Amazon Just Entered the Travel Booking Business

0:00ZS is a global consulting and technology firm that partners with companies to improve life and how we live it. Working with the world's top hospitality brands, ZS brings together data, science, technology, and human ingenuity to transform ideas into customer loyalty. They're ready to help you elevate guest experiences, improve operations, and uncover preferences and motivations through their AI-powered solutions. With more than 1 ,700 clients in over 170 countries, ZS has built the expertise, fortitude, and vision to help you deliver impact right where it matters.

0:48Sarah Dandashy: Amazon just made a big move into travel booking. American Express is buying a restaurant reservation platform, and the real reason is fascinating. And the major hotel chains are all racing to add AI search. I'm Sarah Dandeshi. It's Wednesday, July 29th. This is the SCIFT Daily Briefing. First up, Amazon just announced that Alexa Plus, its AI assistant, is getting into travel booking. Priceline, Viator, Virgin Atlantic, Lyft, and a handful of ground transport companies are among the first partners. The idea, if you ask Alexa a question, it finds you options and you book, all inside the conversation, using the payment card already stored in your Amazon account.

1:27Sarah Dandashy: So here's why this is a bigger deal than it might sound. Every other AI platform has tried to crack travel booking and stalled at checkout. Chat GPT pulled back from InChat purchases earlier this year. Google's commerce tool is still a work in progress. Amazon is betting it can solve the problem that stopped everyone else because 180 million Prime members already have their credit cards saved there. You already trust Amazon with your wallet. The question is whether you'll trust it with your vacation. So the early roster is narrow. No major U.S. airlines, no Expedia, no Booking.com yet. And nobody has answered the big question.

2:02Sarah Dandashy: Who owns the data when you book a hotel through Alexa? Amazon hasn't said. So how does this impact you? Well, the next time you're watching TV and wondering what a trip to Japan would cost, you just might be able to ask your living room and book it on the spot. Next, American Express is buying The Fork, Europe's largest restaurant reservation platform, for$700 million. The Fork is the open table of Europe, used in France, Spain, Italy, and beyond. Amex already owns Resi and Talk in the U.S., so after this deal closes, they'll own three of the biggest restaurant booking platforms in the world. But here's the real story.

2:38Sarah Dandashy: Amex isn't buying the fork because they love restaurant reservations. They're buying it because restaurant bookings tell them who the big spenders are before the people even have an Amex card. So think about it. If someone is regularly booking tables at high-end restaurants in Paris and Barcelona, that's exactly the kind of person Amex wants as a premium cardholder. By owning the reservation platform, Amex gets to see that behavior, then offer those diners special card perks and table access, essentially using dinner reservations as a funnel to sell credit cards. Amex is keeping the fork as a standalone European brand rather than rebranding it, which is a smart move since local trust matters in dining.

3:17Sarah Dandashy: And with Amex travel bookings up 22 % just last quarter, the timing couldn't be better. In a nutshell, Amex isn't just buying a restaurant app. It's buying a window into how Europe's biggest spenders eat, so it can sell them on how they travel. And finally, IHG just became the third major hotel group to launch AI-powered search, joining Hilton and Marriott. The idea is simple. Instead of filling out a search form with exact dates and room types, you just describe what you want in plain language. A hotel near the beach in Miami for a family of four in October. And the AI finds it for you. One thing that stands out in IHG's version, you can search and pay in loyalty points, cash, or a combination right inside the chat.

4:00Sarah Dandashy: Marriott said it would add points-based search over time, and IHG has it now. IHG is also building a new content platform to help its hotel owners upload better photos, floor plans, and videos, making sure that their properties show up accurately when AI systems are searching for recommendations. So the takeaway from this, hotel bookings are about to get a lot more conversational. The old drop-down menu and exact date search is on the way out. Hotels building for that shift now will have a real advantage when AI becomes the primary way travelers discover where they stay. Well, that's it for your Skiff Daily Briefing.

4:33Sarah Dandashy: For more industry news, head to skiff.com and subscribe at skiff.com backslash daily. Thanks so much for listening.

4:52ZS is a global consulting and technology firm that partners with companies to improve life and how we live it. Working with the world's top hospitality brands, ZS brings together data, science, technology, and human ingenuity to transform ideas into customer loyalty. They're ready to help you elevate guest experiences, improve operations, and uncover preferences and motivations through their AI-powered solutions. With more than 1 ,700 clients in over 170 countries, ZS has built the expertise, fortitude, and vision to help you deliver impact right where it matters.