Travel Companies Weigh Build vs. Buy in AI Era

At Phocuswright Europe 2026, executives from Amadeus, Etraveli, and Hopper Technology Solutions discussed build vs. buy strategies in the AI era. Amadeus typically builds in-house, investing €1.4 billion in R&D in 2025, but recently acquired conversational booking specialist SkyLink. Etraveli acquired Wenrix for predictive and agentic AI. HTS builds AI internally due to travel complexity. Executives advised that companies lacking tech stack and talent should buy technology and skills.