Booking.com bets on AI for travel research rather than booking

On November 4, 2026, Skift Feed reported that Booking.com believes AI may dominate the starting point of travel planning, but trust and payment determine where the booking ultimately lands, so it is betting that travelers use AI for research and still place orders on its platform. The report noted that its experience with super-app partnerships shows high-frequency daily use has not translated into travel spending, and generative chatbots may face the same problem. Another report the same day said Booking.com is betting it can capture itineraries started in ChatGPT and Gemini, with the same core judgment: AI can dominate the starting point of an itinerary, but trust and payment determine who ultimately gets the booking. On November 12, 2026, PhocusWire All News reported that several travel companies said on recent earnings calls that discussions about partnerships with personal AI assistants are widespread, but actual booking volumes remain very small; the share of room nights at Booking.com from large language models and new personal assistants remains significantly below 1%. During Halloween week, of Uber's approximately 320 million trips and orders, only 500 food-delivery orders and 4 trips were completed by AI agents.