Artificial Intelligence tips

Artificial intelligence might take your job. But at least you'll be less likely to miss a connecting flight.

With TikTok facing a potential U.S. ban, Expedia Group has introduced Travel Shops, a way for influencers and other content creators to earn commissions when travelers book their recommended hotels.

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

Google is diving head first into AI-powered trip planning. 

Ariane Gorin’s first day as Expedia Group CEO was Monday, and she has moved to the home base in Seattle after living in London and Paris for the past 23 years.

Travelers could have a robotic voice translator in their pocket with the next updates to ChatGPT. That was the most significant travel-related feature in a group of updates that OpenAI unveiled on Monday. 

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

Alaska Airlines is testing an AI-powered flight search tool meant to inspire travelers during the early stages of trip planning and help them redeem loyalty points.

Expedia Group trimmed its 2024 outlook for growth on Thursday mainly because of a slower-than-anticipated recovery at Vrbo, its vacation-rental booking brand.

Airbnb’s Brian Chesky has entered his next innovation era. He sat down with Skift this week at a product event in Los Angeles for a wide ranging interview on AI, loyalty programs, Airbnb for corporate travelers and his billion-dollar pay package. We also talked about the company’s launch of almost a dozen immersive, experience-based homes that they’re calling ‘Icons.’

Imagine you’re visiting the Colosseum in Rome for the first time, and you want your friends to enjoy the same view through the lenses you’re wearing. 

The AI assistant in Microsoft Teams can take notes during meetings, list follow-up points, and more. That’s been one of the top uses by Amadeus employees since they started testing Microsoft’s Copilot generative AI chatbot last August.

Google said Wednesday that it is releasing new features that share options for traveling in ways that are more environmentally friendly.

This summer, Dotdash Meredith in the Financial District of New York City will play host to two pivotal events in the travel industry. Happening consecutively on June 4th and 5th, the Skift Data + AI Summit and the Skift Short-Term Rental Summit promise to bring together the brightest minds in travel technology, data science, generative AI, and hospitality. This is the same location where we hosted our 2024 New York City Megatrends event earlier this year.

We are thrilled to unveil the first round of speakers for the highly anticipated inaugural Skift Data + AI Summit, set to take place in New York City on June 4th. This summit promises to be an electrifying convergence of minds at the forefront of data and generative AI, shaping the future of the travel industry worldwide.

Guesty, the property management platform for short-term rental businesses, said Wednesday that it has raised $130 million in series F funding. 

​​IHG Hotels & Resorts is planning to release a trip planning tool powered by artificial intelligence from Google. 

TravelNet Solutions laid off around 15 employees Thursday, roughly 7.5% of its 200-member workforce, a decision the CEO said was about shifting resources toward engineering and its core property management business.

Marriott Bonvoy last month released a new AI tool meant to help users search for vacation rentals under its Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy brand. 

Trivago has brought back a key executive from its December 2016 IPO – there are now four leaders from the old guard running the Germany-based hotel metasearch outfit.

Steve Singh, co-founder of Concur, and a group of firms have fully acquired the corporate travel agency Direct Travel. And they’re planning to release a new platform for customers later this year that combines several new technologies from Direct Travel and three other startups that Singh has a stake in.