Sarah · Jul 25, 2026 · 2 min read
Airbnb's 2026 Summer Release adds car rentals, airport pickups, grocery delivery, boutique hotels, and FIFA World Cup Experiences — marking the company's most ambitious expansion beyond home-sharing to date.
Booking.com has added car rental search to its ChatGPT app and launched three AI tools covering post-booking support, review summaries, and smarter search filters.
At Explore 26, Expedia Group B2B unveiled its Intelligent Experience Platform — a composable AI toolkit letting partners build branded travel experiences on Expedia's supply infrastructure, signaling a major bet on agentic travel distribution.
Google's I/O 2026 announcements confirm the company's move from search intermediary to active travel booking platform — with Booking.com and Expedia among the first named OTA partners for direct hotel and flight booking in AI Mode.
Expedia Group has agreed to acquire CarTrawler, the Dublin B2B platform connecting 550+ car rental suppliers with 300+ travel brands, for approximately $350 million — its second B2B acquisition of 2026.
MakeMyTrip reported record gross bookings of $10.4 billion for FY2026, up 10.4% in constant currency, with operating profit growing 30% despite West Asia headwinds in Q4.
Airbnb data for summer 2026 shows one in four European travelers staying domestic, Sweden's median booking distance down 26% since 2023, and rural properties outperforming urban across Germany and France.
Agoda launched a multi-product checkout on May 18, allowing travelers to book hotels, flights, and activities in a single transaction, positioning the platform more directly against Expedia and Booking.com.
KAYAK has launched Ask AI, a conversational search tool that lets travelers plan trips through natural-language questions across flights, hotels, and car rentals. It is available to all users in the US, UK, and Canada.
MakeMyTrip's upgraded AI assistant now supports voice-driven bookings in eight languages, built-in payments, and passport OCR — handling entire trips without leaving the chat.
Expedia Group will webcast the opening session of its annual Explore 26 partner conference on May 19, featuring CEO Ariane Gorin and newly promoted B2B President Alfonso Paredes.
Airbnb will serve as the Official Lodging Partner for five NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports racetracks during the 2027 season, with listings surfaced directly on participating track websites.