Expedia Says Travelers Plan With AI Agents but Book Direct

Travelers increasingly rely on artificial intelligence assistants to plan their trips. Bookings made through those agents have yet to catch up.

CEO Ariane Gorin said on Expedia Group’s third-quarter earnings call that “agentic AI’s real strength is in discovery.” People still want to book with a trusted brand, she said, “where they know that they’ll be taken care of if something goes wrong.”

Agent traffic is high intent, and third-party data shows Expedia leading in citation share in the U.S. The economics of these partnerships are still being worked out, the company said. Gorin said that agent traffic does not appear to cut into direct traffic. She said it is either incremental or taken from other paid channels. She added that the volume is too small to draw conclusions.

Expedia partnered with Google in AI Mode and announced an integration with Meta Muse. Gorin said it was expected to go live in the U.S. during the call. Muse gets access to Expedia prices and content. It can complete a booking or send the traveler to Expedia. The company is also testing OpenAI’s new ad products.

Expedia said its agentic voice experience on Vrbo resolved over 15% of inbound contacts in its first two months. Gorin said it raised satisfaction scores at a lower cost.