Booking Holdings Stock Price, News & Analysis

Booking.com (BKNG) has announced a strategic partnership with Antom, a merchant payment provider under Ant International, to expand payment options across 8 key Asian markets. The collaboration will integrate over 40 new payment methods, including online banking, bank transfers, digital wallets, and local card payments.

The partnership targets markets with a combined population of 680 million, including Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines. Initial implementations will include major mobile wallets such as AlipayHK, Boost, GCash, GrabPay, Kakao Pay, Naver Pay, Touch 'n Go eWallet, and TrueMoney.

Through Antom's multi-currency offerings and cross-border settlement capabilities, Booking.com aims to enhance transaction security, optimize foreign exchange risk management, and improve operational efficiency. The partnership particularly benefits smaller properties and holiday rentals by providing access to diverse payment infrastructures.

KAYAK predicts 2025 will be dominated by long-haul international travel, with two-thirds of flight searches being international. Asia emerges as the top trending region, with flights at a 3-year price low, showing a 7% decrease compared to 2024. Japan leads as the must-see destination, with Tokyo being the most searched destination and projected top Spring Break spot for 2025.

Notable trends include significant airfare drops to Asian destinations like Sapporo (-19%), Okinawa (-17%), and Osaka (-14%). The Caribbean also shows promising trends with the lowest prices in three years, down 17% year-over-year. Business class searches have increased 19% YoY, with relatively affordable options to destinations like Cancun ($1,274) and Iceland ($2,882).

Rocket Travel by Agoda and Skift have released a new report highlighting challenges in hotel wholesale distribution. The report, titled 'The Wholesale Hotel Playbook: How Technology and Data are Redefining Distribution,' reveals that hotels could be losing 10% or more in revenue due to poor wholesale rate distribution control. The solution offers three key benefits: rate integrity through transparency, enhanced partnership control, and data-driven insights. Success cases include a partner chain improving rate parity from 40% to 76% over eight months, and another increasing new partner revenue share from 16% to 49%.

OpenTable reveals dining trends for 2025 based on consumer research and platform data. Key findings show 54% of diners plan to increase dining out in 2025, with Gen Z (71%) and Millennials (68%) leading this trend. Notable shifts include an 11% YoY increase in Wednesday dining, 10% growth in solo dining, and 8% rise in group dining (6+ people). Experiential dining bookings increased 27% YoY, with 42% of Americans showing increased interest for 2025. The company also released its Top 100 Restaurants in America for 2024, compiled from over 14 million diner reviews, with Chicago leading with 10% of listed restaurants.

U.S. Bank has launched a new travel booking platform, the U.S. Bank Travel Center with Booking.com, powered by Rocket Travel by Agoda. The platform allows credit cardholders to book hotels, flights, and rental cars while offering access to over 2.4 million properties worldwide through Booking Holdings brands. The service features special travel discounts, 24/7 support, same-day booking capability, and enhanced site navigation. Additional benefits include cash-back deals, merchant discount offers, and Paze℠, a secure online checkout solution using tokenization technology.

Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) has announced that CFO Ewout Steenbergen will present at the Nasdaq 51st Investor Conference in London. The event, organized in collaboration with Morgan Stanley, will take place at the May Fair Hotel on December 11, with Steenbergen's presentation scheduled for 4:00 am ET / 9:00 am GMT.

The presentation will be accessible through a live audio cast at the company's investor relations website. A replay will be made available approximately 24 hours after the presentation and will remain accessible for 12 months.

Priceline has announced its largest holiday sale of the year, featuring discounts of up to 99% on travel bookings. The sale, which runs from November 11, 2024, through Travel Tuesday, includes three waves of deals on flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, and activities. Priceline will introduce its first-ever '10 Days of Deals' from November 20 to 29, followed by Cyber Monday and Travel Tuesday sales. Special offers include 35% off hotel and flight bundles, 20% off select hotels, and up to 50% off Flight Express Deals®. Partnering with top travel brands like Affirm and Walt Disney World, Priceline aims to provide significant savings and personalized travel experiences. Early bird deals include mystery coupons offering up to 99% off for subscribers, VIP status upgrades, and double Cruise Cash on select cruises. The holiday savings continue throughout December with Priceline's 'Season of Savings' sale.

Booking.com is expanding its AI-powered features with three key innovations: Smart Filter, Property Q&A, and Review Summaries. Smart Filter allows travelers to describe their ideal property in natural language, while Property Q&A provides instant answers to specific accommodation questions. Review Summaries will condense guest feedback into tailored insights.

These features are currently available in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore via mobile app. The company's AI Trip Planner, launched in June 2023, is expanding to several European countries with local language support. This expansion responds to growing demand, with 41% of travelers expressing interest in AI-driven travel planning.

Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) announced it will release its third quarter 2024 financial results on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET. The results will be available through a press release on the company's Investor Relations website. A conference call to discuss the results is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET on the same day, which will be webcasted live. Audio replays will remain accessible on the website for seven days after the event.