hoteltech.news July 29, 2026
OTAsPublished July 27, 20261 min read

Booking's connected trip never took off, and AI is now the threat

JSBy Joan SanzCurated by Joan Sanz. · July 27, 2026 · Follow on LinkedIn
Voice reading · ~1 min

Booking Holdings launched its 'connected trip' vision seven years ago, promising to integrate every step of travel into one platform. But as HospitalityNet reports, true integration never came. Now agentic AIIA agenticaAgentic AI is a system that does not just answer, it acts on its own to reach a goal. It searches, compares, books and pays without a person steering every step. In travel it threatens to sit between the guest and the... threatens to deliver that same vision for competing platforms.

My take: this is a wake-up call for hoteliers who have outsourced too much to OTAsOTAAn online travel agency is a channel that sells accommodation and travel online in exchange for a commission. Booking.com and Expedia are the biggest. They bring volume and visibility, but charge commissions that eat.... The real opportunity lies in building your own connected trip using AI to own the guest data and control the direct experience from booking to in-stay. Hotels that invest in direct distribution and AI will win.

Quick questions

What is Booking's connected trip?
It's the idea of linking flight, hotel, car, and activities into a single seamless experience within the Booking platform.
Why did it never materialize?
Because Booking never truly integrated the services beyond listing them as add-ons, lacking a unified user experience.
How does AI threaten this vision?
Agentic AI can automatically coordinate all travel components for the user, enabling any platform to execute the connected trip without a single OTA.
What should hoteliers do about it?
Invest in their own tech stack, collect first-party data, and use AI to craft personalized direct experiences that compete with OTAs.
Is this an opportunity or a threat?
It's an opportunity: hotels can leapfrog by focusing on direct booking and AI, reducing reliance on intermediaries like Booking.

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