Companies are clamoring to find a competitive edge through artificial intelligence (AI) investment and implementation. But that kind of advantage remains somewhat intangible.
As stakeholders pour resources toward hopefully gaining an AI advantage, the question remains: How are travel brands considering the return on investment (ROI)?
For giants like Expedia Group, AI presents an opportunity to lead—and there’s value to being first-to-market in terms of returns.
“This is all highly experimental, but it’s an important channel for us,” an Expedia Group spokesperson said, discussing the company’s exploration of generative engine optimization and answer engine optimization.
Meanwhile, Rob Ransom, SVP and chief strategy officer for Booking Holdings, said during an interview at the Travel Trends AI Summit 2025 that the company aims to track “most things” it implements to understand the impact.
According to Ransom, the aim is to ensure the company is getting the highest return on its allocated resources. Yields can be estimated in terms of customer results, financial results or both, he said.
Other companies are seeking to take advantage of without misspending, too.
Hostelworld Group is focused on seizing opportunities without wasting energy on technology that isn’t quite ready yet.
“We aim to be on the leading edge but not the bleeding edge,” said Gary Morrison, CEO of Hostelworld Group.
Navigating that line requires a mindset of agility—and efficient assessment of what’s working and what’s not.
“We move fast, but stay smart. We don’t chase hype; we chase what works,” Morrison said. “That means experimenting quickly, measuring outcomes and pivoting when needed.”
Quantifying investment
Morrison said Hostelworld Group is looking at AI ROI the same way it would any other emerging product. He referenced business cases, defined success metrics and a focus on outcomes.
“We rely on real-world experiments and rapid iteration to guide investment decisions,” Morrison said. “If something works, we scale it. If not, we pivot quickly.”
For features that are consumer facing, Morrison said the company is tracking engagement metrics such as click-through rates and conversion uplift.
Of course, not everything is easy to follow. Morrison said productivity and quality improvements are key internally, for example, but those factors aren’t always directly quantifiable.
Hostelworld Group is looking at operational efficiency, enhanced customer experience and marketplace competitiveness as key indicators of success.
And Klaus Kohlmayr, chief evangelist and development officer for IdeaS, said the company focuses on two critical areas when measuring AI ROI.
“First is obviously financial performance. The applied mathematical AI underpinning our solutions drives direct, measurable business results like RevPAR gains,” Kohlmayr said. “The other key measure of ROI is related to the productivity and efficiency gains unlocked by automation.”
Kohlmayr added that there are certain AI applications, such as revenue management, that are easy to measure in terms of ROI. However, that can break down in certain scenarios.
“We know from recent H2c research that many hospitality organizations lack a formal AI strategy, and that’s an issue,” Kohlmayr said. “A poorly defined plan for AI implementation can turn a valuable technology into a solution in search of a problem—and a poor use of limited resources.”
At Booking Holdings, not all areas are receiving equal levels of investment within the AI arena, and the company is not measuring everything in the same way.
Ransom pointed to the use of AI tools in customer service as an example, as Booking Holdings is determining whether a chatbot can address inbound traveler requests.
“That transactional approach is pretty measurable.” he said. “We know what we’re spending. We can see what the impact on customers is. We’re very excited about what we’re seeing there.”
While quantification varies by use case, Kohlmayr emphasized that a solid foundation is necessary for any AI success. The technology depends on the quality and accessibility of data.
“It is critical for anyone investing in AI to look broader than just a single system and understand how it fits into the overall tech ecosystem,” Kohlmayr said.
Considering AI success
Still, there are indicators of AI success, even if they’re not traditional measurements.
According to Ransom, there are areas where Booking Holdings is seeing improved resolution, improved customer satisfaction and lower cost.
And success looks different depending on innovation level.
“On the other extreme, in terms of trying to do very innovative things for customers and travelers … a new way to search for travel, or a new way to try and plan a complicated trip … we recognize that measurement is something we’ll have to deal with in the future there,” Ransom said.
With that use case, Ransom said it’s more about understanding how the company can meet customer needs, potentially requiring more resources to scale and extend across markets. Once they’ve addressed that need, Booking Holdings can “get more concerned about measurements.”
“It’s not one size fits all, and we’re okay not really being able to measure things in all the detail that we normally would,” Ransom said.
Expedia Group, which is focused on agentic AI, said it is driving measurable value across its business through partnerships, AI product integration and operationalizing the technology at scale.
“Ultimately, our goal is to meet travelers wherever they are, whether in an AI-powered search result, traditional search engine or beyond, and deliver the most seamless, personalized travel planning experience possible while helping boost productivity and efficiency across our business and making sure our supply partners are present in new channels, like gen AI search engines,” said the Expedia Group spokesperson.
Morrison said the best ROI has been from initiatives that have aligned with the company’s strategic priorities. While investment was modest, it produced outsized results.
“We know it’s working when travelers find more relevant connections, properties secure more bookings and our team ships better tools in less time,” he said.
Overall, as the industry moves from the fever pitch of adoption into an era of accountability, the brands that win won’t just have the most advanced models. Victors will have determined how to prove their investments are working.