Travel Trends with Dan Christian
#1 B2B Travel Podcast. If you are looking to stay ahead in the travel industry, this new podcast hits all the highlights! The Travel Trends Podcast is where industry leaders converge to share & shape the future. Whether you're an emerging entrepreneur, a seasoned industry executive, or a dedicated travel professional, you’ll be able to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Uncover valuable insights, innovative strategies, and meaningful connections that will elevate your travel business or career to new heights.
Travel Trends with Dan Christian
Expedia's B2B Strategy: How Technology Drives Global Travel Partnerships
Travel tech is evolving at lightning speed - reshaping how the world moves, books, and experiences journeys. In this episode, we sit down with Karen Bolda, Chief Product and Technology Officer for Private Label Solutions, Expedia Group’s B2B division, to explore the cutting-edge innovations driving the future of global travel from behind the scenes.
Karen takes us behind the scenes of Expedia Group's massive B2B operation – a side of the business many travelers never see but that powers over 70,000 businesses and 160,000 travel advisors worldwide. From her unique journey starting as a software developer to leading technology strategy for one of travel's biggest players, Karen offers rare insights into how Expedia is integrating AI throughout its ecosystem.
The conversation shatters common misconceptions about technology's role in travel. Rather than replacing travel advisors, Expedia Group's AI-powered tools are freeing them from operational tasks to focus on what computers can't replicate: human connection and expertise. Through specific examples like their quotation tools and virtual agents for travel advisors, Karen illustrates how technology enhances rather than diminishes the human element in travel planning.
We explore how Expedia Group's expanding product offerings – from hotel and flight bookings to vacation rentals through vrbo and increasingly into activities and experiences – reflect evolving traveler expectations for more comprehensive, seamless journeys. Perhaps most impressive is their AI-powered fraud prevention system, which stopped $4 billion in fraud in 2024 alone.
This episode offers a compelling look at the technological revolution transforming the way we explore the world. It highlights how innovative advancements are making travel more secure, seamless, and deeply personalized—ushering in a new era of smarter, more meaningful journeys.
👉 Listen to Expedia's B2B Strategy: How Technology Drives Global Travel Partnerships Now
🔥 Season 5 Title Sponsors: TravelAI, Stay22, Propellic, Flight Centre, Collette, Flywire, Traveltek and Protect Group
The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. Season 5 In Progress.
https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/
The future of technology. Right now it's constantly being rewritten, especially with AI. The world of travel has evolved, I will say, even since I entered this industry over two decades ago. It's going to keep doing that. We need to make sure that we're delivering the best technology to help our B2B businesses deliver great travel experiences, and we will do that to the full extent of like what technology enables.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone and welcome back to Travel Trends. This is your host, dan Christian, and today we're going to be having a conversation with the Chief Product and Technology Officer B2B at Expedia Group, karen Bolda. I've been so looking forward to bringing this conversation to all of our listeners, partly because we are the number one B2B podcast globally, and I figured she is the ideal guest for us to be able to talk about the future of technology in the B2B space, their partnerships, their technology roadmap, and I so thoroughly enjoyed this conversation that I'm really looking forward to sharing this with you today. I'm actually just on route to Barcelona for Focusrite Europe and I'm looking forward to having the chance to meet Karen in person at the event, as well as many of our listeners and a number of my colleagues. I'm going to be recording live from the event, so if you're there, be sure to reach out and we'll be putting together a special event spotlight episode and, on that note, we actually have a number of event spotlights rolling out. We just launched, this past weekend, the highlights from the Educational Travel Consortium Conference held in Mobile Alabama. A little earlier this year, I did a keynote on AI, which you can find on our YouTube channel at Travel Trends Podcast, but I really encourage you to check out this episode because we have a few hours of conversations from the extraordinary group of people that come together for this really special event, focusing on nonprofits and alumni travel programs. Then we are going to be releasing our Aviation Festival highlights from Miami, followed by the highlights from the adventure travel and trade association conference in Denver. So be sure to be on the lookout for our event spotlight. So make sure you're subscribed on the streaming platform of your choice to be notified when new episodes go live. And I think all of our listeners know we do post clips and highlights from all these conversations, including the one with Karen today and all of our amazing guests from season five. So be sure to check those out on LinkedIn, youtube and Instagram. And next week we're going to be starting our final deep dive for season five, focused on in-destination experiences brought to us by our friends over at Pernod Ricard. We are also deep into our planning for season six, which launches in September. If there are specific topics or guests you want us to feature, please be sure to drop me an email. Dan at Travel Trends Podcast. And we just announced our AI Summit that's going to be in October 28th and 29th 2025. You can register for early bird tickets now on our website at traveltrendspodcastcom. We look forward to having many of you join us for that special event and we've just announced the speakers and our program will be live shortly. We'll be right back.
Speaker 2:Attention travel operators, destination management companies and accommodation providers. Managing payments doesn't have to be a source of stress. Meet Flywire, the modern payments platform built specifically for the unique needs of the travel industry. With Flywire, you can collect payments from travelers worldwide with ease, enjoy faster payouts in your preferred currency, reduce payment fees and offer your guests flexible localized payment options they're familiar with. Not only does Flywire simplify your operations, but it also helps elevate your guest experience and boost your bottom line. That means you can stop worrying about payments and focus on what you do best creating unforgettable travel experiences. Discover how Flywire can help your business save time, save money and deliver truly seamless transactions. Visit flywirecom slash travel trends to learn more. That's flywirecom slash travel trends. Are you looking for ways to grow your travel business through paid media and optimized SEO? Then you have to check out our friends at Propeleccom. They are the leading digital agency for growth in travel and tourism. Propelec offers bold digital marketing strategies to ensure your travel company's success. They have a remarkable methodology that has actually been implemented by TravelAIcom, and they are a leading SEO agency globally and offer a range of resources a podcast of their own, a blog on their website, propelliccom. That's P-R-O-P-E-L-L-I-Ccom, and don't forget to mention Travel Trends for your free marketing audit.
Speaker 2:Now back to the show. Let's get into the main event for today, which is this extraordinary conversation with Karen Bolda, the B2B Chief Product and Technology Officer at Expedia Group. As you'll hear, karen has such an impressive background. She started with a degree in computer science, then she was a software developer. She moved her way up over the last 15 years at Expedia, holding a number of very important positions and now being the chief product and technology officer focused on B2B. So we thought she's the perfect person to come on Travel Trends to explain the future of technology from Expedia's perspective, talk about their roadmap and partnerships and all the exciting initiatives they have on the go. One other thing I did want to highlight, too, is Expedia also has a fantastic podcast called Powering Travel. They're in season four. You have to check that out, and we are certainly looking forward to further collaborations with the team over Expedia. Now let's welcome Karen into the conversation. Karen, it's so fantastic to have you on Travel Trends. Thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you, very great to be here.
Speaker 2:Tell everyone where you are for some more, because most people in the industry are going to think Expedia, they're going to think Seattle, but tell everyone where you're based.
Speaker 1:I am based in Missouri. There is a very tiny travel startup that started here many years ago and that has continued to grow and blossom and become part of Expedia.
Speaker 2:And there's 2000 people in Missouri.
Speaker 1:No, not quite about half that, about half that.
Speaker 2:Amazing though, you got 1000 people in Missouri office, and that's where you've been for nearly 15 years, and and so, yeah, tell us a little bit about your role. I guess let's dive into that, because you're, you know, the senior vice president, like you're across all the product, product and technology. But, yeah, tell us a little bit about your role at Expedia.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I love technology. I started my career as a software engineer and today I lead product and technology for our B2B business at Expedia. So what that means is I'm defining our strategy for all of our amazing travel tech and that's used by our B2B partners. That's what our B2B partners are using to power all of these amazing travel experiences for their travelers.
Speaker 2:Very cool. So that was travel now right when you were a software developer way long ago.
Speaker 2:That was that little startup that became part of the Expedia ecosystem, so it's really interesting that you started off as a developer. I know you've got your master's in computer science. You've got quite an impressive background in technology, and so was this something that you clearly always wanted to get in technology. How did you decide to combine it with travel? Do you have a particular passion for travel? How did those decide to combine it with travel? Do you have a particular passion for travel? How did those two stars align Well, don't?
Speaker 1:we all love travel? I love travel and I definitely love technology. So I'm really, really fortunate that I was able to combine the two of these sort of early in my career. You know, when I started my career, travel it was super, super exciting. Travel was just coming online. The pace of innovation, what you could do with technology like no more scouring travel brochures and like searching through pages in a phone book you could actually, you know tools, you could use the internet, you could explore, you could book and you know, it really helped open the world of travel to everyone, everywhere. And that's what I love. That's kind of what got me started in this industry. I love working in private label solutions. That's our B2B business and that's because, even today, travel it's not just travel. Tech isn't just booking flights and hotels, it's, you know, redefining what's possible. It's just we keep trying to make travel more and more accessible for everyone.
Speaker 2:Well, what's interesting? And there's a one bit of commonality between the two of us? Because my background was computer science and marketing computer science and business and when I started in travel, I started in corporate travel booking and it was interesting because it was my first role in travel. I knew I love travels.
Speaker 2:Obviously, to your comment, who doesn't love travel? I mean I'm still amazed some people don't like that, don't like leaving the house, that are just like total homebodies. But they exist out there and some of them are developers as well. So it doesn't always but yeah, but one of the things that really stood out for me as I started working on these technology platforms like building out a corporate travel booking tool or building out a leisure booking website or a cruise booking website I just loved the subject matter. So I found it fascinating to develop technology, to see how customers were using it and then how it was fulfilling, ultimately them having these incredible travel experiences. And I I always found it really interesting the connection between bringing people together online and sending them out into the world, which is something I see Expedia does. I mean, obviously you guys are such a great marketing machine and have such an impressive technology stack that you are bringing customers in and sending them out into the world, but more and more of the travel experience is becoming the technology is extending to the trip. Right, you've got your app, you've got you know.
Speaker 2:So, anyway, I've got lots of questions for this topic, but but I guess, to be specific, I wanted to talk about the B2B side of Expedia, cause I think most people think of Expedia as being B2C. They see the ads, they see the billboards and they think of you know the consumer direct, but the the real picture is all of the partners that you work with and all the content and the product that you aggregate to make that possible. So I know one of the missions for Expedia is powering travel for everyone everywhere, and I guess I want to ask you specifically how does the B2B technology play a role in achieving that and specifically your role in Missouri? How does that all come together on the backend? Take us through the B2B tech story of Expedia, if you wouldn't mind.
Speaker 1:Yes, I would love to. I would love to. Our mission, like you said, it's to power global travel for everyone, everywhere, and private label solutions, our B2B business. We are doing that through our massive network, our massive partner network, and so that means we work with global airlines, we work with major financial institutions. You talked about working in Corp Travel. We work with many, many of the most loved Corp Travel companies in the world and you know we are trusted by all of these different businesses in the world and you know we are trusted by all of these different businesses. So they are offering travel to their card members, to all of their clients, for, you know, as a part of their business, and that's where our B2B technology is powering over 70,000 businesses, over 160,000 travel advisors. And so what we can do, because we are part of Expedia Group, we have this massive, massive travel data set, we have cutting edge AI capabilities and we can use all of this to just really make our B2B partners more powerful.
Speaker 2:So yeah, Well. I was going to say let's explore one specific example of that, that is, personalization.
Speaker 2:I mean it's a hot topic in every industry, but certainly, I guess the part I would love for you to also help clarify this is personalization for B2C obviously is important, but I'm keen to know if there's personalization as well on the B2B side. But yeah, when, when we think about how Expedia is using AI to deliver more tailored shopping experiences for travelers through the B2B platform, you know how, how do you approach personalization? And again, like there's so many things I want to ask you. But this is obviously one important component to increase conversion rates and the likelihood that people are going to use the continue to use the platform.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, how do you view personalization and how do you continue to improve that customer journey? Yeah, so, when it comes to AI, you know, when I started in the industry, ai was, you know, it was in movies, it was in, you know, science fiction novels and it's phenomenal. You know, the last couple of years, these advancements that we've seen. I think more and more we're starting to see these scenarios that used to be entirely theory and now, you know, now they're moving into reality, moving into practice, and so there's so much untapped potential there. I think it's going to be game changing for travel and also for our B2B industry. So, you're right, there's driving, there's personalization, there's streamlining operations, there's anticipating. You know trends, you know we. There's AI. You can take a vacation photo and say, hey, I want to, I want to make a trip based on, you know, these insights.
Speaker 1:And so, when it comes to our B2B partners, they need a lot of these same technologies. The only difference is I'm creating that, I'm building that in a way so that it's scalable and flexible to operate with their business, whether it's a financial institution or an airline or something else. They ultimately need to make sure that they are giving all of their travelers that world-class travel experience, and so, because I can use that same base travel data set as the foundation, just like our consumer brands are building things on top of that for consumers, I'm building the tools B2B businesses need, and just one quick example will be fraud. You know, using AI to detect fraud, I think in 2024, we detected over $4 billion in fraud and stopped that, which is pretty phenomenal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and actually one of the things I should probably take a step back and look at a broader picture is how Expedia is approaching AI. We've done a lot about AI on our podcast. We have our AI Summit.
Speaker 2:I had the opportunity to interview Paul English from Kayak and it was right after him and Steve Hafner had this sort of argument on stage and I know they were playing it up a little bit where Paul was talking about the fact he'd rather have 10 developers in AI today than 1,000 developers 10 years ago without AI, and he was highlighting all the benefits that a startup has to leverage AI and what Steve Hafner, of course, from Kayak, which I understand is one of your competitors because they're owned by Booking and Expedia, two of the big players but what he was highlighting is that actually the incumbents have a major advantage because they have brand, they have customers and, most importantly, just what you just mentioned, you have data, and so obviously you have some of the richest data in travel, but, given the size and scale of Expedia and so learning from that data to develop, you know, whether it's smarter shopping solutions or some advanced service capabilities.
Speaker 2:I guess take us through at a high level, how you guys are approaching AI throughout the organization. I'm sure people have seen other people from Expedia talk or speak, but the fact I have this chance to actually ask you directly and then we can look at all the implications of that, because there are many. So, I guess, broadly, how are you looking at incorporating AI? How does your team, how does the business? How are you embracing it across the business and then kind of day to day?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we are looking at AI from a few, a few different angles. And first off, I'll say, you know, we've been using AI and ML for many, many, many years. What, what the difference is, is some of the more recent advancements in AI technology. It's unlocking additional, additional use cases above and beyond what we have been able to do before, and so we're looking at it from all angles. So, historically, we've been saying how do we make all of our offerings more relevant, more personalized, how can we streamline all of our operations? So we are still doing that. It's just that the technology lets us do it in new and better and different ways. That's what I would say. And so we're using it to get even better at the things that we've been getting better at. It's sort of that next evolution.
Speaker 1:We're also looking at, you know, use cases around productivity that just weren't even possible before, and so I think that's probably one new area.
Speaker 1:And then, finally, there's new products I think that you know are going to be built that this technology enables, and that's also where we're sort of leaning in there to determine this new technology, plus all of these travel use cases, what are entirely new things that we can be building, and what we do is we embed technology and what we already do and then anything that my team will be building and launching, you can bet there is an element of AI as part of that, so we're just embedding it in the core. That way, it's super easy and seamless for all of our partners to adopt and that way, we also keep technology focused on adding value to the traveler. Because technology is super cool, don't get me wrong, but it's amazing. It's impactful when you can really sort of use it in a way that solves a really difficult problem. When you can really sort of use it in a way that solves a really difficult problem, lets you address some huge opportunity.
Speaker 2:So I'd love to just dive into that in a bit more detail for a moment, because clearly you have the technical experience and prowess to be able to have a conversation from and we don't need to risk losing any of our listeners on this journey about talking about specific LLMs. So I want to be mindful of that at the same time. But I guess one of the things that I know our audience really loves is if we have specific use cases and examples, and I was recently looking at TUI's strategy. Tui and I met their head of AI when I was at ITB and one of the things they developed is their own LLM that all of their team members engage with and they use their own platform. And then they've been busy looking at pain points across their business and figuring out having champions in the organization.
Speaker 2:I just love this example because it's like they're using their own. They've developed their own LLM that their own internal teams use. So it's one of the things I was keen to know. So I guess, do you have something similar in place at Expedia? And when it comes to looking at all these different large language models and wrapping your head around what you should be using, are you using a wide variety of them. Are you using them for different use cases, depending on where their strengths are, I mean, or have you established some strong partnerships with a couple of AI companies?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would say all of the above companies. Yeah, I would say all of the above. We definitely have some models of our own. We are partnering with other external AI companies and we're looking at the same. We're looking at internal productivity cases. There's a lot of data out there, but there's a lot of data that we have around productivity that is like very uniquely ours, and so we're definitely training models using that data of our own. It gives us really relevant, like really, yeah, really impactful applications of AI, and so productivity is a very, very big focus for us.
Speaker 1:But then I think also and so that's kind of maybe bucket one, the second bucket, and again that is, we have a bunch of existing products and offers. We do have AI and ML sort of embedded in them. How do we make those even better with some of this new technology? And we are we're not limiting ourselves right now we're looking across the board at all of the different AI, the LLMs and all of the different AI models and tools and offerings to sort of to continue improving there. And then the last bucket, you know sort of entirely new AI products. And this is where we're leaning into our B2B innovation center and really experimenting quickly throwing things away quickly. There's new models, like there's new versions of models at least twice a week right now, and so that fast cycle of experimenting and taking some risk and encouraging innovation and then also taking that learning to get better the next time. We're also sort of providing a space that we can sort of play with all of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the whole lab side and experimentation.
Speaker 2:It excites me greatly because, obviously, the idea of being able to develop new technology and roll it out, how do you approach that? So, now that you're a roadmap, because clearly you have developers that are leveraging AI and you're constantly deciding what you're going to release new features and functionality and I know you guys have quite an advanced technology stack where you integrate all of these businesses. It's one of the things that has always been a strength of Expedia, as you've acquired companies and you build them right into the whole system and you figure out how to leverage. And that's a huge challenge for most companies to scale the way Expedia has, but it's been such a strength. So, when it comes to actually introducing some of this new functionality, what is that journey like? And again, because I get to ask you, because you're a head of development, you've got developers that are working there. So, as people are excitingly making breakthroughs and coming to you and saying, wait a second, we can now do this, how quickly do those advances end up actually being released to customers? How?
Speaker 1:quickly. Do those advances end up actually being released to customers? Yeah, so the way that we approach it and that is, we are always putting our partners sort of at the center of everything that we are doing and we take a very consultative approach. So first, you know, we need to understand our partners really, really well. We have years of travel expertise. We have years of these B2B partnership expertise, and so that's the first thing that we do is we focus on, like, what is that challenge, what is that opportunity?
Speaker 1:And then, as we build, as we design things, we sort of make sure this has got to be easy, it's got to be seamless for our partners to adopt. We have got to be there. You know, they are operating a business and we need to make sure that they remain competitive and we need to sort of be that key travel tech provider for them. And so that's really where, you know, we try to make sure that we're meeting partners where they are, so they could be new to the travel space, they could be well established, and so, if you think about that, as we're working with partners, it's going to vary a little bit, because some partners are really sort of pushing the limits and pushing the edge around.
Speaker 1:How do we co-innovate together? How do we build new things together? Let's go and do that. Build new things together, let's go and do that. And then other types of partnerships. They kind of want things that are we are investing a bit more time, we spend more time sort of proving it and learning in other areas, and then they want to adopt it at that point. So we're kind of working with multiple models, I would say, at once.
Speaker 2:That's really interesting, and one of the things on this topic is that, trying to work with Expedia in the past with guided touring and some of the other categories I've worked in one of the things that was always important was figuring out the API and whether we already had an application interface. For anyone that is not familiar with that terminology, and I think one of the things about APIs today that is really exciting with AI is they can be written so much faster, something that used to take you know, are you going to write to our API or we're going to write to your API and you make that decision. It was time consuming and you had to put it on a long list of priority considerations, right To figure out when you're going to get to that Q4 or next. You know, like the and so you, you have to make very prudent business decisions about where the opportunity is, and so I'm keen now, with AI, I guess, speeding things up and allowing you to do more partnerships, we'll be right back. Did you know that over 20% of people who purchase a ticket will upgrade to a refundable option when given the choice? By offering Refund Protect, you make it easy for your customers to protect their ticket purchase against emergency circumstances like illness, injury, accidents and more. Whether you're an airline, hotel group, tour operator, ticketing platform, ota or transport solution, when you partner with Protect Group, your customers get peace of mind and you generate extra revenue. With a Trustpilot score of 4.8 stars and over 31,000 reviews, they treat your customers as their own, earning the highest customer ratings in the industry. To find out more, check out Protect Group at protectgroup that's protectgroup.
Speaker 2:We'd like to give a big shout out to our friends and episode sponsor Stay 22, as they've just dropped a game-changing solution for travel publishers and bloggers, and it's called the script builder. It's the simplest way to start earning from your content One script, all your links, all your suppliers. You don't need traffic minimums or approval. Just plug it in and start monetizing smarter, not harder. Just visit stay22.com slash travel trends and try their script builder today. It's free and, trust me, your future self will thank you. Check out stay 22 dot com slash travel trends for more information.
Speaker 2:In today's fast paced travel industry, businesses face constant challenges keeping up with new technologies, meeting ever evolving customer expectations and promoting products effectively. The real struggle managing it all in-house. That's where Travel Tech steps in to transform your business. With over 25 years of experience, travel Tech is one of the most trusted names in travel technology, offering tailored solutions to fit your unique needs. They make it easy to create seamless, bookable websites, manage and promote products and automate everyday tasks, giving your team more time to focus on what matters most your customers. Plus Travel Tech is the go-to name in cruise technology, with cutting-edge solutions for tour operators as well.
Speaker 2:Plus Travel Tech has just launched Tech Talk, a new podcast for travel professionals by travel professionals. Explore the stories behind the biggest innovations in travel. Visit TravelTechcom, slash TravelTrends or tune in to Tech Talk on Spotify. And of okay, well, we need to work with the right channel partner that's already integrated with Expedia at the same time, so they're trying to bring more innovative developments to the offering that say, you know, you can now get this from our feed. So, yeah, but just in terms, I guess, of how people should be thinking about trying to work with Expedia. I'd love to get your view on that, as to how you would, how you'd recommend them to set them up to succeed, to be able to partner with you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we, um, we have a partner website, um, partnerexpediagroupcom and um, certainly I encourage uh, anyone, everyone, to go there. Um, but the way that we work with partners, so we really start with, we have integration specialists and these integration specialists are sort of working with these partners to make sure we have a super smooth integration. If we are sort of, if it's a new partnership, there's ongoing monitoring and support after launch. You know we're continuously, you know improving and innovating. You know, sort of once partners go live and then once a partner is live, that's where we're evaluating, we're expanding into new offerings, you know, based on what partners need. So, once a partner is live, we have a couple of options that you know it would be the core of our B2B offering. We have our white label template and this is basically a template. It seamlessly integrates into the partner's loyalty program, so it helps them drive member engagement and create stickiness and they maintain that brand identity.
Speaker 1:Dan, you talked about APIs. So we have a rapid API. This is a simple, modular, industry-leading API. It. This is designed for traditional travel advisors. So it's this really, you know, world-class booking experience. So travel advisors can sort of focus on, you know, their travelers and it makes the rest of booking travel really easy and gives it to them right at their fingertips. We've got a bunch of other offers, like fraud prevention, which I mentioned earlier, ai's embedded. You know we prevented four billion dollars in fraud last year in 2024 on Expedia sites, and so lots, lots and lots of other offerings like that beyond our standard offerings. When it comes to AI, one thing that that we've been doing a lot more of and that's some really rapid prototyping. That's something that you know you talked about using AI to adopt an API more quickly. For us, when we're working with B2B partners, we can do some super rapid prototyping whenever we see an opportunity or a challenge, and then there's something very real and concrete without, you know, taking six months to build something new.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you brought up a really interesting topic and one thing I did want to make sure we discussed as well, which is travel agents, because ever since the arrival of Expedia on the scene, everyone has predicted their demise and all of a sudden, you had OTAs, online travel agencies, and now, with AI, their demise has been predicted again, and the reality is is that travel agents are thriving and doing as well as ever and we did a series on this on season four about the renaissance of travel advisors, and and so I wanted to understand how Expedia does work with travel advisors, because I know that you have all these B2B offerings, but, again, I don't think that actually is that most people are aware of that. So tell us a little bit about how you do work with intermediaries like travel advisors. You mentioned about the white label solution, but, yeah, what are some of the tools that you have to to power these home-based agents that want to offer Expedia product?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, uh, tap, Expedia, tap, that's our travel advisor platform and it's really a um, it's really kind of a booking platform.
Speaker 1:So you're exactly right, Like I think of anything, you know, AI. It's repeating some of the same things over and over because it's learning from all the same information, and that is really, I think, a huge opportunity and where travel advisors play a huge role. They have very, very unique experience and you know they will be able to serve travelers in a way that AI will never be able to serve travelers. But what we are doing in our travel advisor tool is we are using AI to simplify some of the operational aspects, and so you know a virtual agent that a travel advisor can use and sort of really quickly manage, you know any changes to the booking or things like that. Pulling together quotes that travel advisors can share with their travelers across, you know multiple different products and offers. All of these are things like anything that we can do to free up a travel advisor's time so they are working with their traveler and not spending all their time working in technology and tools is what our goal is there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 2:There's companies like Fora that have come along that have introduced travel advisor technology and there seems to be, you know, the big focus Focusrite highlighted this in their Q1 report for 2025, that in Q4 2024, most of the investment for the very first time went to travel startups that were focused on B2B, and there are so many great solutions.
Speaker 2:So that's why I actually wanted to unpack a little bit about what Expedia is doing in this space, because if, all of a sudden, you've got startups that are offering tools for travel advisors and all of a sudden, you've got more travel advisors than ever that are looking for these types of platforms to expand the product offering whether it be cruises or guided tours what are the options they can provide to their guests?
Speaker 2:Because, you're absolutely right, it's the one thing we're definitely still seeing is that that personal touch is more important than ever and owning the client relationship that they've you know, some of these travel advisors have had these relationships with customers for, you know, 10 or 20 years, and they literally just rely on their travel agent to tell them where they should go next on their trip. But that, but that travel agent needs to have all the technology to power their office and like, yeah, so I guess where are you seeing that in terms of the growth potential in 2025? Is that? I know you're focused on the B2B side. Is the TAP a specific area that you guys are really focused on investing and scaling?
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. We have been making a huge investment, I will say, in our travel advisor offering and that is part of our overall B2B set of technology. We have everything, dan, we have everything in B2B. We want to power all types of businesses, but it's a huge area of investment and that's because we see, and all of our data tells us the same Travel advisors play an extremely important role, I would say, and will continue to do so, so the more and more we can help them just make what they love doing easier and better. That's what we want to do. We want to provide great traveler experiences.
Speaker 2:So let's give them a couple of examples, because we definitely have a lot of travel advisors that listen to our podcast and they're always looking for use cases and ways they can improve on what they're doing. So I'm sure there are some features or some functionality that you've recently introduced that you might be particularly proud of. But if you wouldn't mind, I guess, sharing with us like one or two examples of some of the technology you've rolled out to to better power travel advisors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so a couple of the a couple of the things that we do in our travel advisor offering, and one is we have a quotation tool offering, and one is we have a quotation tool. So what this quotation tool does is it really helps advisors sort of really quickly and seamlessly put together, because a travel advisor you know you're going to be talking to a client they may want to go back and think about it, so a travel advisor needs to put together a quote and sort of collect. Here's all of the different things that we talked about. You know, you can sit, you can sit back, you can think about it, you can do some yeah, do some research on your own if you want, and so that's one of the things that we have as part of our travel advisor offering.
Speaker 1:And this quotation tool. It's giving advisors access to these amazing rates, this super rich inventory that we have at Expedia, and so I think there's the tools on top of it, but then I think there's also this amazing supply that we have within Expedia that makes that even better. So that's one of the examples. Another example is we have a virtual agent, and so there's a lot of you know bots out there and stuff. But the virtual agent that we have, it is trained on this massive amount of travel data, first of all, and we have also tailored it a bit further so that you know it is designed for helping travel advisors and allows them to operate, you know, as a travel advisor. It helps them, you know, address any sort of like customer service issues in a different and unique way, because as a travel advisor, you're solving a customer service issue, whereas you know a bot that's geared towards a traveler or a consumer. You're solving service issues in kind of a slightly different model.
Speaker 2:Very interesting and I appreciate you sharing those two examples, because I'm sure that is exactly what our listeners would be most keen to know. The other thing I also wanted to dive into is the product offering, because, as travel advisors are getting wider interest from everything from you know cruises to safaris to even you know in destination experiences. I know you've added activities into your offering, but clearly the core of OTAs business is typically flight, car and hotel and again, I know that really well from building out these tools and it's so I mean. But the reality today is that travelers want so much more than just those three things. Those are the essentials, right, they need a place to stay, they need a way to get there and they need a way to get around typically. But one of the things that I know you guys have really pushed into is the accommodation space, and it was one of the most exciting developments because I was very early to VRBO Vacation Rentals by Owner, which was an amazing business, and a number of those short-term rental companies were all acquired by HomeAway.
Speaker 2:And then Expedia bought HomeAway and then rebranded it as VRBO or Vrbo to compete against Airbnb. And so, all of a sudden, you guys have, you know, you've developed a strength in short-term rentals beyond hotels. So I guess what I'm keen to know is what are the areas that you are pushing into in terms of new product? So, obviously, a big category like accommodation is obviously going to be incredibly important, but are there other smaller niches as well that you're now able to tap into, because you have the technology and it's much more efficient than ever to start bringing in, you know, tours and activities, experiences, some of the things you may not have spent the time and energy on before because there wasn't necessarily as big a revenue opportunity. So, yeah, what are some of the big product focus areas on the B2B side that you're pushing into and that you are seeing the greatest growth from?
Speaker 1:Yes, so for different products, because we are building these sort of B2B tailored solutions on top of this amazing Expedia platform. We get a bit of an acceleration because when we're adding these additional you know sort of offers and services, products for Expedia Group, that means we also get access to those as part of our B2B business. And so, definitely Verbos, vacation rentals are definitely something you know you can access through any of our different offers, whether it is our API, our template or our travel advisor tools, and so that is definitely an area that's there. Now it exists Activities as well.
Speaker 1:We do have activities and we actually activities is it's? It's super interesting. I would say. This is one, like you said, it wasn't historically one of those core travel offerings, and so I think activities and is from an industry perspective, is in a little bit different place. It's a bit fragmented compared to some of the others, and so we see that also as a huge opportunity. We already see a lot of our you know, a lot of our B2B partners booking that, and so that's definitely an area that's super interesting for us and, I think, for the industry overall.
Speaker 2:Definitely. I mean, there's a huge rise in people booking those tours and activities, and I know some of my colleagues, like Jose from Amigo Tours, works with Expedia Tap, and I've heard more and more recently about companies that are embracing your technology and seeing sales through the platform. So I'm excited to see that you are entering that space as well, because I think there's huge opportunity in the tours and activities space. Is there any other categories that you are looking at or that you are seeing the greatest growth from, because obviously there's so many niches within travel? But, yeah, is there any other areas that you're looking to explore, or is there any of these that are really standing out to you, like accommodation? That is just going from strength to strength.
Speaker 1:For us, the one of the big focuses. It is on where, where, anywhere, that we can make that travel experience more seamless. So any of these sort of like ancillary services and add-ons or things like that, those are all things that we're exploring, and I say that because you know travel as a whole. There are definitely it's not as fragmented, for sure, as it once was, but there's still tons of opportunity to make that entire trip more seamless, and so that's really what what we're kind of looking at.
Speaker 2:And um in terms of the ways that people can think about working with um, the partner Expedia group and the partner side, because one of the things that also um as we're talking about inventory like the um, how people can distribute their inventory through Expedia, that's certainly obviously what Amigo Tours is looking to do and that is how much I guess of the business is those solutions like actually welcoming and expanding the offering. Is that still remain an important element, for you're looking to aggregate more inventory? And like is there any specific areas that listeners to this are like wait a second, I need to make sure I get on Expedia because I didn't realize this was an option. Yeah, how important is that? That growth area specifically, because I'm assuming you've got so much demand you're continually looking for more inventory right, right, yeah, no, definitely we.
Speaker 1:We have amazing supply, I will say already, but we also are always, always there, always, always. You know there's more supply, we will sell more supply, and so I think the what we focus on is where can we add additional rates, additional inventory, additional operators, all of this where it's a very high quality experience, Because I think that's that is the other thing with Expedia, and that is we. We are very focused on making sure that complete traveler experiences is really, really outstanding, and so I think this is where all of those partnerships can be super, super valuable for them, because you know a lot of these homeowners super valuable for them because you know a lot of these homeowners and a lot of these you know tour providers. They too, like these travelers they care deeply about. And so I think, from that standpoint, what Expedia wants and what they want like they go really well hand in hand.
Speaker 2:We'll be right back. Hey travelers, are you looking to book your next adventure? Then you have to meet our good friends at Flight Center, the travel-obsessed experts ready to make your next dream trip a reality. For over 40 years they've been opening up the world to travelers from the UK, australia, new Zealand and now Flight Center Canada is celebrating an incredible milestone 30 years of helping Canadians explore the globe. From their first store in Vancouver in 1995 to becoming the official travel agency partner of the Toronto Raptors this year, they've been at the forefront of delivering travel experiences. At Flight Centre, travel is more than a passion. It's their expertise. From flights and accommodations to cruises and tours and even business travel, they handle it all, whether it's crafting a tailor-made trip or tackling group bookings. They've got you covered, plus with exclusive perks like their new bundle and save $500 on tour and cruise packages. There's never been a better time to plan your getaway. From the smallest getaways to the biggest bucket list trips, your travel goals are just a call or a click away. Visit flightcenterca slash travel trends to explore the latest deals, learn about emerging travel trends and start planning your next trip.
Speaker 2:Our longtime listeners will be very familiar with travelaicom, one of our sponsors from the very beginning. They've sponsored the last two seasons and also our AI Summit. You might actually remember they were recently featured in season four. The two co-founders summit. You might actually remember they were recently featured in season four. The two co founders, john Leotie and Chris Jensen, live from focus right, where they shared how their innovative use of AI is reshaping the travel industry. If you missed it, we highly recommend going back to hear their inspiring story of building one of the fastest growing, profitable AI companies in travel. Entirely bootstrapped travel Travel AI is revolutionizing the industry by blending AI-powered efficiency with personalized, human-centered travel experiences. From micro-segmentation to tailored travel solutions. Their mission is to enhance every traveler's journey while setting the pace for travel's future. Here's how you can join the exciting mission. If you or someone you know in tech or AI is looking for a new career that combines innovation and impact, then head to travelaicom or follow them on LinkedIn to explore more opportunities. They are growing fast. Thanks again for your continued support.
Speaker 2:Attention travelers and travel advisors, are you looking to elevate your travel experience beyond the ordinary? Then you have to say hello to our good friends at Colette, where guided travel gets a premium upgrade. For over 100 years, colette has been crafting expertly guided tours that go beyond the stereotypes. With over 170 tours across all seven continents, colette offers something for every type of traveler, from culturally immersive small group journeys to single city stays and even river cruises. And with their industry-leading travel protection plan, you can cancel for any reason up to 24 hours before departure. Plus, when you book air with Colette, they even offer a private chauffeur service to and from the airport. Discover why travelers love Colette and why guided travel is thriving. Join the evolution of travel today at gocollettecom. Your next adventure awaits. That's gocollettecom. And now back to the show.
Speaker 2:So, karen, it's fascinating to hear all the different ways that Expedia's B2B business is growing. We've talked about travel agents. We've talked about distribution and tours and activities. So we've talked about product. But one of the things I was keen to get your take on is how it all ties together. How do you make it seamless to either a B2B customer or a B2C? Is it more app-based? Is it more web-based? How are you seeing and proposing the integration, the consumer experience?
Speaker 1:That's an element to making it seamless. And so one is seamless whether you are on a desktop or whether you're on your mobile device or sort of wherever you are. That is definitely a very big focus, and Expedia and making sure all of that's super seamless, I think also on you know the communication and even how you're interacting with that travel experience you know you could be using, you know WhatsApp or you know many, many, many other forms of communication, and so that is a very important focus, as well as making sure the traveler, we're meeting the traveler where they're at, across any of these devices. That's one element of seamless. Another element of seamless is just all the many touch points whenever you go on a trip and sort of all of the many opportunities each of those touch points have to introduce some sort of delay, failure, interruption, and so I think that's a second category of you know where we're focusing to make travel more seamless.
Speaker 2:So one of the things that we obviously all struggle with is when things are happening in silos, like if someone's engaging with you on a chat or like, and that's why I was keen to know, just given the level of sophistication, as to Expedia's tech prowess and the platform you've built.
Speaker 2:And so the one other question I'm just keen to know is that when you are I'll use myself as an example when I'm booking on Expedia, like especially, you have all your regional websites, expediaca, expediacom when you're interacting, how much of that data flow is across the entire platform? I guess what I'm asking is, like the big eye of Expedia that is kind of trying to identify all the different users and all the places they are. For the most part is almost every touch point, trying to connect to a larger data source that is trying to tie those user profiles together, to try and make sure that, as you say, between desktop or web-based is that is the key trying to get user profiles, people logged in, so that then you know, wherever they are, that you're interacting with that person. I just, yeah, I guess I'm just keen to know how much integration there is between all these different platforms, given that complexity.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, definitely, that is. That is one, one big focus. You know, you, you, if you don't have that sort of common identity, you you won't know that that's the same person on the app that's on the desktop. And even for you know some of our, our own. You know Expedia is one key loyalty program. It's really important to us. You know that. You know you are getting your one key points. You know you're booking on Expedia, you're booking on hotelscom, you're booking on you know any of those consumer brands those are all, yeah, having that common identity is definitely one aspect of that.
Speaker 2:That's great to know because one of my so I use hotelscom as a standalone and I, and like I use hotelscom and one of my favorite parts of the Expedia platform is Hotwire, cause I'll. Often, when I'm going to New York, I just know that I need to be in the city and sometimes the prices in New York are really expensive and so, as long as I know, I can get a four-star hotel in Times Square and I'll just book with Hotwire and get fantastic rates. So that's why I was curious to know, if even my Hotwire activity is all kind of tapped into who these profiles are. Clearly that's the case. You're tying everything together in the back end.
Speaker 1:Right right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, now let's talk about where Expedia is headed. We're having this conversation, of course, karen, in 2025. And a lot of companies have this 2030 view of what their business is going to look like. Clearly, you know as well as anybody or probably more than most, I should say how AI is going to impact travel and how it's changing week to week, month to month.
Speaker 2:So it's very hard to predict, and one of the big topics for sure is agentic AI today that I'm sure you hear lots about and are working on, and so, but yeah, I guess what I'd like to know is where you think we're headed and what are some of the exciting developments that you and the team are planning on that we could look forward to coming from Expedia. So, again, that's where you don't have to paint the five-year view, maybe even just paint the six to 12-month view of where you think this is headed, because I think enough will change within that time. So, yeah, what are some of the things we should be paying attention to with Expedia Partner Services and where are you headed on this technology journey?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's true, the future of technology right now it's constantly being rewritten, especially with AI. Ai is really at the center of this transformation and there's huge potential. You know, the world of travel has evolved, I will say, even since I entered this industry over two decades ago. It's going to keep doing that. Since I entered this industry over two decades ago, it's going to keep doing that. Ultimately, we need to make sure that we're delivering the best technology to help our B2B businesses deliver great travel experiences, and we will do that to the full extent of what technology enables, and so that means we are focused on building products that make sure our partners remain competitive, and so to you know, to that end, there's a whole bunch of products that you know we're coming, that we're building. But I think the big thing is, all of these are embedded with AI, they're improved with AI, and we're sort of continuously innovating across all of those with AI. Yeah, I've AI and we're sort of continuously innovating across all of those with AI.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've certainly. I was just gave a presentation in Mobile, alabama to the Educational Travel Consortium Conference and I talked about Expedia and OTAs and really to pay close attention to your developments, your roadmap, because you're clearly leading the way. You know you are a technology company at heart and that's something that you know. Expedia has always said although you love travel, you're a technology company that works in the travel space, and so, um, um, so I know we, I asked you that question about travel and I just wanted to ask you one personal question, um, which was where you're traveling to next. What is next on your list for 2025 of the places you want to travel to, and how are you going to go about booking that?
Speaker 1:Well, you know where I'm going to book it, dan. No, I probably my next trip is going to be Madrid, spain, and I love going to Spain. I love going to Madrid. We have a. We have a pretty big office there, so that's my next trip. But my next personal trip is I would love to go see the Northern Lights. That's one thing that I have not done and I keep saying I'm going to do it. So this is the year and I'm booking on Expedia.
Speaker 2:Yes, well, you have to come to Canada for the Northern Lights. There's lots of places you can see Northern Lights, but Frontiers North Churchill, manitoba it's one of the most spectacular places to go and see it. I'm sure John and his team have their tours bookable on Expedia so you can get them there.
Speaker 2:But yes you can go to Iceland. You can go to many places Alaska, but I would highly recommend a trip to Canada. Also, I wanted to make sure, given the conversation we've had, the number of things that we've touched on together, I'm sure there's many people that are going to look to reach out to you. I know we've mentioned the partner website, but I would love to get one more piece of advice from you for all of our listeners that are looking to work with Expedia on the B2B side.
Speaker 1:So a piece of advice and then where they should go for more information to connect with you or the team. We did a 2025 Traveler Value Index study, and so we know 87% of travelers have said they are likely to book through a non-travel provider, and so that means a financial institution, a bank, a credit card, a retailer. We partner with SoFi, we partner with Walmart. We have a lot of these amazing B2B partnerships and they want to book with them, but they want to book with those folks where they are being powered by a really well-known travel brand like Expedia, because that creates that trust, that trust in the travel offer. And so that's my advice is you should definitely partner with Expedia's B2B business. We're trusted in travel. We have amazing technology. We have probably the most travel expertise and technology expertise and B2B partnerships than you will find. So, yeah, come join us. Us like together we can make this industry amazing and we'll keep moving forward together. Visit our partner website at partnerexpediagroupcom.
Speaker 2:That's great. I've one of the big parties every year, the, the, the Expedia party in in Las Vegas. I've been a couple of times. Everyone talks about it like the partner conference. It is truly epic, like it's next level. For those of you that want to know how Expedia parties, it's quite something to be a part of, but also it's just. The conference obviously highlights all of the different innovations. So I just wanted to add that as well, because I've learned a lot from attending those conferences over the years. So I just wanted to add that as well, because I've learned a lot from attending those conferences over the years. So what are some of the other ones that people should pay attention to for Expedia events if they want to actually attend some of these functions that are coming up over the course of the? You know, sort of major travel conferences?
Speaker 1:I'll be speaking at Focusrite here in a couple of months in Barcelona. We were at ITB, you know, a couple of weeks ago, like you'll find us at most travel conferences. So I would say, whatever conference that you might be going to, just take a look and like, find some of those folks at Expedia, because we, we love, we do love travel, I will say at Expedia yeah, well, I'll look forward to seeing you there.
Speaker 2:I was actually wondering if that when you go to Madrid, because we'll both be together at Focusrite Europe and Barcelona. It's going to be my first European Focusrite, which I'm really looking forward to, so great to hear you're going to be there as well, so we'll have a chance to catch up in person. But, yeah, I really appreciate you making the time for this conversation. I've certainly learned a lot. I could certainly do another hour and we'll have to have you back on season six of Travel Trends and as we explore AI and we've got our AI summit coming up later this year as well, which obviously we'd love for you to be, involved in in some way, but you've kindly mentioned where to find out more information.
Speaker 2:Obviously, you're on LinkedIn as well if people want to connect with Karen Bolda directly. But yeah, thank you so much for making the time for this. I'm really excited about our partnership and collaboration with Expedia and I'm excited to see what you do next, and so I'm going to stay posted. So, thanks a lot, karen. I really appreciate you making the time for this.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much for joining us on this latest episode of Travel Trends. I hope you enjoyed today's conversation with Karen Bolda, the B2B Chief Product and Technology Officer at Expedia Group. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. I'm looking forward to more collaborations with the team over at Expedia, especially as we go into Season 6, which launches in September. And don't forget to send over any recommendations you have for guests or topics you want us to cover. And also make sure that you go and register for the AI Summit coming up at the end of October at TravelTrendsPodcastcom.
Speaker 2:Early bird tickets are available until the end of June and now, as I mentioned at the beginning, we have a lot of event spotlights coming up over the next few weeks, so make sure you're subscribed on the streaming platform of your choice to be notified when new episodes go live. And, as you all know, we post clips and highlights from these conversations, including the one today with Karen, on our social channels at Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn, so be sure to check us out there. And also we send out our monthly newsletter, which is coming out again shortly from travel trends podcastcom. So be sure to go there and sign up, and otherwise we will look forward to having you join us for our last deep dive of season five next week our in-destination experiences before we close off with an amazing episode featuring the founder of Viator, Rod Cuthbert. Until next week, safe travels.
