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Booking.com took Airbnb’s homes. Airbnb took Booking’s employees to take their hotels. Booking Holdings: $26.9B revenue in 2025. Airbnb: $12.2B revenue in 2025. Until now, they were two completely… | Ashkhen Gevondyan

🏠 Booking.com and Airbnb are converging in the travel industry. By 2025, Booking's revenue will reach $26.9B, and Airbnb's $12.2B. Booking.com's home listings total 8.6M, close to Airbnb's 9M. From 2019 to 2025, Booking.com will increase its share in Airbnb's home market from 25% to 36%. Cities like New York, Barcelona, and Paris are imposing regulations that impact Airbnb's short-term rentals. Airbnb hired Lou Zameryka, a former 20-year Booking.com executive, to lead its hotel expansion.
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TikTok Introduces Local Feed for Small Businesses | Tim van der Wiel posted on the topic | LinkedIn

📲 TikTok has launched a Local Feed, transforming how small businesses connect with users. This new feature benefits local establishments like restaurants and gyms by providing a dedicated tab for visibility, countering the previous preference for large advertisers. For Gen Z, TikTok replaces traditional search methods, acting as a platform for discovering local services. This shift, noted by Tim van der Wiel, highlights TikTok's growing influence in local commerce and user behavior. #TikTokShop #eCommerce
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#itbberlin #hoteltech #berlin #hospitality #revenuemanagement #guestexperience #hotelautomation | Nicolas Vorsteher

🏨 Berlin hotels achieved their best year with 30.6 million overnight stays and an ADR of €187. Despite a 12.6% payroll increase and a 7.9% revenue rise, only 16 cents per new euro reached the profit line, indicating a systems issue. Automation, not staffing, drove success. Upper Upscale hotels captured 73% of new supply. Attend ITB Berlin from March 3-5 at Hall 7.1C, Stand 116 to explore effective strategies. Coffee’s on the house! ☕
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❌ Every night, restaurants and hotels lose money the moment guests walk out the door. Not because the experience wasn’t good. But because the relationship stops there. Meanwhile, e-commerce brands… | Alice POLACK

🍴 Hospitality often loses customer engagement post-visit, unlike e-commerce, which excels in anticipation, automation, and follow-up. To enhance loyalty, hospitality should adopt a three-step approach: think like e-commerce before, during, and after visits; shift from mass marketing to editorial intimacy using guest data for personalized communication; and transition to conversational marketing via WhatsApp and direct messages. Implementing automation, personalisation, and conversational tools can transform guest loyalty into emotional continuity.
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Your staff already knows what’s confusing your guests. Nobody asks them. Ask your team two questions: 1. “What’s the one thing guests ask that you wish they already knew?” 2. “What’s something you… | Kay Walten | 13 comments

📑 Two key questions reveal what confuses guests. Ask your team: 1) What do guests ask that they should already know? 2) What do you do that's not in any handbook? Sort answers into three columns. Column 1: Guests lack prior info like checkout times. Column 2: Space or process causes confusion like signage. Column 3: Promised amenities not matching reality. Start with Column 1 for quick fixes. The "Napkin Test" is an easy, no-cost way to improve guest experience.
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For the last fifteen years, the smartest money chased software, but I think we’re about to see smart money shift to hospitality. Here’s why: As AI flattens digital differentiation and tech becomes… | Zach Busekrus | 10 comments

🏨 Accor announced the expansion of Orient Express, emphasizing experience over software. LVMH became a strategic partner, shifting focus to brand equity through trains, yachts, and historic properties. As AI commoditizes tech, immersive brands gain importance. The move signals a shift toward narrative-rich hospitality experiences. Accor’s strategy is highlighted in a discussion by Ben Wolff, Scott Eddy, and Edwin Kramer on "This Week in Hospitality.
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#travel #ai #traveltech #distribution #tripadvisor #futureoftravel #digitaltransformation | Louis-Hippolyte Bouchayer

🌍 Tripadvisor, dominant for 20 years, faces a critical moment. New players redefine the travel space: Google predicts intent, Expedia monetizes demand, Booking.com masters conversion, Airbnb creates emotional connections, and platforms like Instagram and TikTok revolutionize user-generated content. Despite holding vast travel data, Tripadvisor remains static in a dynamic, AI-driven world. The challenge: adapt or risk obsolescence. Can Tripadvisor innovate to meet traveler demands for intelligent, personalized experiences? Reinvention is essential.
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AI in 2026: Where we’re placing our bets

💻 Prosus Global Head of AI, Euro Beinat, shares five AI trends for 2026. Ahmed Mohamed highlights AI implementation challenges due to unsuitable work environments. Ioannis Zempekakis explains grading AI agents from junior to senior. On February 5th, AI House Amsterdam hosts a discussion on agentic AI. Floris Fok explains building AI agents in less than 10 minutes. Prosus seeks a Senior MLOps Engineer to scale LLM systems.
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What Expedia Says About the Coming Agentic Travel Fight | Adriana Lee

📈 Expedia's latest annual filing highlights the significant threat posed by generative and agentic AI. If unable to integrate advanced AI, Expedia fears losing market share, experiencing reduced direct-booking rates, and incurring higher marketing costs. The rapid AI adoption intensifies competition, with a potential shift in consumer behavior toward AI-driven platforms where Expedia might lack presence. These challenges reflect the growing importance of AI in the travel industry landscape.
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