Dive Brief:
- Expedia is using AI to acquire new traffic, enhance the traveler experience and better serve customers’ post-booking needs, CEO Ariane Gorin said on a Q1 2026 earnings call last week.
- "We handle more than 250 million service interactions a year with over half resolved through self-service," Gorin said. "More than 30% of those are powered by AI and that number keeps increasing."
- When the customer query has to be handed to a human agent, AI is shortening customer wait and handling times and enabling faster resolution. AI can generate conversation summaries in over 30 languages, providing agents with context during handoffs and getting them up to speed faster.
Dive Insight:
Expedia is tapping AI to execute on its priorities, which include delivering more value to travelers, investing in the greatest opportunities for growth, and driving operating efficiencies and margin expansion.
“We're using it to enhance the experience for our partners and the travelers that come to us directly and to acquire new traffic and market more effectively,” Gorin said.
The travel brand reported a strong start to the year. It grew overall bookings 13% year over year and consumer brands bookings by 10% year over year, according to an earnings release. Revenue increased 15% year over year to $3.4 billion. Expedia reported a net loss of $6 million, an improvement from the same period a year prior in which the travel company reported a $200 million net loss.
The company is applying AI to its personalization efforts to increase bookings.
“We're using data from hundreds of millions of travelers' interactions from shopping to reviews, servicing and more, to continuously improve our ranking and recommendation models,” Gorin said. “AI-powered conversational experiences provide even richer data and coupled with more advanced models enable us to uncover deeper patterns.”
Those investments in AI-powered personalization translated into higher conversation at Vrbo and record attach rates on Expedia, Gorin said. The two most widely adopted features are Expedia’s servicing agent and AI-powered filters, with travelers who use such filters returning more often and converting at higher rates.
Expedia’s servicing agent was especially helpful when war broke out between Iran, Israel and the United States.
“As flights were canceled across the Middle East, AI helped us handle surging volumes at speed, allowing our human agents to focus on more complex time-sensitive issues,” Gorin said. “This hybrid servicing platform combines intelligent automation, strong partnerships and human support to deepen travelers' trust so they know we always have their back.”
Expedia isn’t the only travel booking company investing in AI. Airbnb reported that its AI assistant resolved 40% of inquiries in its most recent quarter, and Booking.com is using AI to route customers to the best channel for resolution and provide human agents context on customers.
Expedia is also taking steps to acquire new customers via AI platforms. Answer Engine Optimization — the practice of structuring website content to be cited in AI-powered search results — is the brand’s fastest-growing channel, according to Gorin. The company integrated with ChatGPT early on and is now integrated and live with Claude.
“Traffic and bookings from AI-driven channels remain small but we're encouraged by the mix of new users, conversion and average purchase size,” Gorin said. “This is a long-term opportunity to reach a large engaged audience while diversifying our marketing investments.”
Expedia also expanded its loyalty program partnerships, launching exclusive partnerships with Bank of Montreal and Uber. Expedia hotels and lodging will now be shown in the Uber app, and Uber will also be available via the Expedia app. Active loyalty members were up mid-single digits, according to Gorin.
