The travel industry's AI pilot era is officially over  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Read online Travel's AI Bets The travel industry's AI pilot era is officially over GOOD DAY, READERS. At the Skift Data + AI Summit in New York on Wednesday, the message from AI leaders across travel was consistent: the pilot era is over. Across sessions — from Hilton, Marriott, Expedia, Booking.com, Priceline, Amex GBT, and more — the debates have moved from whether to deploy to who owns it, what it costs, and whether the infrastructure can scale. Hilton's CIO is tracking token consumption. Booking.com’s engineering bottleneck has moved from writing code to coordinating teams. Expedia's tech lead has a rule: anything that touches customer data, you build yourself.     Skift IDEA Awards Flash Sale Ends Today Save $100 on your Skift IDEA Awards entry. For 72 hours only, enter for $499 with code IDEAS26FLASH. Offer ends tonight, June 4 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Purchase now at the lowest rate but have until July 1 to submit your entry. PURCHASE NOW. SUBMIT LATER.         DON’T MISS THESE STORIES Hilton’s CIO: Building the AI Trip Planner and Grappling With ‘Tokenomics’ By Luke Martin A live AI tool with early conversion gains is one Hilton story. The cost of running AI across the wider company is another. GET THE STORY Booking.com CTO: The New Bottleneck Is Teamwork By Dennis Schaal Many of the pressing issues in AI implementation are organizational, not technological. GET THE STORY Who Really Holds Your Travel Money Before You Travel and What Are They Doing With It By Rafat Ali Travel companies have built a banking-like float system around consumer prepayments, without banking-like protections, and the scale is now too large to ignore. GET THE STORY         The Caribbean Destination Intelligence Report VISIT JAMAICA + SKIFT Caribbean destinations are navigating an exciting yet uncertain future. Travel leaders need a framework to gain a competitive advantage in this dynamic and growing region. Look no further than this new report. GET THE FREE REPORT         For $7 a week, Skift gives you something the industry is missing – the full picture. Subscribe today for 25% off.         MORNING HEADLINES Expedia Tech Exec on Build Versus Buy: Keep Customer Data Close GET THE STORY Marriott’s AI Rollout: From Pilots to ‘Points on the Board’ GET THE STORY Why Air Canada’s Digital Officer Is Done With AI ‘Use Cases’ GET THE STORY Kuwait Airport Reopening Unravels After 48 Hours Amid Fresh Iranian Strikes GET THE STORY Priceline Gives Penny a Multi-Agent Makeover  GET THE STORY         CHART OF THE DAY Skift CEO Rafat Ali spent several weeks digging through SEC filings so you don't have to — and what he found should make every traveler think twice about who's really holding their money. GET THE FULL STORY         SKIFT TRAVEL 200 How are public travel companies performing around the world? The Skift Travel 200 pulls the data you need to understand global market movements. Paid subscribers get full access here. GET TODAY’S INDEX SCORE         See more essential travel news in your search results. ADD SKIFT ON GOOGLE         Thanks for reading. We are switching to a new email platform to improve delivery. What does this mean for you? During this transition, these emails might land in your promotions or spam folder. To ensure you don’t miss out, please move this newsletter to your primary inbox.       DEFINING THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL. Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 Skift 35 W 31st St. New York, New York 10001, United States Terms of Service