Latest news with #onlineTravel
Skift
7 days ago
- Business
- Skift
MakeMyTrip's New AI Bet. Plus: Air India Suspends Washington DC Service
MakeMyTrip wants to be a superapp, just adding more offerings to its portfolio will not help it get there. Its Gen AI trip planner is the next big differentiator for the online travel company. In an upgrade to its existing AI agent Myra, MakeMyTrip has launched a Gen AI-enabled trip planning assistant. The tool will provide conversational assistance to travelers across each stage of travel planning including destination discovery, shopping, in-trip, and post-sales stages, the company said in a statement. Travelers will be able to use the new Gen AI trip planning assistant through voice and text. MakeMyTrip has currently launched the beta version of this tool in English and Hindi and is planning to expand it to multiple Indian languages. 'This will ensure that users across India who have previously been unable to book due to discomfort with the English language, will now be able to do so,' the company said in a statement. In an earnings call last month, MakeMyTrip Group CEO Rajesh Magow said that the company is betting on AI to stand out. 'We've seen a lot of promise coming out of Gen AI, and we've been investing significantly behind that, and we will continue to keep investing,' Magow said. 'We see it more as sort of leading the innovation through Gen AI, rather than overtly getting paranoid about potential disruption.' The Rise of AI: Multiple travel companies are using Generative AI and agentic AI to assist travelers in the booking process. Skift recently spoke to five online travel agencies in India to understand how they are using AI. According to MakeMyTrip, the differentiator for its upgraded planning assistant is that it goes beyond giving suggestions to customers. 'Multiple AI platforms globally stop at suggestions, Myra is taking a course that hasn't been attempted before by bridging the gap between inspiration and actual booking, letting users move from query to confirmed booking in one conversatio
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Activist investor Starboard Value discloses 9% stake in Tripadvisor
(Reuters) -Activist investor Starboard Value disclosed a 9% stake in online travel firm Tripadvisor, according to a filing submitted to U.S. regulatory authorities on Thursday. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNA
02-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Activist Starboard Value takes stake in online travel company Tripadvisor, stock jumps
Activist investor Starboard Value has built an over 9 per cent stake in online travel firm Tripadvisor, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. News of Starboard's stake, which is valued at roughly $160 million, pushed Tripadvisor's share price up 7 per cent in after hours trading. The company, which offers search tools to find and review hotels and restaurants, has seen its share price drop roughly 15 per cent in the last 12 months. In early 2024, Tripadvisor's board formed a special committee to explore options, including a possible sale. Tripadvisor and Starboard, which often presses for operational changes at its targets, did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Wednesday evening. Starboard is one of the industry's busiest activist investors, and its chief executive officer, Jeffrey Smith, recently joined the board of consumer healthcare company Kenvue, the maker of Band-Aids and Tylenol. The firm has also pushed for changes at pharmaceutical company Pfizer and design-software maker Autodesk. The Wall Street Journal reported Starboard will likely make a 13D regulatory filing as soon as Thursday, a requirement for asset managers whose holdings exceed 5 per cent in a particular company where they plan to push for changes.
Travel Weekly
23-06-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Booking Holdings: Travel Weekly
2024 sales: $166 billion Previous ranking: 1 Employees: 24,300 full-time 800 Connecticut Ave. Norwalk, CT 06854 Website $166 billion24,300 full-time800 Connecticut CT 06854 Executives EXECUTIVES CEO/DIRECTOR: Glenn Fogel EVP/CFO: Ewout Steenbergen EVP/GENERAL COUNSEL: Peter Millones CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER: Paulo Pisano COMPANY FACTS * Publicly held company. * Provides online travel and related services to consumers and local partners in more than 220 countries and territories with five primary consumer-facing brands: Priceline, Agoda, Kayak and OpenTable. * Subsidiary brands include Rocketmiles, Fareharbor, HotelsCombined, Cheapflights and Momondo. DEVELOPMENTS * Booked more than 1.1 billion room nights globally on its platforms. * Its platforms provided more than 29 million individual listings, facilitated almost 50 million flight tickets and booked 83 million car rental days. * Advanced its Connected Trip vision to create an easier, more personalized and responsive experience. * Further innovated its AI capabilities on its AI Trip Planner and Priceline's travel assistant (Penny) as well as on components of other brands. The company worked with leading generative AI organizations on their agentic developments (i.e., AI that has the ability to act autonomously, take initiative and pursue goals). * Expanded its merchant offerings, providing more flexibility and making it easier for travelers to pay and for partners to grow their businesses. * Grew its supply of homes and alternative accommodations, reaching 7.9 million by year's end. * Enhanced and expanded its Genius loyalty program, including into more travel verticals. LOOKING AHEAD * Continuing its mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world and advancing its long-term Connected Trip vision, melding different elements of travel, and enhancing its offerings for travelers and partners through advancements such as generative AI.
CNA
16-06-2025
- Business
- CNA
Agoda modifies 'problematic features' on website and app after competition watchdog raises concerns
SINGAPORE: Online travel agency Agoda has made changes to its Singapore website and mobile application due to concerns about its "problematic features" raised by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS). The features were related to Agoda's accommodation search and booking services that may have misled consumers. On Monday (Jun 16), the commission said: "Agoda has since voluntarily provided an undertaking and cooperated with CCCS to make changes to its website and mobile application to ensure that consumers get accurate and adequate information to consider before they make their purchases." THE PROBLEMATIC FEATURES CCCS said in its news release that some of the misleading features included the use of countdown timers and the presentation and ranking of search results. It listed five of them and what Agoda did to rectify them. 1. Agoda presented certain search results as 'Best Match', suggesting that such rankings were the most compatible results for its users based solely on their search criteria such as travel dates or the ratings of items listed. However, Agoda's search results from its algorithm also took into account its potential earnings when generating these results. The "best match" label has been replaced with "our picks", which highlights that these results are recommended by Agoda. 2. The "Agoda Preferred" badge appeared alongside certain properties listed, indicating that these listings have "a long-standing relationship with Agoda and meet specific criteria", making them "trusted and verified". However, Agoda did not provide enough information about the criteria and failed to mention that businesses pay Agoda extra for this badge. It has since updated its explanation to clarify that these properties do indeed pay more commission to get the badge. 3. The default ranking of search results could have led consumers to mistakenly believe that the listings were ordered solely based on their search criteria. However, as stated in Agoda's terms of use, accommodation providers can increase their visibility by paying Agoda through its 'Preferred Partner Program' or by sponsoring the listings. Agoda has modified its explainer statement to clarify that the specific placement of these accommodations is influenced by various factors, including payments made to Agoda. 4. Accommodations with the "cheapest x-star stay label" were not always the lowest-priced options when the search results are sorted by price for the same star-rating. Consumers may mistakenly believe that a labelled accommodation is the cheapest choice available when it may not be. \ The 'cheapest x-stay' label has been removed to avoid confusion. 5. Consumers using Agoda's website had a five-minute countdown timer while entering their details to finalise their accommodation booking. However, this could be extended to up to 20 minutes by clicking the 'I need more time' button. The original five-minute time limit could create a false sense of urgency, prompting consumers to rush to confirm their booking. The website's countdown timer has now been standardised to match the mobile app's time limit, increasing it from five to 20 minutes. In response to competition watchdog's' concerns, Agoda said: 'We appreciate the CCCS's guidance and have taken proactive steps to enhance transparency on our platforms. "We've already proactively implemented several improvements and we continue to enhance the user experience." CNA has asked if the changes applied were just for Singapore users or also included its users elsewhere. INFORMATION SHOULD BE "UPFRONT" In getting Agoda to take remedial action, CCCS said that user interface features rolled out by businesses may mislead or deceive consumers and these can be considered unfair trade practices under Singapore's fair trading laws. This means that these businesses may face enforcement action by the commission. Businesses should therefore design user interface to present options clearly and neutrally to consumers so that consumers may make well-informed choices. "Important and material information, particularly those relating to pricing, should be presented upfront and not be hidden in fine print," it added. "Statements regarding the practices and policies of a business should be clear and easily understood." CCCS' chief executive officer Alvin Koh said: "This is part of a series of actions we will take to improve the online commerce environment, where consumers may face undue pressure to complete their transactions, problematic website features or even 'dark patterns' such as misleading messages, and manipulative user interfaces. "In the coming months, CCCS will make it a point to educate consumers on identifying these misleading practices and how consumers can better protect themselves.'
