What OTA Investors Got Wrong About the ChatGPT Checkout Walkback

Shares of Expedia and Booking Holdings jumped after OpenAI stepped back from enabling transactions inside ChatGPT. That may ease concerns about future bookings — but a bigger issue remains for OTAs: how AI is reshaping travel discovery.

Travelers are using AI tools to form opinions, narrow options, and build itineraries before they ever open a booking site.

In Skift Research and McKinsey’s latest joint report, “Remapping Travel With Agentic AI,” the share of travelers who said they used ChatGPT or similar tools “extensively” for trip planning rose 124% year over year, from 13% to 30%.

That raises a familiar question for the travel industry: What matters most — discovery or bookings?

The reality is that both are important to customers, as well as travel companies fighting to own the tip of the sales f