Large AI models won’t become merchants of record, says Booking.com

The company expects a structural advantage in completing transactions and keeping travelers inside its agentic environment

Booking Holdings views artificial intelligence as a way to expand digital travel demand rather than threaten its core business. The company believes large horizontal AI models will inspire and generate leads but will stop short of completing transactions, meaning they will not become merchants of record. This gap positions Booking.com and its brands to control the full trip experience, from planning and booking to service and post-trip engagement, strengthening wallet share and brand loyalty.

Key takeaways

• AI inspires but does not transact: Large AI models are expected to generate leads and recommendations but avoid becoming merchants of record, creating a handoff advantage for platforms like Booking.com.
• Vertical agent experience: Booking Holdings aims to keep travelers inside a unified agentic environment where inspiration, itinerary planning, booking, and support are delivered end-to-end.
• Offline-to-online conversion: AI-driven automation is expected to accelerate digital adoption among offline travelers, expanding the total addressable market.
• Channel diversification: Paid acquisition will span multiple large language model ecosystems rather than a single dominant search engine, reducing dependency and increasing reach.
• Marketing optimization: Booking will rely on its long-standing machine learning capabilities to optimize performance marketing spend across more diversified channels.
• Strategic investment priorities: Expansion capital will support attractions, advertising, OpenTable, and Asian product development to sustain global positioning.
• Generative AI experimentation: The company is testing varied AI tools within its products to understand which trip-planning and service innovations earn real traction over time.

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