Uber CEO Says Travel Rivals Like Expedia Can’t Match Its On-the-Ground Edge

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he believes his company has an advantage in travel over competitors such as Expedia and the travel newbie OpenAI because of Uber’s on-the-ground experience in markets around the world.

“Uber is already very highly used by the global traveler. We operate in more than 70 countries,” Khosrowshahi told the Decoder podcast Monday. “Often what is the first thing you do when you arrive in an airport in a city other than a home city? You open the Uber app.”

He said over 100 million riders are booking trips to and from airports each year, with 1.5 billion trips a year outside of users’ home cities.

“It’s a perfect audience to start to build out the travel offerings,” he said.

In a deal signed last week, Uber users can book lodging sourced from Expedia’s global inventory in the Uber app. A limited number of hotels are in the mix already, and vacation homes from sister brand Vrbo are slated. Members of Uber One, Uber’