Tourism industry giants Booking Holdings and Airbnb are outsourcing the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by funding independent projects used as hedging measures. This positioning strategy threatens to accelerate the re-intermediation phenomenon in the hotel sector, increasing the risk that accommodation units will soon depend on the same parent company for both classic distribution through online travel agencies (OTAs) and the visibility offered by new virtual assistants.
The transition is marked by initiatives separate from the core of the two giants. Bloomberg recently reported that Airbnb Chief Executive Brian Chesky is setting up an independent AI lab with its own team. Similarly, Booking Holdings is secretly developing Lola, a conversational travel startup led by Steve Hafner. This move came after Booking devalued the Kayak platform by approximately EUR 397.1 million, a significant depreciation attributed to how AI-generated answers erode Google’s classic search and comparison system.
The isolation of these new projects represents a clear risk management strategy. By creating external entities that are inexpensive relative to the scale of the core business, both companies secure a future option in the event that conversational interfaces replace current search result pages, without jeopardizing current profits. However, their approaches differ: Airbnb avoids third-party assistants to keep the relationship with guests within its own brand, while Booking runs on a dual track, targeting both its own applications and integration into external platforms like Google or ChatGPT.
For hotel commercial teams, this evolution translates into the emergence of a new layer of intermediation just as technology promised to simplify access to customers. If both platforms secure their positions in agentic travel, hotels will face double exposure to the pricing policies of the same owner. Consequently, revenue management strategies will shift from optimizing position on a web page to the effort of being selected by virtual assistants that will monopolize the answers provided to users.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AI hedging in the travel industry?
AI hedging refers to travel giants like Booking and Airbnb funding independent AI projects to secure future market share without risking their current core business profits.
How does this strategy affect hotels?
It increases the risk of re-intermediation, making hotels dependent on the same parent company for both traditional OTA distribution and visibility via new AI assistants.
How will revenue management change for hotels?
Instead of optimizing for search engine results pages, hotel revenue management will focus on being selected by conversational AI assistants that monopolize user answers.