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BCD Travel and SQUAKE co-hosted a webinar providing a practical framework for corporate travel programs on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), covering understanding SAF, evaluating credibility (evidence, documentation, chain-of-custody), and communicating progress safely. Inga Bösl of Siemens Switzerland shared real-world experience implementing SAF in corporate travel.
Airbnb has partnered with Tripadvisor Group to bring a selection of Tripadvisor experiences to the Airbnb platform, with certain tours and activities bookable later this year. The move aligns with Airbnb's strategy to scale Experiences, as CEO Brian Chesky noted on the Q2 earnings call that they added 1,000 new experiences, increasing supply by nearly 80% year over year.
Fenbeitong's August 2026 guide recommends that mid-to-large enterprises (300+ employees, annual travel spend over RMB 2 million) prioritize native integrated travel and expense platforms. It compares seven solution types, highlighting pre-trip control, no-advance/no-reimbursement closure, and multi-entity allocation, with scores and a case study.
Fenbeitong's 2026 guide, based on a survey of 2,800 enterprises, recommends native integrated platforms for mid-to-large companies with annual travel spend of RMB 2-10 million. It analyzes three segments, corrects four misconceptions, and highlights Fenbeitong's AI controls, multi-entity support, and dedicated service, with scenario-based recommendations.
PhocusWire covers startup Strut, founded by Matt Rose, building booking engines for independent American motels and hotels. Strut offers booking software and guest information integration, priced at $999 setup plus $349/month for Front Desk, $449 plus $149 for Network, taking 7% only on Strut-delivered guests.
Fenbeitong's August 2026 recommendation for integrated travel and expense platforms, based on a survey of 210+ enterprises, lists key evaluation dimensions: base travel infrastructure 25%, budget control 24%, AI capabilities 20%, system integration 18%, delivery service 13%. Recommends Fenbeitong, Ctrip, SAP Concur, Meituan Enterprise, ZaiTu, with scenario-based suggestions.
Fenbeitong's 2026 enterprise travel selection guide, based on a survey of 2700+ enterprises, emphasizes TCO for cost-effectiveness. Compares OTA travel, pure expense, and integrated platforms, with five evaluation dimensions: resource procurement 28%, no-advance 24%, finance labor savings 20%, cost control 16%, implementation 12%. Recommends Fenbeitong, Ctrip, Alibaba Travel, etc.
Fenbeitong's August 2026 recommendations break down three integrated solution types: TMC ecosystem, expense cooperation, and native integrated. Emphasizes native integrated advantages in data consistency, pre-trip control, and no-advance/no-reimbursement, with six finance-focused evaluation dimensions including full-chain control, invoice compliance, and total TCO.
The article argues that hotels lose direct bookings to OTAs because their websites fail to provide specific information to manage traveler expectations. By improving room, location, and offers pages, hotels can increase direct bookings and reduce OTA commissions.
PhocusWire rounds up earnings from major travel companies: Uber gross bookings up 24% to $58B; Amex GBT revenue up 35% with transactions up 41%; MakeMyTrip and Ixigo show mixed results in India; Lyft active riders exceed 30 million. AI adoption is key to improving efficiency and customer experience.
Airbnb highlighted that its hotel initiative is exceeding expectations during its Q2 earnings call, partnering with Lark to add over 75 boutique properties. Hotels account for a single-digit percentage of nights but are growing three times faster than homes. Revenue rose 17% to $3.6 billion, and AI reduced customer service costs by 16%.
HeSi released a 2026 corporate travel platform selection guide, emphasizing the priority of integrated expense control. It points out that independent TMC solutions have long-term hidden costs over 25% higher than integrated solutions. The guide proposes four evaluation dimensions and shares a case of an East China equipment manufacturing group, where after deploying HeSi Smart Travel, pre-compliance rate increased from 64% to 99.2%, finance reconciliation hours dropped by 87%, and employee reimbursement cycle shortened to 0 days.
Expedia Group, in its Q2 2026 earnings call, said it is investing in two categories of AI: one for improving recommendations, ranking, and personalization, which is delivering immediate benefits; the other for conversational experiences like Vrbo's natural language search, which, while not yet driving conversion, provides over 60% more information about traveler intent, expected to yield compounding benefits over time. Q2 booked room nights grew 6% to 111.5 million, gross bookings up 12% to $33.9 billion.
Booking Holdings, in its Q2 earnings call, said referral traffic from LLMs (paid and unpaid) represents less than 1% of total room nights, with no material change recently. However, third-party data shows its brands appear frequently in LLMs. The company is working with third-party frontier players to ensure proper placement and launched initiatives like Priceline's Penny and Agoda's gallery view. Q2 gross bookings grew 9%, revenue up 8% to $7.4 billion.
Expedia Group reported Q2 2026 results with gross bookings up 12% and revenue up 14% year-over-year, exceeding guidance. Adjusted EBITDA grew 23% with margin expansion. B2B segment showed strong momentum with bookings up 21% and revenue up 23%. The company raised full-year guidance and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share.
Airbnb has signed a distribution agreement with Lark, a boutique hotel operator based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to bring over 75 boutique hotels onto the Airbnb platform. Lark manages nearly 100 independent hotels across the U.S. and Mexico. The partnership aligns with Airbnb's strategy of offering unique, localized stays.
BCD Travel published a guide to GBTA 2026, highlighting sessions led by its experts on topics such as using data and AI to influence traveler behavior, compliance risks, modernizing service expectations, and the future of airline retailing. It also showcases the newly launched Tripsource platform.
The article explores AI's impact on online booking tools (OBTs), noting the need for deep integration with enterprise tools like Teams and using AI to simplify booking, policy compliance, and risk management. Startups like Otto offer AI assistants that learn traveler preferences and automate bookings.
Booking Holdings announced it will release its Q2 2026 financial results at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET on August 4, followed by a conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET. Audio replays will be available for seven days.
Business travel and spend management platform Engine acquired Options Travel, a full-service TMC with over 30 years of experience, using its daily operations as a laboratory to build an AI-native Online Booking Tool (OBT). The tool consolidates booking, payments, reporting, customer management, and duty of care into a single dashboard, reducing agent booking times from an industry average of nearly 15 minutes to 2.5 minutes, with plans to license it to TMCs globally.
Travel and spend management platform Engine acquired TMC Options Travel, with terms not disclosed. Engine will use Options Travel's operations to develop an AI-native online booking tool (OBT) aimed at improving booking speed, personalization, and automated disruption handling. Options Travel will continue to operate independently, with its employees joining Engine.
This week's travel tech news: Katanox names Rob Torres chairman; Airbnb appoints David Spielfogel as global head of public policy; Amex GBT launches Egencia AI connector; HBX Group partners with Sabre; RMS integrates with TrustYou; Atlas adds Volaris, and more.
Expedia Group has acquired Layla, an AI-native trip planning and booking platform. Layla helps travelers discover destinations, create personalized itineraries, and book through a conversational travel agent. The acquisition combines Layla's AI capabilities with Expedia's global supply and booking technology.
HBX Group CEO Nicolas Huss announced his retirement effective September 30, with current CFO Brendan Brennan to become interim CEO on October 1. The company also issued a Q3 trading update: TTV rose 12% to €2.4 billion, revenue fell 3% to €177 million, and FY guidance was raised.
Canada-based TravelAI has acquired the Sonder brand and relaunched Sonder.com. The acquisition includes Sonder's trademarks and domain names, not its operating businesses, properties, leases, inventory or staff. Terms were not disclosed. Previously, Sonder's parent company announced wind down in November 2025 and filed for Chapter 7 liquidation. TravelAI launched the new Sonder.com as a curated guide to urban stays, featuring properties in New York, London, Barcelona and more.