Chesky notes North American nights booked grew at their fastest pace in four years, with more repeat and first-time guests.

"In North America, nights booked grew at their fastest pace in four years," Chesky said. "We're also seeing more guests return to Airbnb, and more people try it for the first time."

Chesky argues chatbots are the wrong interface for travel planning and says Airbnb is building a custom AI-native, generative-UI-like experience.

"Perhaps most importantly, we're building a new interface specifically for travel," Chesky said. "We don't think the traditional chatbot is the right way to plan travel. It's the wrong interface. So what we are doing is developing a custom-designed AI-native experience that responds to what guests are looking for … This is going to feel a little bit like generative UI in the sense that it's going to offer up the right interface at the right time for your specific travel needs."

Chesky believes specialization will win on complex tasks, and that specialized agents must be multiples better than general ones to overcome switching costs.

I think as they get really, really complicated, specialization is going to win. Now, the chat agent can hand over to a specialized agent, but a lot of people are going to go direct to the specialized agent

Chesky sees third-party AI agents as a discovery opportunity rather than a threat, noting bookings from them are currently immaterial.

My general philosophy on agents are, I'm generally excited about them. I don't see them as a threat. I see them kind of like Google as an opportunity for more people to discover Airbnb.

Chesky says hotels are growing much faster than the core business and will undoubtedly generate multiple billions in revenue in coming years.

Hotels are growing markedly faster than our core business. That's not to say our core business is growing slow. It's just hotels are a $900 billion market off of a very, very tiny base. I certainly don't want to put any like projections out there or forecast. But it's undoubtable that we will do multiple billions of dollars in revenue in hotels in the coming years.

Chesky says the hotel industry's reception was a complete 180, now viewing Airbnb as an ally that brings a new, Gen Z-heavy audience.

I think hotels suddenly saw Airbnb as a major ally. They really love the way they were merchandised. They love the fact that we were entirely new audience. We were disproportionately Gen Z.

Chesky calls pricing, especially AI-tuned dynamic pricing, one of Airbnb's biggest levers, with a win-win of lower prices and higher host income.

pricing is probably one of the biggest levers we have, certainly dynamic pricing.

Chesky says Airbnb is absolutely looking at a loyalty program, which becomes more compelling as more verticals are added.

we are absolutely looking at a loyalty program. We've been looking at it for a long time. I think I've said for a long time, the best loyalty program is plus customers loving your product.

Chesky says AI has sped up product shipping by about 70% and resolved roughly 40% of support issues without humans, cutting support cost per booking over 17%.

I believe AI is one of the best things to ever happen to Airbnb.

Chesky said Airbnb is reaccelerating growth, which is rare for a marketplace of its size.

It’s rare for a marketplace of our size to reaccelerate growth, but that’s exactly what we’re doing,

Chesky says AI is one of the best things to happen to Airbnb, speeding product shipping and cutting support costs.

I believe AI is one of the best things to ever happen to Airbnb. And I want to give you a few examples of what we're doing with it.

Chesky argues general-purpose AI agents won't dominate travel planning because it is aspirational and complex.

I don't think people are going to use one AI agent for everything. You see today's AI agents like Muse and Instinct are good at simple routine tasks like making a restaurant reservation or scheduling an appointment. But planning a trip is different. Travel is aspirational.

Chesky says Airbnb will launch a custom AI-native travel agent with specialized interfaces in the first half of 2027 instead of a chatbot.

We don't think the traditional chatbot is the right way to plan travel. It's the wrong interface. So what we are doing is developing a custom-designed, AI native experience to respond to what guests are looking for.

Chesky doubts a single chatbot will become the front page orchestrating all apps, saying that would require OS-level control.

I don't think there will be 1 chatbot that's like Google in the front page, and it is the orchestra conductor for every other app. I'll tell you a couple of reasons why that I don't think that will happen. The first problem is if that were to exist, I think it would have to exist at the operating system level

Chesky expects Airbnb's hotel business to generate multiple billions in revenue in coming years.

hotels are a $900 billion market off of a very, very tiny base. I certainly don't want to put any like projections out there or forecast. But it's undoubtable that we will do multiple billions of dollars in revenue in hotels in the coming years.

Chesky calls dynamic pricing a massive lever that can lower prices yet raise host earnings through higher occupancy.

pricing is probably one of the biggest levers we have, certainly dynamic pricing. ... if you just charge like $10 less, you'll make enough more bookings that you'll actually make a lot more in the long run because your occupancy is much higher

Chesky says Airbnb is actively considering a loyalty program, made more compelling by added verticals.

we are absolutely looking at a loyalty program. I don't have anything to announce, but I can say that as we add more verticals, we just have a lot more to work with. So adding verticals make loyalty program more compelling.

Chesky says third-party AI agents currently drive negligible traffic and bookings, and he views them as opportunities rather than threats.

we're not seeing a lot of traffic in even fewer bookings from Muse and Instinct, yet. We do have nearly 0.5 million bookings a day and a very nonmaterial number of bookings happen on Muse and Instinct.

Chesky sees social travel features as a hugely underestimated opportunity and plans more in 2027.

we thought what if we brought back the social graph, but instead of being an online social graph, it was a social graph in the real world of the people you travel with and the people you meet along the way of your travels. ... we are going to be launching a lot more social features and social connected features next year.

Chesky says sponsored listings will be developed within the AI agent context after the agent launches.

we are developing sponsor listings, but they'll be developed in the context of the AI agent. So we first need to launch the AI agent. We need to refine it, and then we figure out how ads work in that new world.

Chesky argues general-purpose AI agents handle routine tasks well but travel planning is aspirational and discovery is part of the experience, so Airbnb is building its own agent.

Today’s AI agents like Muse and Instinct are good at simple routine tasks like making a restaurant reservation or scheduling an appointment. But planning a trip is different. Travel is aspirational. Discovering where to go and where to stay is part of the experience.

Chesky says Airbnb's agent will use generative-UI-style travel-specific components rather than text-heavy chat, and will launch in the first half of 2027.

What we are doing is developing a custom-designed AI-native experience that responds to what guests are looking for. So instead of relying on traditional chat alone, which is very text-heavy — which, again, is definitely not the way you should plan travel, our agent draws from a library of hundreds of travel-specific interface components — maps, photos, comparisons, calendars, itineraries — and composes them in real time to match what they’re looking for.

Chesky says Airbnb has reaccelerated growth, with Q3 its fastest revenue growth in over three years.

Airbnb is back in growth mode. It’s rare for a marketplace of our size to reaccelerate growth, but that’s exactly what we’re doing. Q3 was our fastest revenue growth in more than three years,

Chesky said Airbnb sees little traffic and even fewer bookings from the Muse and Instinct AI agents so far.

We’re not seeing a lot of traffic, and even fewer bookings, from Muse and Instinct yet

Chesky does not view AI agents as a threat but as a discovery channel like Google that can bring more people to Airbnb.

I see them kind of like Google, as an opportunity for more people to discover Airbnb.

Chesky argued that travel planning is part of the experience, so most people won't want to hand it entirely to an agent.

Travel is aspirational. Discovering where to go and where to stay is part of the experience.

Chesky argues general-purpose AI agents are ill-suited to trip planning because travel discovery is aspirational, which is why Airbnb is building its own AI travel agent.

Today's AI agents, like [Meta's AI agent] Muse and [invite-only AI assistant] Instinct, are good at simple routine tasks like making a restaurant reservation or scheduling an appointment. But planning a trip is different. Travel is aspirational. Discovering where to go and where to stay is part of the experience… I don't think the general-purpose agents are the best to do that. That is why we are building our own AI agent.

Chesky describes an agent that dynamically generates custom interfaces for tasks like car rental and inviting co-travellers, moving beyond a pure chat experience.

If you want a car rental, the agent generates this little UI of a car, and it's [presented] beautifully in a custom-generated interface. If you want to invite co-travellers, the agent helps you.

Chesky says Airbnb's own AI travel agent benefits from two decades of data and control over the booking process, including payments, changes and support.

Regarding our self-built AI travel agent: We believe there are three key advantages. First, we understand our own market best, with nearly 20 years of data. Second, we control the booking process itself, including payments, changes, and customer support protection.

Nassetta says Hilton's business is powered by a 'C-shaped' economy in which lower and middle segments catch up with the high end, driven by tax policy, regulation and AI.

Here in the United States, there was a bunch of factors that to me [last year] were undeniably going to strengthen our business and to a C-shaped economy, where the lower end of the business and the middle of the business was going to come up and meet the high end of the business in terms of growth. Those drivers were very favorable tax policy, very favorable regulatory policy, and AI,

Nassetta cautiously expects China to stabilize and see modest improvement from a low base.

We have already seen China stabilizing, and expect some modest but fundamental improvement from the current low level.

Original (zh)

我们已经看到中国企稳，有望从当前低位出现一些不算大、但基础的改善。

Gorin argues AI agents will ease shopping around but cannot replace the trust, content accuracy and customer service that Expedia provides at booking.

"People were already shopping across a number of places, so the agent can do that in a much easier way," Gorin said. "But when it comes to actually booking — being confident that the content that you're getting is right, the amenities are right, the price is right, if something goes wrong, someone's going to actually either solve it for you, answer the phone, be there for you — I don't think those agents are going to do it for you, and that's why people trust Expedia and come to us."

Gorin says Expedia is working with all AI agents to ensure visibility and integrations in AI-driven results.

Gorin said Expedia is "working with all of the agents" to make sure it surfaces in AI results, to understand how the agents get information and to make sure that the company has the necessary integrations.

Gorin attributes the softer Q4 guidance to geopolitics, midterm elections and a shifted fall sale rather than weaker consumers.

Gorin attributed the "moderation" in Expedia's fourth-quarter guidance to "geopolitical events in the Middle East and Europe," the midterm elections and the company moving its fall sale from the fourth quarter to the third quarter.

Gorin argues that even as AI platforms take over discovery, the complexity of supply, payments and service keeps trust, scale and reliability as Expedia's differentiators.

What we are seeing is that while discovery is spreading across AI assistance, search, and social platforms, the hard parts of travel are not getting any easier. Connecting to global supply across multiple lines of business with accurate prices. Handling bookings and payments, standing behind bookings, and fixing problems when plans change. That complexity is where trust is earned.

Gorin says agentic AI is strong at discovery but travelers still prefer to complete bookings with trusted brands.

So far, what we are seeing is that Agentic AI's real strength is in discovery, but that when it comes to bookings, people still want to book with a trusted brand where they know that they will be taken care of if something goes wrong, they know they can trust the content and the prices and the like.

Gorin says agentic traffic is tiny but high quality, and does not appear to cannibalize direct traffic.

As you say, it is agentic traffic is very small so far. We think it is high we see it as high quality traffic. We do not see it as impacting the direct traffic. I think it is, you know, it is either incremental or it is taken from other paid channels.

Gorin says Expedia will test new AI ad products, accepting lower initial returns, and expects many to become major channels.

I think it is important as there are new products that come out on the market to be to take the posture of testing, being willing to maybe accept some returns that are not as high as more established products that are more optimized. And that is our approach across the board as some of these new AI services come out with new products. We will be you know, testing and learning. And then over time, I believe many of these will become big channels for us.

Gorin says AI is cutting service costs and speeding development, citing Vrbo's agent resolving over 15% of contacts and a hotel onboarding agent built in under a quarter.

In servicing, we released our new agentic experience on Vrbo, And already in the first 2 months, it is effectively resolving over 15% of inbound contacts. Driving higher satisfaction scores at a lower cost. AI is also enabling us to accelerate product development. Our new autonomous hotel onboarding agent was built in less than a quarter by a small focused team.

Gorin frames the B2B addressable market as the over-$3 trillion travel market excluding supplier-direct and the largest OTAs.

At the highest level, the way I think about the size of the DVD travel market is you take the overall travel market, which is over $3 trillion you remove from that sort of all of supplier direct. You remove from that couple of the biggest OTAs in the world, and you say, all of the rest is the addressable market for b 2 b.

Gorin says Expedia's B2B infrastructure positions it to supply agents that want to offer travel booking themselves.

If there are agents who say, you know what? We wanna be the provider ourselves, of travel booking rather than being a demand channel for existing travel brands, we clearly are well positioned to be able to do that.

Gorin views fragmentation of top-of-funnel traffic as beneficial for Expedia.

And, you know, to the extent that there is more fragmentation at the top of the funnel, that is a good thing for us.

Gorin said US consumers remained strong in both domestic travel and outbound trips to Europe and Asia.

"The US consumer was strong both in domestic travel and in outbound to Europe and Asia," CEO Ariane Gorin told Reuters.

Gorin attributed the softer fourth-quarter outlook to the US midterm elections and unrest in the Middle East and Europe.

Gorin pinned moderation in the fourth-quarter forecast on the US midterm elections and unrest in the Middle East and Europe.

Gorin noted that Europeans traveled more domestically than on long-haul outbound trips.

In Europe people traveled more domestically than long-haul outbound, Gorin noted.

Gorin said agentic AI is strongest at trip discovery, while travelers still prefer to book with trusted brands that will take care of them if something goes wrong.

agentic AI’s real strength is in discovery.

Gorin argued travelers want to book with a trusted brand that will support them when problems arise.

where they know that they’ll be taken care of if something goes wrong.

Gorin said Expedia has strengthened its marketplace while using AI as a force multiplier to innovate faster and operate more efficiently.

as a force multiplier

Fogel said Booking Holdings is testing AI across the whole traveler journey and scaling the capabilities that deliver the most value.

We are actively testing AI across the traveler journey, learning from real-world usage and scaling the capabilities that create the most value for travelers and partners.

Fogel argued that combining AI assistants with Booking's live inventory and booking capabilities turns trip recommendations into seamless bookings.

These experiences show the difference between recommending a trip and actually enabling someone to book it seamlessly. Whether it's comparing locations, photos, room choices and prices, we can combine the ease of an AI assistant with the information, live inventory, booking capabilities and service of our platforms.

Fogel described Lola and Vayo as testing grounds for new AI capabilities that will be applied across Booking Holdings.

These platforms are testing grounds where we can explore new AI capabilities, iterate quickly and apply what we learn across Booking Holdings.

Fogel warned that geopolitical and macro uncertainty could affect near-term travel trends, while Booking stays focused on long-term investment and making travel easier.

While geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty may affect near-term travel trends, we remain focused on making travel easier, helping our partners succeed, and investing in our business for the long term,

Fogel says AI makes this the most transformational period for industries since the Industrial Revolution, especially for travel distribution.

We believe this is the most transformational time for industries since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Particularly in travel distribution, AI is opening up new ways for people to discover, plan, book and manage travel.

Fogel sees fragmentation of travel discovery across AI agents as positive, potentially lowering customer acquisition costs.

I believe this is actually a wonderful thing that there could be much more of a fragmentation of the way people are beginning their discovery that enables us to actually be able to obtain customers at a lower cost.

Fogel warns that complex regulation, especially in Europe, may slow adoption of horizontal personal AI agents.

I think there's parts of the world where the adoption of these horizontal personal agents may be much slower than is anticipated.

Fogel says the EU DMA changes to Google search have not yet produced a visible advantage for Booking.

We -- right now, we don't see any great advantage from this change. Obviously, it's early, et cetera. We haven't seen anything in terms of numbers change.

Fogel argues that delivering more value to travelers and AI agents will yield a long-term competitive advantage for OTAs.

you got to provide more value, whether it be to a human traveler or to the agent, such that the agent, we want that agent or that person to be using us, looking at our stuff, going through us, transacting with us. If we are able to do that, in the long run, we will have a competitive advantage.

Fogel says Booking would be better positioned if horizontal agents adopt monetization similar to its own model.

if these horizontal agents do go down the route of some type of monetization that is not dissimilar to what we have been doing over the last 2 decades, we will be even in a better position.

Fogel commits to improving the Genius loyalty program to deliver more value to travelers and partners.

We are going to improve Genius. It's going to be an even better program down the road. I absolutely believe, and as I said earlier, I said it several times now, the issue, the importance of providing value, providing value to that traveler and it's also value to the partner.

Fogel said resilient travel demand and disciplined execution drove double-digit bookings growth, and that Booking keeps investing in AI to reshape how travellers discover, plan and book trips.

Chief Executive Glenn Fogel said resilient travel demand and disciplined execution supported double-digit gross bookings growth and 17% growth in adjusted earnings per share during the quarter. He added that the company continued to invest in artificial intelligence as it develops new ways for travellers to discover, plan and book trips.

Glenn Fogel said that despite geopolitical and economic uncertainty, underlying travel demand remained resilient.

the underlying desire to travel remained resilient.

Capuano said Marriott's demand in the U.S. and Canada was broad-based across customer segments and chain scales.

Anthony Capuano, president and chief executive officer, said demand was broad-based across customer segments and chain scales in the U.S. and Canada.

Capuano says the Bonvoy loyalty program deepens guest relationships, drives direct bookings for owners and is a key reason owners and developers join Marriott.

Marriott Bonvoy deepens our relationships with guests, drives valuable direct bookings for our owners, and is a key reason owners and developers choose to join the Marriott system.

Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano said business trends in the Middle East, despite the war's impact, have improved meaningfully since the spring.

trends improved meaningfully

Capuano said trends in Marriott's Middle East business, hurt by the war, improved meaningfully compared with spring.

Even in the Middle East, where the war has affected its business, CEO Anthony Capuano said that “trends improved meaningfully” from the spring.

Capuano said the Middle East conflict still weighed on regional results, but trends improved meaningfully versus the second quarter.

“While the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continued to impact results in that region, trends improved meaningfully from the second quarter,”

Capuano says AI is mainly reshaping travel discovery for now, with the impact on bookings moving more slowly, though he expects profound effects across industries.

I continue to be a firm believer that AI is going to profoundly impact virtually every industry, certainly the travel vertical. In some ways, we're in the early innings of AI's entry into travel. Right now, our view is that AI is largely reshaping travel discovery. That doesn't mean at some point it won't have a similar impact on bookings, but that piece seems to be moving more slowly.

Capuano says Marriott will keep pushing conversions and sees its early mid-scale expansion, near 600 hotels, as a big opportunity.

We have built this supertanker that is really built to take advantage of the wide range of conversion opportunities that are out there, and we intend to continue to stand on that accelerator. The last thing I would say to you is, as we have discussed, we are in our relative infancy of entering the mid-scale tier. It is going great. Between open and pipeline, we are already approaching 600 hotels in the system, but it is early.

Capuano says key money has become the competitive weapon in conversions, and deals using it yield a higher per-room value premium (about 75% this year).

Whether we like it or not, key money seems to be the weapon of choice against that competitive landscape. If you look at all the deals we did in calendar 2025, the deals where Marriott participated with key money had an average value premium per room of about 65%. Year to date through the first three quarters this year, those deals where we deployed key money had an average premium per room of about 75%.

Capuano assumes ongoing Middle East travel disruption with gradual 2027 improvement, while noting no abnormal pipeline fallout.

We're currently assuming ongoing travel disruption with some gradual improvement during the course of 2027. I wish I had a better crystal ball. It's obviously a highly volatile situation. What I will tell you is we are not seeing fallout from the pipeline, whether it be in the Middle East or on a global basis, that is anywhere close to outside what we have experienced around the world in normal circumstances.

Capuano raised 2026 global RevPAR growth guidance to 4.5%-5%, citing remarkably robust travel demand despite geopolitical uncertainty.

We are raising our full year 2026 guidance. We now expect 4.5%-5% global RevPAR growth. This is well above the 1.5%-2.5% growth range we initially forecast on our year-end 2025 earnings call, as travel demand has been remarkably robust this year despite geopolitical uncertainty.

Capuano notes US/Canada new-build starts are up 20% while global starts are down about 24%, underscoring the importance of conversions.

The new build construction starts in the U.S. and Canada, last year were up about 7% versus the prior year. Through the first three quarters this year, new build construction starts are up 20% year over year. Globally, which I think was the second part of your question, year to date through the first three quarters of the year, new build construction starts were down about 24%.

Capuano said Q3 growth exceeded prior expectations because travel demand stayed remarkably robust this year despite geopolitical uncertainty.

travel demand has been remarkably robust this year, despite geopolitical uncertainty

Capuano attributed leisure RevPAR growth to consumers worldwide continuing to prioritize in-person experiences such as travel.

as people around the world continue to prioritize in-person experiences like travel

Capuano said conversions remain an important growth driver, accounting for over a third of signings and more than 40% of openings.

continued to be an important driver of growth

Capuano said the Middle East conflict still weighs on regional results, though trends have improved meaningfully since the second quarter.

Chief Executive Anthony Capuano said the conflict in the Middle East continued to affect results in that region, but trends "improved meaningfully from the second quarter."

Ed Bastian criticized Heathrow's plan to move Delta to Terminal 4 in 2028, separating it from Virgin Atlantic, as short-sighted and harmful to consumers.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian called the decision short-sighted, deeply disappointing and bad for airline consumers.

Bastian argues that Heathrow's plan to split Delta from Virgin Atlantic undermines years of investment and the integrated customer benefits of their co-located terminal, calling the decision deeply disappointing and short-sighted.

Separating our operation undermines years of investment and disregards the tightly integrated customer benefits that we offer in our co-located terminal

Ed Bastian criticized Heathrow's plan to move Delta to Terminal 4 away from partner Virgin Atlantic as short-sighted and harmful to consumers.

Chief Executive Ed Bastian called the decision short-sighted, deeply disappointing and bad for airline consumers.

Ed Bastian criticized Heathrow's plan to move Delta to Terminal 4 as short-sighted and harmful to airline consumers, saying Delta would pursue all available remedies.

Chief Executive Ed Bastian called Heathrow's decision short-sighted and said it was bad for airline consumers.

Bastian criticized Heathrow's decision to move Delta away from Virgin Atlantic as short-sighted and harmful to consumers.

Heathrow Airport Limited’s decision to relocate Delta’s operation to Terminal 4, away from our partner Virgin Atlantic, is short-sighted, deeply disappointing and bad for airline consumers

Bastian said Delta will pursue all available remedies, including possible legal action, and urged Heathrow to reconsider.

We are committed to preserving the seamless travel experience for which Delta and Virgin Atlantic are known and will pursue all available remedies to correct this decision. We urge Heathrow Airport Limited to reconsider their decision in favor of a more prudent and thoughtful outcome that puts travelers first and allows competition to flourish at Heathrow.