AI tips

Generative AI is already prompting travel businesses to retool internal operations and release new products.

Travellers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) plan to increase their spending on breaks and holidays over the next three years and will have more of an eye on sustainability than ever before. In fact, most now check the sustainability of their travel plans, and are prepared to pay over 20% more for environmentally-friendly accommodation.

It’s not without its tensions, but Google and Booking Holdings have long had a mutually beneficial relationship: Google gets billions of dollars from Booking’s ads, and Booking benefits from all of the customers Google sends along.

From his posts and re-posts on X, it’s clear that Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is highly supportive of Sam Altman, the ousted CEO of OpenAI, and now-former board Chairman Greg Brockman, and Chesky seems to be in-the-know about some of the maneuverings behind the scenes.

Airbnb unveiled its biannual set of product enhancements Wednesday, and much of the attention will surely focus on new badges that identify customers’ favorite homes – “Guest Favorites” – and a tweaked ratings page. But hosts will benefit from several other features as well.

Expedia Group laid off around 100 employees in a round of cuts that impacted its product and tech organization, Skift has learned.

Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has hailed as transformational the move by local grown resort chain, Sandals Resorts International, to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to train its employees, through the use of virtual and augmented reality.

Ahead of the Arival 360 Conference in Orlando on October 9-12, travel leaders have shared the top three tours, activities and experiences trends they expect will shape the travel industry in 2024.

So-called junk fees have been in the forefront of many travel executives’ minds, especially after the Biden administration took aim at charges travelers increasingly see as unnecessary and excessive.

Corporate travel agency Navan, like many other travel brands, is bullish on the potential of artificial intelligence to revolutionize the travel industry. But its CEO and co-founder, Ariel Cohen, warns travel companies looking to launch a generative AI-powered tool that the process is far from simple.

Expedia Group is launching a new program called EG Labs to give some consumers early access to tests for its Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo products.