Expedia CEO Sees AI Agents Helping Plans, Not Bookings
Travel sites have a new rival to watch: personal AI agents that promise to plan trips and shop for users. Expedia's chief executive says the threat has not yet shown up in bookings.
Planning yes, booking not yet
Ariane Gorin spoke to CNBC on Thursday. Agents such as Meta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots are entering the mainstream, and travel is one area where they could pull customers away from traditional sites. Gorin sees them as useful at the early stage. "It's a great way for people to do inspiration, to do trip planning," she said. "We haven't seen it change the way they're actually doing booking."
Her case for human help rests on what follows the choice of a trip. A traveler needs confidence that the listing, the extras and the cost are accurate. If a trip goes wrong, she said, someone has to fix it or pick up the phone. She does not think agents will do that, and she says it is why customers trust Expedia.
Working with every agent
Expedia is not waiting on the sidelines. Gorin said the company is working with all of the agents so that it shows up in AI results. It also wants to understand how the agents collect information and to have the needed integrations in place.
She did allow that agents could build their own travel programs and eventually take market share. Shopping across several places was already common, she noted, and an agent makes that easier.
Weak guidance, strong quarter
The interview came a day after Expedia gave a fourth-quarter forecast that missed. It expects revenue of $3.69 billion to $3.75 billion. The midpoint sits below the $3.74 billion analysts expected, according to FactSet. Shares were down about 12% on Thursday.
Guidance is a company's own forecast for a coming period, and analysts measure it against their estimates.
Gorin tied the softer outlook to geopolitical events in the Middle East and Europe, the midterm elections and the decision to move the company's fall sale from the fourth quarter to the third. The third quarter itself was strong, she noted. Total gross bookings rose 11% and revenue climbed 12%.
Source: CNBC