Key Players
Competitive Landscape
Key Players
Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, Airbnb, Tripadvisor, eDreams ODIGEO and Despegar are covered in the competitive discussion.
Booking Holdings and Expedia Group sell flights, hotels and cars at global scale under both merchant and agency billing [4][2]. Airbnb sells homes and is adding hotels, services and experiences [11]. Tripadvisor earns most of its revenue from Viator experiences and hotel referrals [12]. eDreams ODIGEO sells flights, hotels and rail through a paid membership [7]. Despegar serves Latin American travellers inside the Prosus group [9]. Competitive positions therefore separate into global marketplaces, membership models and regional specialists.
Table 7: Company Developments and Commercial Implications
| Evidence | Commercial effect | Buyer action |
|---|---|---|
| Expedia Group agrees to acquire CarTrawler, May 2026, later completed [13][14] | Car rental and ground transport supply joins the B2B platform that serves 75,000 partners | Partners building travel offers should test whether one connection can replace separate car and lodging suppliers |
| Tripadvisor signs agreement to sell TheFork for USD 700.0 million, August 2026 [12] | Capital and management focus shift toward experiences | Tour and activity suppliers should review Viator listing terms and marketing options |
| European Parliament adopts passenger rights rules for intermediaries, October 2026 [15] | Once approved by the Council, refunds for flights booked through agencies must reach passengers within 14 days from October 2027 | Airlines and agencies should align refund settlement and customer notices before the rules apply |
How are the companies positioned?
Global marketplaces compete on supply depth, payment options and app engagement. Booking Holdings sold 1,235 million room nights in 2025 and held USD 6.5 billion of deferred merchant bookings at 30 September 2026 [4][5]. Expedia Group combines Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo with a large B2B business [2]. eDreams ODIGEO and Despegar compete on membership benefits and local payment habits [7][9].
What matters when a traveller or partner qualifies an online travel agency?
Travellers assess total price, cancellation terms and refund speed. Partners assess supply coverage, servicing capacity and settlement terms. Expedia Group's B2B unit processes 21 billion API calls a day and handles more than 7 million servicing calls a year [13]. Servicing scale matters most when flights are cancelled in large numbers.
Which capabilities distinguish the product offers?
Payment flexibility, bundled supply and AI planning are the main points of differentiation. Airbnb offers Reserve Now, Pay Later and interest-free installments in Brazil and Mexico [11]. Expedia Group has added the Layla AI planner [6]. eDreams ODIGEO sells Prime as an annual subscription with monthly payments [7]. Each capability raises the frequency of repeat bookings.
How does geographic reach affect competition?
Geographic reach determines which travellers an agency can serve and which national rules govern it. Booking Holdings serves customers in more than 220 countries and territories [5]. eDreams ODIGEO operates in 44 markets [7]. Despegar focuses on Latin America and uses iFood's customer base in Brazil [9]. Local specialists can compete on payment methods and language even against global platforms.
Representative Company Overview
Table 8: Online Travel Agencies Market Representative Company Overview
| Company | Positioning | Verified activity |
|---|---|---|
| Booking Holdings Inc. | Global online travel platform with merchant and agency billing | Third-quarter 2026 gross bookings of USD 54.5 billion, up 10.0% [5] |
| Expedia Group, Inc. | Global travel marketplace with a large B2B unit | Second-quarter 2026 gross bookings of USD 33.9 billion, with B2B up 21.0% [2] |
| Airbnb, Inc. | Homes platform adding hotels, services and experiences | Second-quarter 2026 gross booking value of USD 27.2 billion, up 16.0% [11] |
| eDreams ODIGEO S.A. | European travel subscription platform | 8.1 million Prime members at June 2026 [7] |
| Despegar.com Corp. (Prosus) | Latin American online travel agency | Gross bookings of USD 5.9 billion in the year to March 2026, up 29.0% [9] |
Research Methodology
FMI builds an annual gross booking assessment from the cited tourism statistics, regulatory texts and company results. The scope counts travel services booked through third-party online platforms and excludes direct supplier websites and offline agency desks. Segment comparisons use the same gross booking base and mutually exclusive categories within each classification. Country forecasts combine local travel flows, payment habits and channel structure with the global 2036 outlook. Validation checks units, dates, compound growth, segment totals and company roles. Secondary observations keep their original period and measurement basis [1][4][24][29].
