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Did Expedia catch that M&A fever again? We reported exclusively that deal talks were under way between Expedia and Ireland's CarTrawler. Expedia acquired Tiqets in February, but this is not 2015 all over again. That's when Expedia acquired Travelocity, Orbitz and HomeAway. This time around Expedia's M&A push targets beefing up its B2B business, not B2C.

Meanwhile, our CEO Rafat Ali took a deep dive into Booking Holdings' business models, and concluded that its stock buybacks are unsustainable. In another corner of Booking Holdings: its Priceline brand relaunched the Negotiator ad campaign with actor Randall Park succeeding William Shatner. Priceline's Brigit Zimmerman succeeded longtime CEO Brett Keller in January, and she has plans to remake Priceline as the leading value-oriented online travel agency in North America. It's just another week in OTA land.

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Inside a $2.4B Luxury Travel Advisor Platform

GLOBAL TRAVEL COLLECTION + SKIFT

For years, Global Travel Collection's $2.4 billion in sales has been spread across legacy brands, masking its true scale. Its brand unification is a signal that scale is becoming the defining competitive advantage in luxury travel.

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EDITOR’S PICKS

Priceline’s New CEO on Reinventing the Value Pitch and Competing in a Crowded OTA Market: Exclusive

May 12, 2026

Can a 29-year-old brand with limited resources remake its advertising and products to effectively reach younger generations? Priceline's new CEO is making bets that it can.

Booking Holdings Is Running Ahead of Its Own Strategy

May 12, 2026

The merchant model is the most important thing happening at Booking Holdings. It is also the thing that lets it avoid proving whether Connected Trip actually works.

Expedia Promotes B2B Chief to Lead Global Supply as Partner Business Takeover Accelerates

May 11, 2026

In her seven years heading Expedia B2B before becoming CEO in 2024, you can imagine Ariane Gorin feeling that the unit had so much unrealized potential. While Booking Holdings might be the much larger business, Gorin is trying to show that Expedia B2B is the secret sauce.

Expedia and CarTrawler May Be Close to a Deal Following a Meeting in Dublin: Scoop

May 11, 2026

Is Expedia reverting to the deal appetite it displayed in 2015 when it acquired Travelocity, Orbitz and Homeaway? After acquiring Tiqets in February, Expedia could be looking to make another B2B move.

Expedia Spent $279 Million on Acquisitions in Q1, Airbnb Gained $70 Million on Tiqets Deal: Scoop

May 9, 2026

Expedia was the company that acquired Tiqets. Airbnb didn't buy the experiences brand, but seems to have made a solid return on its Tiqets investment when it cashed out.

Brian Chesky Says Airbnb Won’t Mix Homes and Hotels — That’s ‘Pre-AI’ Design

May 7, 2026

Airbnb's Chesky is nothing if not ambitious. Given that people's preferences can change at any moment, the ability to serve customers with only a hotel or home, depending what they need in that instant, seems a long way off, even with agentic AI.

Trivago Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google, Alleges Ongoing Harm

May 7, 2026

Trivago has lobbied against these Google practices for years. Now it's taking the conflict to a German court.

Tripadvisor Has Made ‘Good Progress’ on Selling TheFork, Explores LLM Data Deals

May 7, 2026

Tripadvisor had a tough first quarter, adversely impacted by cancellations in Mexico, Hawaii, and elsewhere because of the Middle East conflict. Its quest for strategic alternatives has been a multiyear slog.

Kayak Founders Team Up for Booking Holdings AI Startup: Scoop

May 6, 2026

In addition to other Booking Holdings' brands, Seat Geek is listed as a partner. Users would presumably be able to use conversational AI to get "insider access" and discounted rates from Booking brands and partners.

Airbnb Expands Delta Partnership to Boost Experiences and Services

May 5, 2026

Airbnb is pushing whatever buttons it can to jumpstart Experiences and Services, which got off to sluggish starts.
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Skift Data + AI Summit

The travel industry is moving from AI experimentation to execution, with real impact across distribution, operations, and customer experience. The Skift Data + AI Summit returns June 3 in New York City, bringing industry leaders together to share the next wave of AI applications and data strategies shaping travel.

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SKIFT PODCAST NETWORK

Brian Chesky thinks AI is about to radically change how companies operate.

In this clip from Good Morning Hospitality, a Skift Podcast, Jamie Lane, Michael Goldin, and Brandreth Canaley discuss Chesky’s recent podcast appearances and his comments about AI replacing traditional people management roles.

The bigger question is what happens to organizational structures when AI dramatically increases individual output.

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SKIFT TRAVEL 200

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.

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