Before selling to Long Lake, AmexGBT saw 46 of 64 potential buyers walk away, most citing AI disruption — the first time that calculus appeared in a fiduciary filing. Separately, Skift found AI agents can generate search costs exceeding the commission on the booking they produce. Three years of AI-as-upside talk, and the downside got the paper trail first.
At the Skift Data + AI Summit, execs gave the internal version a name: tokenomics. In an exclusive, Expedia AI chief Xavier Amatriain revealed travel's response: multi-agent setups with specialized agents are better and more efficient. The Summit's broader verdict was less reassuring — the revenue story is still ahead of the proof.
ASAPP, AVEN HOSPITALITY, SABRE, & SOJERN + SKIFT MEETINGS
To understand how travel companies are preparing for an AI-mediated future, Skift Studio spoke with senior technology, product, and digital leaders across airlines, hospitality companies, travel platforms, and the broader travel technology ecosystem.
EDITOR’S PICKS
The High Cost of Infinite Search: How AI Agents Break Travel Economics
June 1, 2026
Travel search was built around a useful limit: people eventually stop looking. AI agents don’t. That turns comparison shopping into a cost problem for airlines, intermediaries, metasearch, and hotels trying to keep control of demand.
SKIFT PODCAST NETWORK
Most SaaS companies want to sell you more seats. Mews founder Richard Valtr says that is not the point.
In this clip from Skift Data & AI Summit, Valtr tells Skift CEO Rafat Ali that the only tech that deserves loyalty is tech that drives real outcomes, the kind where customers can say, “We make more money because of this system, and we cannot do this without it.”
A sharp take on what “value” in travel tech should mean in 2026.
SKIFT RESEARCH
How are public travel tech companies performing around the world? The Skift Travel 200 pulls the data you need to know to understand the market. Paid subscribers get full access here.
