glenn fogel

The EU's Digital Markets Act incorrectly classifies Booking as one of seven global gatekeepers alongside Google and Meta based on quantitative thresholds, ignoring that travelers have many hotel booking alternatives; the Etraveli merger block uses a novel 'ecosystem' theory unsupported by law.

AI agents will replace human wedding planners and travel coordinators by instantly matching preferences to vendors (florists, bands, hotels) across complex multi-leg trips, with Booking already deploying early tools and iterating rapidly.

By moving from agency to merchant model, Booking captures the payments flow — accepting dozens of local payment methods (Alipay, M-Pesa, iDEAL) from travelers and settling in suppliers' preferred currency — creating FX revenue and solving a key supplier pain point.

Booking requires every employee to become AI-literate to enable internal redeployment when roles are automated, citing Harvey AI reducing legal headcount and predicting investment banking analyst classes will shrink significantly.