Duff on Hospitality Law

Good Saturday morning from Seattle . . . Our Online Travel Update (OTU) for the week ending Friday, September 19, 2025, is below. For those of you asking why the list of stories has grown so long the past few Updates (and what happened to the bespoke, curated short list of must reads that you’ve come to expect), the short answer is artificial intelligence. While I do my best not to get caught up in the spectacle that AI has become, it would appear that we are entering an AI arms race as platforms and intermediaries of all varieties (including now, apparently, Airbnb) try to outdo the other. I’d also add that the onset of fall (and with it, the seemingly endless stream of industry events (this past week, the Skift Global Forum), investor conferences, etc.) contributes to the growing list of stories. Read with caution and enjoy.

• • Booking.com Expands Business Travel Offerings. Booking.com’s business platform, Booking.com for Business, announced this past week a new partnership with event planning platform, Bizly. Users of the business platform can now access Bizly’s global inventory of hotels, conference centers, private dining rooms and co-working spaces for meeting and event bookings. Bizly now joins other business travel service provides like Expensify, International SOS and Traxo in the Booking.com for Business marketplace.

• • Chinese Regulators Reviewing Trip.com’s Auto Price-Matching Tools. Chinese online distributor, Trip.com, has been “summoned” by Chinese market regulators over the distributor’s alleged “unreasonable” operating practices. At issue are Trip.com’s automatic price adjustment tools that adjust hoteliers’ rates (or apply promotional discounts) whenever the distributor discovers competing platforms offering lower prices. Chinese regulators claim that these practices violate China’s E-Commerce Law and Interim Regulations on Anti-Unfair Competition on the Internet. According to regulators, the summons was issued to ensure that Trip.com follows through on promised corrective changes.

• • Airbnb to Get Serious About Hotels. Although Airbnb had previously announced changes to better position itself to re-enter the hotel market, comments by Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky this past Tuesday at the Skift Global Forum made clear the short term rental booking platform’s objectives. According to Chesky, “[we] are now getting serious about hotels.” In addition to the previously announced fee structure change (15.5% commission), Airbnb’s announced plans include a dedicated hotel interface. The new boutique and independent hotel offerings will be piloted in a few major cities, including New York, though timing of the pilots was not announced. The addition of hotels is one of several initiatives that Airbnb recently announced to drive faster growth.

• • The Growing (Disruptive) Influence of Social Media. And dare I say, influencers?!? Argh. Research recently commissioned by iSeatz reveals that the traditional booking path is being turned on its head – particularly for younger travelers. The study surveyed 1000 American travelers over the age of 18.  A few highlights . . .
    • 43% of respondents said that they were inspired by a loved one. No surprise. Younger generations, however, are many times more inspired by social media (52% of Gen Z respondents and 46% of millennials identified social media as their primary source for travel inspiration).
    • Younger generations are often more likely to use social media over traditional search for conducting travel research (45% of Gen Z respondents prefer social media and 27% go to social media first).
    • 40% of respondents said that influencers had a “significant impact” on where they travel and how they book (the number only grows larger with younger generations – 62% of Gen Z respondents said that influencers “impact” their travel decisions).

An interesting point, particularly for travel suppliers, is the technological infrastructure gap that prohibits users of social media to book directly within their chosen platforms. A majority of Gen Z respondents and millennials said they would book directly from a social media platform if the process was secure and seamless. Recent studies suggest that AI platforms suffer from this same technological challenge. The travel brand (supplier, OTA or other, yet unnamed industry outsider) that best (not necessarily first) solves this problem may be the ultimate winner.

Have a great week everyone.

Good Sunday morning from Seattle . . . Our Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, September 12, 2025, is below. This week’s Update features a heavy does of AI-related stories, including reports on the major OTAs’ ongoing AI efforts. Enjoy.

• • Major Platforms Endorse EU Online Ratings Code of Conduct.  This past week, several major online travel platforms (TripAdvisor, Expedia Group and Booking.com) endorsed the EU’s ‘Code of Conduct for Online Ratings and Reviews for Tourism Accommodation.’  The voluntary Code is open to suppliers, industry associations, online platforms and consumer associations, and those that endorse the code commit to ensure genuine online reviews and ratings. 

• • Researchers Release Report on Effect of AI Agents on Traditional Customer Loyalty.  Researchers at Florida Atlanta University have released an interesting report on the anticipated effects of AI-enabled agents on customer loyalty in the hospitality and travel industry.  As AI agents become increasingly skilled (and trusted) at making consumers’ decisions, travel industry members will have to re-think traditional loyalty strategies (e.g., loyalty to a particular algorithm or ecosystem vs. loyalty to a brand).   A copy of the report is available through the link below.

• • Anything and Everything Is Now Possible at Airbnb.  I’m paraphrasing of course, but Airbnb co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky, is quite bullish on the possibilities that AI and AI native applications might mean for the short-term rental platform and its future businesses.  In remarks at an investor conference last week, Chesky noted that mature businesses that Airbnb had previously dismissed were now back on the table because of the new interface possibilities associated with AI.  Although Chesky did not go into detail about what these businesses might be, commentators suggest that they likely include hotels (which Airbnb announced in August of this year) and may also include flights, experiences and, according to Chesky, additional services for rental hosts.   

• • Social Media and AI Playing an Increasingly Important Role in Online Booking Platforms’ Marketing Efforts.  Yes, online booking platforms continue to increase their marketing investments.  Nothing new there.  But the story here is where those investments are now being made.  Yes, traditional search remains important (at least for now, but likely less so), but investments in social media (think Booking.com’s recently announced partnership with TikTok) and artificial intelligence (think the OTAs’ almost weekly announcements of new partnerships with the major AI platforms) are increasingly the focus.  According to Expedia CEO, Ariane Gorin, for Expedia, traffic generated through its investments in AI is still small, but it is growing rapidly and converts at a much higher rate.

• • How Do Travelers Really Use AI Platforms?  This past week I sat in on Propellic’s presentation of results from its recent behavioral study of how travelers use Google’s AI Mode when searching for travel.  For me, the study revealed some key findings, including the (likely short term) advantage that suppliers may have over third party online platforms.  I’d encourage everyone to take the time to read the summary report that is available on Propellic’s website (or watch the associated webinar).   

Have a great week everyone. 

Good Sunday morning from Seattle . . . Our Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, September 5, 2025, is below. The federal court’s recent decision in the much-publicized Google anti-trust case captured most of the week’s headlines in an otherwise quiet week in online travel. Enjoy.

• • Artificial Intelligence Will Pose New Challenges to Suppliers’ Systems. For those distribution executives with too much time on their hands (after all, who doesn’t have endless amounts of time with all of the other anticipated AI driven changes in distribution), you now need to consider the systematic challenges associated with travelers’ increasing use of AI tools, most notably agentic AI. As the story below details, the number of travelers’ “looks” to actual bookings has increased steadily over the past twenty plus years and are poised to explode with travelers’ use of AI-enabled agents to search and book travel. This unprecedented increase in looks will tax suppliers’ existing systems (and systems’ processes like caching), resulting in the need for more technology that comes with a hefty price. Will suppliers soon need to impose fees for searches of their content? Maybe.
  • WiT Releases Documentary on Online Travel in Asia. Over the past several weeks, WiT has released chapters of a new documentary on the history of online travel in Asia – “Online Travel in Asia – The Untold Story.” The entire documentary is now available (and is included in the story below). For all of you distribution nerds, this is essential viewing.
  • Effect of Google Decision on Online Travel Is Unclear. Reactions from the online travel world to last week’s U.S. federal court decision in the long-running Google anti-trust case have been mixed. Unlike ongoing investigations in the EU that have focused on Google’s search and display practices (among others), the U.S. decision says nothing about search or display. Nor did the decision force Google’s divestiture of Chrome, as some speculated would happen. Instead, the decision forces Google to share certain search results with its competitors and limits Google’s ability to enter into exclusive distribution and licensing deals. So, what does this mean for online travel – if anything? It is unclear at this point. Some notable industry analysts believe that the decision is good news for online travel agencies that can now enter agreements with Apple and other device manufacturers to pre-install the online travel agencies’ mobile applications on phones and devices. Apple and other manufacturers could also re-introduce their own search or recommendation tools that rely heavily on online travel agencies. Others industry members question whether online travel agencies have the resources to enter into such deals with Apple or other manufacturers.
  • Google’s New Flight Deals Tool Promises Better Search Results. Google has launched a new AI-powered tool on Google Flights. Using natural language search queries, travelers in the U.S., Canada and India can now obtain AI-powered “contextual” search results tailored to their specific needs – financial and otherwise. Anticipated future updates will include filters that allow travelers to remove undesirable fare classes, itineraries, etc., from their custom search results.

Have a great week.

Good Monday afternoon from Seattle . . . For those of you enjoying a long holiday weekend, Happy Labor Day. Our weekly Online Travel Update for the week ending Friday, August 29, 2025, is below. With the summer doldrums coming to an end, activity across the online industry has picked up starting with Booking.com’s newly announced partnership with TikTok, which dominated industry headlines (and our many of our clients’ attention) this past week. Enjoy.

• • Booking.com’s Growing Interest in Social Media. For the past several quarters now, Booking Holdings, CEO, Glenn Fogel, has made reference to Booking’s increasing interest and investments in social media and AI. While many (this author included) focused largely on Fogel’s statements on AI, Booking.com’s newly announced partnership with TikTok provides some of the strongest evidence yet of Booking’s efforts to leverage social media and to transition social media from a historically marketing focused channel (a source of traveler inspiration) into a booking channel. So, what does this newly announced partnership mean for hotels (and particularly, hoteliers’ direct booking efforts)? I think it is too early to tell. Many questions remain about both social media and artificial intelligence and travelers’ (across all ages and demographics) general willingness to use (and trust) either platform. For me, one thing is clear. Booking.com’s latest announcement (which is only the latest in a growing list of newly announced partnerships between leading distributors and their new AI and social media partners) has brought back memories (not all good) of OTAs’ early dominance of online search and the many bookings that resulted.

• • Acrimony Between Hoteliers and Booking.com? Not sure I agree with this one, at least for the reasons noted in the attached article.

• • Ryanair and Booking Holdings Bury the Hatchet – For Now. For years now, our Update has followed the acrimonious (and sometimes amusing) relationship between Ryanair and distributors. With this newest announced deal, Ryanair has done a complete about face in its view of (and willingness to work with) the online platforms. According to reports, the newly announced deal features some unique deal terms (at least when compared to hoteliers’ typical terms and conditions) – passengers who book through Booking.com will have access to their Ryanair accounts and Ryanair will receive passengers’ actual contact information (not fictious email addresses) through which Ryanair is able to communicate directly with passengers.

• • Google Continues to Add AI Capabilities. In its latest round of AI-related announcements, Google has announced that AI Mode (which is currently available to users in the U.S., UK and India) is expanding to over 180 new countries and territories. Google Ultra AI subscribers will also soon be able to leverage “agentic capabilities” in AI Mode to search and make restaurant selections and reservations and other services bookings.

• • Agoda Launches “Ask Me Anything”(AMA) Property Bot. Leveraging ChatGPT and the information it is able to access and use, Agoda has introduced a new AI chatbot on its website and mobile application that provides travelers detailed information about potential properties. The chatbot now answers 30,000 questions a day about Agoda’s listed properties. Users of the chatbot can now avoid messaging properties directly with questions regarding their stay. Hoteliers take note – this latest functionality seeks to make available to Agoda users detailed property information that hoteliers may have never intended to make available through a third party platform. Content differentiation may now be more difficult than ever.

Have a great week everyone.