The second booking: Your regular can earn points at your hotel. The program decides where she books. - Points programs for independent hotels give a guest a reason to return, but each one decides where she must book to earn and what your hotel is paid when she spends them.

Nov 4, 2026 • Hospitality

Booking Holdings' best quarter of 2026 came with a $1 billion charge - Room nights rose 7% to 345 million, the fastest growth of 2026, but a $900 million revenue cut and a $100 million charge for an FTC case over a Priceline partner whose ads looked like hotels' own pushed reported revenue down 1%.

Nov 4, 2026 • Hospitality

Agoda plugged its own AI into Meta's agent. Your hotel is now two AIs away from the guest. - Since October 28, Meta's Muse can book hotels in Singapore and Japan through Agoda's own AI assistant, while the Expedia hotel booking promised for the US in September is still listed as coming soon.

Nov 4, 2026 • Hospitality

AI was supposed to kill hotel price comparison. Trivago just grew 15% in Europe. - trivago's revenue from hotel clicks rose 15% in Europe and the Americas last quarter. AI still brings Booking Holdings less than 1% of its room nights..

Nov 4, 2026 • Hospitality

Booking.com now takes bookings on WhatsApp - Booking.com has made WhatsApp a booking channel in India and named Kakao, LINE and WeChat as candidates for next, moving into the apps where many independents still answer guests by hand.

Nov 4, 2026 • Hospitality