Travel companies are getting more explicit about AI’s value, according to the latest sweep of earnings calls and executive commentary reviewed by travel tech and AI reporter Adriana Lee.

Booking, Airbnb, and Expedia can now point to measurable returns from some AI products — lower support costs, better conversion, higher attach rates — while openly admitting others aren't driving bookings yet. Sabre and Amadeus, a layer further back in the industry's infrastructure, are making the same wager at a larger scale, investing in AI capability before agentic booking volume exists to justify it.

The distinction that's emerging: which AI has already earned its keep, and which is still on faith.

Join Skift Research on LinkedIn Live today at 2pm ET to explore how the team decodes travel behavior for the industry.

Every generational travel headline started somewhere messier than a slide with a stat on it. See how a question becomes a survey, a survey becomes data, and data becomes a report — with real findings on Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X, and Boomer travelers.

CLARITYPAY + SKIFT

On Airline Weekly Lounge, ClarityPay CEO Houman Motaharian explains how its JetBlue partnership could turn financing into a loyalty engine. Watch the interview here or wherever you get your podcast.

The companies that can name their returns and the ones still spending on faith end up in the same room in London on October 6.

The CEOs of KAYAK and Skyscanner and IAG's Chief AI Scientist join 250 senior operators for one day on how AI actually gets built and run in Europe, under rules the U.S. doesn't have.

From the Taylor Swift Eras Tour to the World Cup, people are getting off their screens and showing up in person. New Skift Research from the State of Travel report shows culinary experiences are now the most popular vacation activity at over 70%.

In this clip from Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley breaks down why food has become the anchor of the modern trip, what the live tourism boom says about where travel demand is actually heading, and why no LLM is ever going to replace sitting across the table from someone.

How are public travel companies performing around the world? The Skift Travel 200 pulls the data you need to understand global market movements. Paid subscribers get full access here.

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