Skift Commerce Summit 2026: AI & Five Critical Choices
Skift Commerce Summit 2026 highlights how AI booking agents are disrupting travel distribution and outlines five key business decisions leaders must make.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- AI booking agents are rapidly growing, with one invite-only agent reporting over $1 billion in annual volume.
- Hotels must balance AI discoverability against the risk of losing direct customer relationships.
- Non-travel companies like banks are increasingly profiting from travel ancillaries and loyalty programs.
- 75% of senior travel executives have non-core assets they can monetize for new revenue streams.
AI agents are here, but the travel industry is not ready. Decisions made today will determine who controls booking processes, customer relationships, and the broader economics of travel commerce. An invite-only booking agent has already reported more than $1 billion a year in transaction volume, half of which comes from travel. While investors have placed their bets on winners and losers, most travel companies are still structured around traditional travelers who search, scroll, and click manually.
Historically, travel suppliers chose primarily between direct or third-party distribution. Today, an AI agent may decide which brands appear, which system finalizes the booking, which payment card is used, and which loyalty program earns the rewards. Hotels alone spend over $105 billion annually on distribution, and AI companies are actively targeting a share of that market.
The Skift Commerce Summit brings senior commerce leaders together to address five critical decisions travel companies face right now. Operator tickets are priced at $275, while vendor tickets are limited at $1,500. Although AI has rapidly penetrated the inspiration and planning stages of travel, it has not yet dominated booking. According to Skift Research, direct suppliers lead with a 49% net comfort score, followed by packaged tours at 37%, travel agents at 34%, loyalty portals at 31%, and OTAs at 20%, whereas AI and chatbots score -7%.
"The competition to be a travel distributor has never been this intense."
Skift Research
Hotels, airlines, and retailers are rushing to optimize for AI discoverability, yet greater reliance on AI platforms increases the risk of losing direct customer engagement. Travel companies must decide whether distribution alone is worth it if their offerings become entirely interchangeable within third-party interfaces.
The aggressive expansion of AI technologies and non-travel entities like banks into the travel sector demonstrates that the traditional travel value chain is evolving. Financial institutions leverage travel to increase credit card spending and subscription value, applying competitive pressure that forces travel operators to rethink their core business models and customer retention strategies.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Non-travel companies are continuously profiting from travel by capturing ancillaries and loyalty. Data shows that 32% of travelers rank credit card or bank loyalty programs as the most rewarding, outperforming hotel programs at 26% and airline programs at 20%. These entities can compete for travelers without depending on booking revenues for their core economics.
Another major decision involves expanding into new revenue streams by leveraging existing assets and customer bases. However, entering unfamiliar business operations can introduce complexity faster than revenue. A joint Skift and ZS survey revealed that while 75% of senior travel executives possess non-core assets they can monetize, only 32% describe their current approach as very innovative.
Source: Skift
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