Online travel stocks rise after report that OpenAI to scale back direct checkouts

March 5 (Reuters) – Shares of online travel agencies surged on Thursday after a report that OpenAI is scaling back plans to integrate direct bookings into ChatGPT, easing investor fears that the AI chatbots could eventually cut out travel intermediaries.

Shares of Expedia were up over 12%, while Booking Holdings and Tripadvisor rose 8% and 5%, respectively.

The rally followed a report by The Information that OpenAI found ChatGPT users were researching products in the chatbot but not completing purchases through it.

The AI company will instead focus on checkouts within specific third-party apps that plug into ChatGPT, the report said, citing an OpenAI spokesperson.

OpenAI did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Investors and analysts have grown increasingly concerned that generative AI tools could become the dominant platform for planning and booking travel, potentially bypassing intermediaries such as online travel agencies.

We see the OpenAI news as incrementally positive for online travel agencies, Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke said in a note.

“This means that Booking and Expedia can continue to get in front of consumers on AI-platforms, lowering the risk of disintermediation,” Clarke added.

Expedia and Booking Holdings were among the first companies to integrate with ChatGPTwhen OpenAI launched its plugins programme in 2023.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)