’d be stepping down in May, Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern said there were times when he wasn’t sure whether the multiyear reorganization of the company was going deep or fast enough.

In November, Czech Republic-based Kiwi.com was “celebrating” three court wins against Ryanair: The companies have battled for years over Kiwi screen-scraping Ryanair’s website without authorization to obtain fares.

In a stunner that few observers saw coming, Expedia Group announced CEO Peter Kern will step down from his post and Ariane Gorin will succeed him, effective May 13.

Czech Republic-based Kiwi, which has taken a confrontational approach toward many airlines over the years as it scraped their websites without permission, laid off 18% of its staff, according to a published report.

Expedia Group announced after its fourth quarter 2023 earnings call that Ariane Gorin would become the online travel agency’s CEO on May 13, succeeding current CEO Peter Kern. Gorin will join the board of directors, where Kern will remain. Barry Diller will continue in his roles as Expedia Group’s senior executive and chairman.

Vrbo took some not-so-veiled shots at the quality of properties one might get from Airbnb in two commercials that ran in the pre-game and NFL divisional championship games Sunday.

Booking.com is back for the third year in a row with a Super Bowl commercial, this time in 2024 with the ad starring Tina Fey and Glenn Close. The commercial has cameos from actors Jane Krakowski and Jack McBrayer, both with credits, as well.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 30. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

If you subscribe to a Netflix plan that includes advertising, you may be seeing an Expedia advertisement on your favorite viewing device soon.