Put Your Trip on Autopilot: Expedia Group Introduces New Innovations at EXPLORE to Take the Stress out of Travel and Enhance Partner Experience

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May 14, 2024, 13:00 ET

Romie, the AI-powered travel buddy you want to 'roam' the world with, is unveiled alongside 40+ new features in the 2024 Spring Release

Travel Shops open for business; new e-commerce product debuts as first shoppable storefront for content creators

Travel industry's leading advertising platform is announced with groundbreaking capabilities

LAS VEGAS, May 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Traveling just got a whole lot easier. Expedia Group announced today at EXPLORE™, our annual partner conference in Las Vegas, the travel industry's most innovative and comprehensive release of 40+ new products and features — making picking a hotel that won't offend your hotel-obsessed companion or your budget a seamless experience.

Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9179056-expedia-group-introduces-new-innovations-at-explore/

Manage your trip from start to finish with AI recommendations and self-service booking tools

"At Expedia Group, we embrace the transformative power of AI to create personalized travel experiences. Our long-standing investments in this space enable us to capitalize on the breathtaking pace of AI innovation, and today's Spring Release demonstrates our commitment to delivering innovative products and features that enhance the way people explore the world," said Ariane Gorin, CEO, Expedia Group.

ROMIE - YOUR 'ROAMING' AI BUDDY

Let's face it, we'd all love to have someone help us work out all the details of our trip based on our preferences. Travelers now have that option with Romie™, the travel industry's first AI assistant designed to 'roam' the world with you and have your back at every step of your trip.

Romie assists with planning, shopping, booking and even lends a hand when something unexpectedly changes during a trip — serving as your travel agent, concierge and personal assistant, all in one. Like the ideal travel companion, Romie gets progressively intelligent — learning who you are, remembering what type of trips you like, and even if you prefer Italian food and boutique hotels or an afternoon hiking through nature. The alpha version of the Romie experience is currently available on EG Labs™, a hub for experimental products:

Group Chat Trip Planning: Invite Romie to join your SMS group chat and listen to your vacation plans. If you want some advice, just @Romie to get suggestions on where to go or what to do, like you would a travel agent.
Smart Search: Ask Romie to summarize your group chat and bring what they learned about your trip straight into your Expedia shopping experience. Personalize your search even more by adding your own filters like rooftop views and early check-in to find your ideal hotel faster.
Building Your Itinerary: Like any good concierge, your new AI buddy is eager to help you build your perfect trip. Romie can pull in travel information from your emails and suggest restaurants and activities near your hotel that they think you and your group will enjoy.
Dynamic Service: You can rely on Romie to troubleshoot with you when things don't go as planned. Like the perfect personal assistant, Romie monitors weather changes or last-minute disruptions that may impact your plans and has alternative suggestions ready that are convenient for you.
Intelligent Assistance: Throughout your trip, Romie updates your itinerary in real time so anyone in the group chat with FOMO can see what you're up to, and anyone that needs to pick you up from the airport can simply @Romie to check what time you land.

"We believe in re-imagining the traveler experience, and then using the latest in AI to bring it to life, and with Romie, we've done just that," said Rathi Murthy, CTO, Expedia Group. "We created an AI assistant with hyper personalization in mind so that travelers can choose when they want Romie's help on their own terms. Romie can assist throughout dreaming, planning and traveling or even when things don't go as planned, all while getting more intelligent as the traveler interacts."

2024 SPRING PRODUCT RELEASE

In our 2024 Spring Product Release, we leveraged the power of AI to eliminate confusion and stress for travelers across tasks like planning, booking management, and customer service. Trust us — we want to get you on the plane en route to your destination as fast as possible and free up some of your time to worry about what matters the most, making lasting memories.

Our travel partners, the cornerstone of our marketplace, can leverage our investments in AI and machine learning with new tools that safeguard their business, control rate integrity, and provide actionable insights on service.

Traveler Product Highlights:

Personalized Itinerary Builder: For the first time, travelers can create customized itineraries for upcoming trips based on AI-generated recommendations tailored to your trip and saved items. Available this summer on the Expedia app in the U.S.
Self-Service Booking Management: Navigate hassle-free changes, cancellations, and air credit redemption for your bookings directly in the app or on the web. Available this summer on Expedia and Hotels.com globally.
Get Help Fast: Who actually reads the fine print? Thanks to our advancements in AI, travelers can find the solutions they need fast in our completely updated Help Center. Available now on Expedia and Hotels.com® in the U.S.
Price Comparison: Travelers can now compare prices for hotels and flights across dates, so you can travel within your budget. Available this summer on Expedia and Hotels.com in the U.S.
Destination Comparison: Sit back, relax and let our GenAI tools help you discover and compare new destinations worth visiting for you. Available this summer on Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo globally.
Guest Review Summary: Save time sorting through thousands of reviews. Using GenAI technology, Expedia summarizes guest reviews upfront, so you don't have to.

Partner Product Highlights:

Fraud Prevention as a Service (FPaaS): Our industry has lost over $21 billion annually to fraudulent transactions.¹ It's time to safeguard your business from financial loss. Our FPaaS solution helps you screen bookings, reduce unauthorized account access and minimize chargeback losses.
Advertiser-Funded Loyalty: It's time our destination partners cash in on the loyalty game. And soon they can fund OneKeyCash™ for travelers booking hotels.
Optimized Distribution for Hoteliers: Optimized Distribution is now available to regional chains and independent hotels, bringing properties more control over their inventory and pricing.
Guest Experience: AI-powered insights identify recurring negative sentiments in reviews and deliver personalized recommendations to hosts to create a better experience for travelers.
Seasonal Cancellation Policy: Have more control over your vacation rental with Vrbo's date-based cancellation policy, all from a single page.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS: SHOP INFLUENCER FAVORITES ON TRAVEL SHOPS

Travel Shops debut today as a new storefront, allowing creators to share and save their travel recommendations in one central place on the Expedia app — saving travelers from spending hours scrolling on social media to find past recommendations and new inspiration.

This new storefront allows content creators to earn commission, increase visibility and customize their own personalized space for travel content. Advertising partners will soon be able to spotlight destinations with shoppable links across our social channels or partner with handpicked travel influencers to sponsor a collection via their channels.

"We saw an opportunity to reinvent how consumers interact with travel content on social media platforms," said Jochen Koedijk, CMO, Expedia Group. "Travel Shops are a first-of-its-kind travel platform that bridges the gap between content creators and travelers, creating a central hub for curated travel recommendations and a seamless shopping experience. Travel Shops give creators the tools to build unique marketplaces, making it easy to share travel recommendations and providing a more personalized experience for travelers."

WORLD'S LEADING TRAVEL MEDIA NETWORK

Today at EXPLORE, we revealed the world's leading travel media network. Building on two decades of advertising experience from Expedia Group Media Solutions, the travel media network leverages our first-party traveler intent and purchase data, so advertising partners reach even more travelers across the purchase journey. Advertising partners benefit from:

In-house Creative Team: Collaborate on inspiring, actionable and shoppable campaigns with our in-house creative team to reach highly relevant audiences across multiple platforms.
Industry-Leading Advertising Tools: Target high-intent travelers with industry-leading onsite advertising tools such as TravelAds, connecting our travel audience to 200 booking sites in 70+ countries.
Offsite Capabilities: Leverage our first-party travel intent data to meet travelers wherever they are online, such as YouTube and Connected TV.
Global Network and Scale: Develop curated media campaigns with our expert media teams, using partnerships such as Netflix and Disney+, and tap into Expedia Group's vast B2B network of over 60,000 partners to extend global footprints to new markets and audiences.

"We've pioneered the travel retail media network model. Our robust, first-party data and network of industry-wide partnerships gives us the exclusive ability to translate traveler shopping behavior to actionable insights for our advertising partners," said Rob Torres, SVP, Expedia Group Media Solutions. "Our travel media network targets travelers at various touchpoints on the journey with highly relevant travel content, driving conversion. We've only just scratched the surface with building bespoke media campaigns for partners, I'm excited for what's to come."

EDITOR'S NOTE

Partners can find more information at: partner.expediagroup.com/release
Travelers can find more information at: expediagroup.com/release
EG Labs™ can be accessed at: expediagroup.com/labs

Research Sources:
¹ Research from global Edgar, Dunn & Company, on behalf of eNett.

About Expedia Group
Expedia Group, Inc. brands power travel for everyone, everywhere through our global platform. Driven by the core belief that travel is a force for good, we help people experience the world in new ways and build lasting connections. We provide industry-leading technology solutions to fuel partner growth and success, while facilitating memorable experiences for travelers. Our organization is made up of three pillars: Expedia Brands, housing all our consumer brands; Expedia Product & Technology, focused on the group's product and technical strategy and offerings; and Expedia for Business, consisting of business-to-business solutions and relationships throughout the travel ecosystem.

Expedia Group's three flagship consumer brands include: Expedia®, Hotels.com®, and Vrbo®. One Key™ is our comprehensive loyalty program that unifies Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo into one simple, flexible travel rewards experience. To enroll in One Key, download Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo mobile apps for free on iOS and Android devices. One Key is currently available in the U.S. and will become available globally soon.

For more information, visit www.expediagroup.com. Follow us on Twitter @expediagroup and check out our LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/expedia.

SOURCE Expedia Group