We had an incredible time this week at Expedia’s annual partner conference, Explore, in Las Vegas.
Ariane Gorin was officially introduced as the new CEO of Expedia at Explore. Ariane took center stage as she revealed a wealth of new innovations designed to make traveling less stressful and to improve partner experience.
The primary focus this year was on Artificial Intelligence as Expedia announced their new AI Assistant, ROMIE. ROMIE is a concierge, travel agent and personal assistant rolled into one. There was discussion around the different levels of AI and the journey that Expedia went on before announcing ROMIE, which is a combination of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Large Language Model and Generative AI.
Expedia also announced Optimized Distribution for Hotels – now available to regional chains and independent hotels versus national/international chains. Seasonal Cancellation Policy for vacation rentals was announced, introducing a date-based cancellation policy from a single page for vacation rental manager, thus giving more control based on seasonality.
Among the plethora of announcements was the new Travel Shops storefront: a central hub for travel recommendations and shopping experiences. Included in this is influencer top picks and recommendations (that consumers can share and save) in one platform within the Expedia App. This also comes with the ability to earn commission, increase visibility and customize personal travel content. The central purpose of the Travel Shops storefront is to address the opportunity for consumers to interact with influencer’s travel content that is displayed on social media platforms.
Our team were able to connect with many at Expedia Explore 24, and it was great to expand and strengthen our ecosystem.