Earnings season has begun which means the PhocusWire team is working hard to bring you first quarter 2026 numbers and analysis from major travel brands.
Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel is never short of something to say and our report on the company's Q1 earnings was our most popular read this week. Comments delivered by Fogel and CFO Ewout Steenbergen Tuesday focused on positioning the company’s own artificial intelligence (AI) efforts as a moat against the wider AI platforms.
News of Uber adding hotels to its lineup also attracted significant attention. The company announced it is offering accommodations through a partnership with Expedia Group, with short-term rental (STR) inventory to come later this year.
The move provoked reaction from across the industry on Uber’s strategy especially around its Uber One membership program.
We also looked at some of the challenges facing the STR sector with an article on business model evolution. With pressure from the larger players and platforms, smaller companies are creating alternative models to address high commisions and customer ownership.
A further story on vacation rentals focused on vibe coding. At the recent Short Stay Summit in London, Casago CEO Steve Schwab advised smaller operators to avoid vibe coding unless they’re sure of the outcome.
An opinion piece from Boom’s Shahar Goldboim was timely as it looked at the complexity of operating a rental business and whether property managers should really be stepping into AI-assisted programming.
Prashant Shah, VP of product management at Galileo Financial Technologies, argues travel loyalty programs must use payments data beyond credit cards to identify and retain high-value customers.
Shahar Goldboim, CEO and founder of Boom, argues that while vibe coding gives short-term rental operators more flexibility, the real opportunity lies in AI systems that can execute reliably without turning operators into system architects.
The company said its platform has expanded in the past year to manage data from programs representing more than $5 billion in enterprise travel and expense spend. Read More
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