Skift

Skift Take: Airbnb has courted business travelers for a decade, but corporate bookings mostly happened off to the side, through referral deals and workarounds. Letting Perk tap its API puts live Airbnb listings inside a corporate booking tool for what Perk says is the first time. Rival travel management companies are undoubtedly on the way.

Skift Take: The Middle East is a small slice of most hotel chains’ revenue but a bigger part of their pipelines. So far, they’re holding to their development plans, even as a second weak peak season looms.

Skift Take: Expedia’s 2026 deals are a fraction of the nearly $6 billion it spent in 2015. But three acquisitions in nine months, plus CEO Ariane Gorin’s pledge to keep investing, signal that Expedia is a buyer again. And B2B is where the money is going.

Skift Take: Travel brands invest deeply in AI visibility, but according to Skift's audit of 50 major travel websites' crawler policies, few tell bots where to go — and the directives don't always match who actually gets in. That looks like a shaky starting point, as the rules of AI engagement change.

Skift Take: Adriana Cisneros sees an opportunity for Venezuela to build a distinctive, conservation-minded tourism industry before the international hotel brands arrive. Whether that vision becomes reality will depend on political stability, security, and crucially, the choices made by the country's tourism leadership.