Introducing a new collection of features and products across Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo that makes discovering new destinations, collaborating with friends, and getting rapid AI-generated answers in ways that haven’t been possible before.

Launching EG Labs™, a travel industry first, where consumers can discover and test experimental beta products, starting with Project Explorer powered by generative AI. 

Leading the travel industry with AI-powered insights built on its established consumer brands, Expedia Group introduces new inventory and tech capabilities that help its travel partners accelerate their growth. 

Today Expedia Group™ unveils its Fall Release 2023, a collection of new features and products that reinvents how travelers discover new places, collaborate with friends and family, and get quick AI-generated answers to common travel questions. Included in today’s release: Trip Planner, an industry first that simplifies travel planning and allows travelers to collaborate on a group getaway in the app; EG Labs™, where consumers passionate about travel and tech can learn about and even test early experimental beta products that will shape the future of travel; and amenity and property answers, which use generative AI to rapidly sift through travelers’ reviews and property details in response to questions or prompts from members in the app.  

“Expedia Group invented online travel more than 25 years ago with the goal of using technology to empower travelers around the world. In the past few years, we’ve doubled down and invested massively in the latest tech capabilities using AI and machine learning to accelerate our innovation to better serve the millions of travelers who come to us every day,” said Peter Kern, vice chairman and CEO, Expedia Group. “Our new intelligent discovery and planning features are designed to address traveler pain points, allowing our members to easily plan, book and enjoy travel across our three flagship apps.” 

FALL RELEASE 2023 FEATURES AND PRODUCT UPDATES

Discovering new places and ways to plan: 

• Trip Planner: Looking to plan a big trip with friends? For the very first time, travelers now have one place to collaborate and engage with friends and family on a trip — one place to see both saved options and booked items across places to stay, flights, activities, and car rentals; and one place where invited friends and family can like, comment, save more ideas, and view what’s already been booked. Available on the Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo apps.  

• Dynamic travel guides: Wondering about the best time to visit a specific destination? Dynamic travel guides provides insights into hotel prices, weather conditions, and crowd levels for the most visited cities in the world, all conveniently at hand in the app. Within the neighborhood section of the guide, travelers can have a generative AI-powered conversation to help identify the ideal neighborhood to stay, based on their interests. Available on the Expedia and Hotels.com apps. 
• Amenity answers: Have questions about the pool or restaurant at a hotel? Amenity answers uses generative AI to sift through guest reviews to share their experience of the amenities at a hotel or vacation rental, meaning travelers don’t have to. Available on the Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo apps in English language only. 
• Property answers: Is the Wi-Fi good in all rooms? Is parking free? Property answers uses generative AI to help travelers find out more about a specific property. Available on the Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo apps. 
• Flexible date search for stays: Don’t have set dates to get away? Flexible date search gives travelers the ability to find the best options on places to stay by broadening their search by plus or minus a few days of potential dates, or by length of stay and time of year. Available on the Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo apps. 
• Influencer travel stories: Want to go on a tried and tested adventure? Discover new destinations by watching influencer-created travel stories that will inspire the next dream trip. Available on the Expedia and Hotels.com apps in the U.S. only. 

Experimenting with early products built with advanced tech:  

• EG Labs: Calling all those excited about the next frontier of travel and tech. EG Labs is the travel industry’s first open space where U.S.-based early adopters can discover, test, and share feedback on cutting-edge beta products that will shape the future of travel.  
• Project Explorer: The first beta product available to test in EG Labs is Project Explorer. Powered by generative AI, Project Explorer makes discovering new places and different types of trips easier through curated options based on interest, location, time of year and budget. In seconds, this product shares a list of recommended destinations, rich with information and images; where to stay with average prices, things to do; and a unique multi-day itinerary. Available to test on Expedia iOS app in the U.S. only. 

Simplified self-service and account control:  

• Voluntary flight change: Need to change a flight unexpectedly? Travelers can now change or cancel eligible flights themselves directly in the Expedia app. Available on the Expedia app in the U.S. only. 
• Add to wallet: Want quick access to check-in details? Travelers can add their hotel booking information to Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. Available on the Expedia app.  
• Anytime breakfast upgrades: Forgot to add breakfast? Travelers can now add breakfast to a hotel reservation when available, any time up to a day before check-in. Available on the Expedia and Hotels.com apps. 

• Simplified account control: Introducing an easier way for Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo members to access and control their account across all our flagship brands in a seamless and more streamlined way. This feature makes viewing and managing valuable One Key™ benefits and OneKeyCash™ in one place. Available to One Key members in the U.S. only.  

“The preferences and insights that we gather from the millions of people that shop with our brands means we’re uniquely positioned to build advanced B2B products and solutions that we know work. Our accelerated pace of innovation is not only great for our brands, but it also creates real growth opportunities for our partners and the broader travel industry,” said Ariane Gorin, president of Expedia for Business. 

AI-powered insights that drive partner action: 

• Recommendation engine: Built on Expedia Group’s vast data and machine learning capabilities, recommendation engine in Partner Central automatically provides suggestions to hotel partners that enhances their strategy, drives revenue and improves their overall performance.  
• Member share playback: This product in Partner Central shares insights with hotel partners on their mix of travelers, helping them to target promotions at higher-value rewards members.  

Enabling partners to deliver better traveler experiences:  

• Vrbo on Rapid API: Vrbo supply is now available to early adopters through Expedia Group’s customizable Rapid API. This in-demand feature helps partners provide their travelers with more property options, helping them to drive loyalty.   

• Sustainability features: Rapid Content API enables partners to show property and room-level sustainability details, helping their environmentally conscious travelers find properties that meet their needs.  
• More ways to pay: New functionality in Expedia Group’s White Label Template means partners can now allow their travelers to use PayPal to book hotels, activities and much more. This means members at some of the world’s largest financial institutions, banks, and credit card providers, along with airline and hotel customers, have more ways to pay for their dream vacation.  
• Traveler engagement: White Label Template partners now have access to a new customizable module that gives them the ability to drive conversion by easily promoting and cross-selling additional travel products at key points in the traveler’s shopping journey on their brand website. 

Supporting partners in attracting high-value travelers:    

• Seasonal vacation rental cancellations: This new functionality lets Vrbo hosts customize their cancellation policies to account for seasonal trends. Now hosts can use a stricter cancellation policy during the busiest times of the year, and a more relaxed policy during the slow season.   
• Creators Toolbox: This feature allows affiliates like influencers and content creators to easily generate custom links, which helps drive conversion.  
• Partner Gallery display offering: A new native advertising solution that helps brands inspire, engage, and convert travelers. This solution drives consideration by using three images and a prominent headline that directs the traveler to a unique microsite to learn more about the destination, property, or partner offering.  
• TravelAds campaign insights: Helps advertisers improve their campaign performance and maximize their advertising return on investment by sharing data-driven insights and opportunities in the TravelAds portal. 

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Features and product availability: 

All features and products included in Fall Release 2023 will roll out on the Expedia app, Hotels.com app and/or Vrbo app by the end of 2023 globally (except where a specific country has been indicated).  

Travelers can find more information at: www.expediagroup.com/release  

Travel partners can find more information at: https://innovation.expediagroup.com/partner-release

Media assets are available for download here