Expedia Group (EXPE) Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference 2026 summary

Strategic priorities and performance

• Priorities: accelerate consumer growth, sustain B2B expansion, improve efficiency, and deliver more traveler value through products, supply, and service.

• Brand Expedia recorded its highest-ever attach rate; 40% of Vrbo transactions were at promotional rates last quarter.

• B2B grew double digits for 20 consecutive quarters; trailing-12-month free cash flow doubled versus two years earlier, with meaningful margin expansion.

• Strategic priorities remain unchanged; operations are described as simpler, faster, and more agile.

AI and the travel funnel

• AI is a key growth opportunity; natural-language search is not yet improving conversion but provides richer traveler insights, while product and tech teams report 40% faster cycle times.

• Natural-language searches yield 60% more information about traveler intent; personalization is being applied to recommendations, hotel rankings, and filters.

• Two-thirds of consumer business comes direct; investments span personalized apps and experiments with AEO, agentic browsers, micro apps, and ChatGPT ads.

• AI interfaces are evolving; adding photos, descriptions, and multiple property options to partner chat experiences increased engagement.

Travel demand

• Consumer demand remained resilient in July, consistent with Q2; strength was greater at the high end and in domestic travel, while U.S. outbound remained strong.

• Labor Day searches for vacation destinations, including Las Vegas and Mexico, rose 35%; fall searches favored cities such as New York, Boston, and Chicago.

• Increased use of budget and all-inclusive filters points to travelers seeking deals and stretching spending.