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Booking Holdings Builds on European and Asian Strength, While U.S. Lags

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Booking Holdings’ gross bookings and revenue in the second quarter exceeded management’s earlier forecasts, but the performance highlighted a tale of two markets: strong international demand versus continued weakness in U.S. leisure travel.

CEO Glenn Fogel said that the U.S. proved to be the company’s slowest-growing region, though executives said conditions improved slightly from the first quarter.

“We see generally the top end of the U.S. consumer market will be a little stronger, spending more in the 5-star hotel category, spending more on international travel, including Europe,” CFO Ewout Steenbergen said. Meanwhile, “at the lower end, more careful behavior of U.S. consumers” persisted.

Overall room nights for hotels and alternative accommodations grew 8%, year-over-year.

The works out well for Booking Holdings, which has less exposure to the U.S. market than competitors like Expedia and Airbnb.

While inbound travel to the U.S. declined year-over-year, particularly from Canadian and European visitors, strong growth for routes like Canada to Mexico and Europe to Asia offset those declines.

“Europe is holding up quite well,” Steenbergen said. “We see Europeans booking earlier and booking at higher prices than a



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Delta Says It Will Not Use AI to Target Customers

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Key Points

  • Delta Air Lines clarified it does not use AI to set individualized airfares based on personal data, following criticism from lawmakers.
  • The airline uses AI, via a partnership with Fetcherr, to assist in dynamic pricing for a growing portion of its domestic flights, but claims all fares are determined by market dynamics and are publicly available.
  • Lawmakers and officials have expressed concerns about potential predatory or ‘surveillance’ pricing, prompting Delta to stress its commitment to fair, competitive pricing and data privacy.

Summary

Delta Air Lines has publicly stated that it does not use AI to set individualized prices based on personal customer data, responding to recent criticism and inquiries from U.S. lawmakers. The airline acknowledged using AI technology, through a partnership with Fetcherr, to assist analysts in setting fares for a portion of its domestic flights, with plans to expand this use. However, Delta emphasized that fares are determined by market competition, not personal data, and all prices are transparently published, aiming to dispel concerns about privacy and potential predatory pricing.



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U.S. Dollar Slide Hurts Accor, Minor, and MeliĆ”

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Some of the world’s largest hotel companies saw their earnings dented by currency swings in the first half of 2025, as euro and baht-reporting groups absorbed losses while U.S.-based chains appeared largely insulated from the volatility.

Accor, MeliĆ” Hotels, and Minor International all reported currency-related losses that offset solid operational performance. Meanwhile, U.S.-based Hilton and Wyndham, which report in dollars, did not mention foreign exchange impacts in their earnings calls and appeared shielded from the same pressures.

The U.S. dollar index dropped 10.8% in the first half of 2025 following the Trump administration’s April tariffs and public clashes with the Federal Reserve. The resulting investor pullback caused the dollar to weaken sharply against the euro, baht, and other currencies.

Accor: Currency Among Its Biggest Headwinds

Paris-based Accor repo



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Winners, Losers, and Lots of Premium Seats: Europe’s Airline Scorecard

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Skift Take: Premium cabins still drive profits, but it's the low-cost threat that keeps Europe's legacy carriers up at night.

Read the Complete Story On Skift



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