Technology
Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel stated during the Q2 2026 earnings call that the company's 'Connected Trip' strategy has made progress: transaction volumes across travel verticals grew at a low double-digit rate, more than double the overall transaction growth of Booking.com. Engagement among higher-tier Genius loyalty members increased, with Level 2 and Level 3 members accounting for over 30% of active customers and contributing approximately 55% of room nights. AI customer service now handles the majority of eligible calls, with service costs continuing to decline by double digits. The company also tested an AI-driven discovery experience and launched Agoda Gallery View and Priceline's agentic AI assistant, Penny.
Choice Hotels International released its second-quarter 2026 financial results, showing global RevPAR up 1.7% year-over-year and U.S. RevPAR up 1.3%. Driven by improved demand and the FIFA World Cup boost, the company raised its full-year U.S. RevPAR and global net room growth guidance. U.S. room openings increased 27% year-over-year, marking the highest second-quarter level since 2019.
Last week, the news that the Sonder brand was acquired by TravelAI and transformed into an AI travel guide surprised the industry. The Vancouver-based company saw the residual brand value left by the tens of millions of dollars in marketing that Sonder invested before bankruptcy. TravelAI co-founder and CEO John Lyotier explained the acquisition decision, brand positioning, and the role of AI in travel planning in an interview.
Marriott International released its second-quarter 2026 earnings, with global revenue per available room (RevPAR) growing 3.4% year-over-year, including a 5% increase in the US and Canada markets, marking the highest quarterly growth in 13 quarters. The company accordingly raised its full-year RevPAR growth outlook to 3%-3.5%. The earnings call also disclosed highlights such as luxury and resort hotels leading growth, additional boosts from the World Cup event, a record global development pipeline approaching 629,000 rooms, and the launch of the AI search tool Ask Bonvoy.
IHG Hotels & Resorts announced on Tuesday the launch of an AI-powered conversational search tool (beta) on its official website and mobile app. The tool is designed to help guests more easily discover and book stays at its more than 7,000 hotels worldwide, while enabling owners to enhance their properties' visibility in AI search. This move follows IHG's launch of an app in ChatGPT last month and is part of its broader AI strategy.
TravelAI, based in Vancouver, Canada, announced the acquisition of the Sonder brand and intellectual property, including trademarks and domain names. The acquisition does not include Sonder's operational business. The new Sonder website is positioned as a 'curated, AI-powered guide,' leveraging TravelAI's memory infrastructure to provide personalized recommendations to users.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts released its second-quarter 2026 earnings, with U.S. RevPAR up 2% year-over-year, driven by improvements in occupancy and average daily rate. Global RevPAR declined 1% year-over-year, with international business down 6%. The company raised its full-year global RevPAR growth guidance to 0%-1% and announced adjustments to its loyalty program points redemption framework.
The Global Travel Confidence Index jointly released by Allianz Partners and Ipsos shows that AI has moved from experimentation to the mainstream, with 37% of American summer travelers using it to plan their vacations. Hoteliers are responding to this trend through tools such as generative AI and conversational assistants.
In response to travelers' evolving demands for flexibility and personalized experiences in loyalty programs, Laasie leverages AI and behavioral data to build a dual-track reward system for independent hotels, offering a choice between instant rewards and point accumulation to boost direct booking rates and customer retention.