Expedia CEO: AI Agents Haven't Changed How People Book Travel

Expedia shares fell roughly 12% on Thursday after the company guided fourth-quarter revenue to between $3.69 billion and $3.75 billion — a midpoint below the $3.74 billion analysts polled by FactSet expected.

The stock drop landed on the same day CEO Ariane Gorin told CNBC that artificial intelligence agents are not yet changing how customers book travel. She framed AI as a planning tool, not a booking replacement.

"It's a great way for people to do inspiration, to do trip planning," Gorin said in the interview. "We haven't seen it change the way they're actually doing booking."

Why does this matter now?

Personal AI agents such as Meta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots are entering the mainstream, with promises to handle scheduling and shopping for everyday consumers. Travel planning and booking sit squarely in that territory — and could pose a competitive threat to traditional sites like Expedia.

Gorin isn't ignoring the risk. She said Expedia is "working with all of the agents" to make sure it surfaces in AI results, to understand how the agents pull information, and to secure the necessary integrations.

That's a defensive play dressed as a partnership strategy. The takeaway: Expedia wants to be inside the agents, not displaced by them.

Could AI agents take Expedia's market share?

Gorin conceded it's possible that AI agents could build their own travel programs and eventually claim a slice of the market. But she argued the industry's complexity — customer service above all — makes a full replacement hard.

"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."

Her argument rests on trust, not technology. Shoppers may let an agent compare flights; they still want a human-backed platform when a trip goes sideways.

What dragged down the guidance?

The fourth-quarter outlook, delivered Wednesday, disappointed Wall Street. Gorin attributed the "moderation" in the forecast to three factors:

• "Geopolitical events in the Middle East and Europe"
• The midterm elections
• The company shifting its fall sale from the fourth quarter into the third quarter

The softer guide overshadowed an otherwise strong third quarter. Total gross bookings rose 11%, Gorin noted, and revenue climbed 12%.

What comes next?

Investors punished the stock for one weak quarter, but the longer question is whether AI agents erode Expedia's position before the company finishes building its integrations. Gorin is betting that bookings — the part of travel that demands accuracy, price certainty and a phone that gets answered — stay on platforms people already trust.