Expedia Sees Fast-Growing Traffic From Chatbots

Core Insights - Expedia is rapidly integrating artificial intelligence (AI) across its operations, enhancing personalized travel recommendations, customer service, and operational efficiency [2][3][5] - The company reported a significant increase in gross bookings in its B2B segment, with a 17% rise to $8.8 billion, driven by growth in Asia and Europe [6][11] - Despite mixed performance in the U.S. market, Expedia's international revenue grew by 13%, indicating strong momentum in regions like Japan, Brazil, and Northern Europe [6][9] AI Integration - CEO Ariane Gorin emphasized that AI is utilized in every function of the company, with all employees having AI-related goals [3][4] - AI-powered customer service has led to record high net promoter scores and cost reductions [3] - The company is exploring agentic AI to automate inventory management and improve customer issue resolution [4][5] Financial Performance - For Q2, Expedia reported a net income of $330 million, or $2.48 per share, down from $386 million, or $2.80 per share, year-over-year [10] - Revenue increased to $3.79 billion from $3.56 billion a year ago, surpassing analyst expectations [10][11] - Adjusted EBITDA rose 16% to $908 million, reflecting improved operational performance [10] Market Trends - The company noted a cautious approach to discretionary spending among lower-end consumers, while higher-end consumers remain resilient [7] - There was a noted weakness in foreign travel to the U.S., shorter booking windows, and higher cancellation rates [7][9] - Expedia's flagship brands, including Hotels.com and Vrbo, are seeing improvements and new feature introductions post-platform migrations [8][9] Future Outlook - Expedia raised its revenue growth outlook for the year to 3% to 5%, up from a previous estimate of 2% to 4% [11] - The company plans to roll out additional B2B APIs to enhance travel booking capabilities for businesses [5][11] - Traffic from generative AI searches is small but growing rapidly, converting into bookings at higher rates than other traffic sources [5]