Expedia Group B2B unveils AI planning tools

Expedia Group B2B has unveiled a new suite of AI-powered products and announced an agreement to acquire Dublin-based car rental platform CarTrawler, amid an expansion of its global distribution capabilities.

The developments, announced at the company’s Explore 26 conference in Las Vegas, are designed to “make it easier” for third-party brands and agents to integrate end-to-end travel experiences into their own channels.

Central to the announcement is the forthcoming launch of Expedia Group’s ‘Intelligent Experience Platform’.

The new B2B technology consists of a set of composable AI components that will allow partners to build branded, AI-assisted trip planning tools across APIs, user interfaces and agent workflows. The toolkit will be rolled out to select partners in the coming months.

Alongside the tech updates, Expedia Group revealed it has entered an agreement to acquire B2B ground transport platform CarTrawler, which is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

The move follows the company’s recent acquisition of Amsterdam-based activities specialist Tiqets. Expedia Group stated that both acquisitions underpin its wider strategy to expand its Rapid API solution beyond lodging to encompass car rental, flights, activities, and trip protection.

Alfonso Paredes, B2B president and chief commercial officer at Expedia Group, said: “For decades we’ve built the plumbing behind the scenes that makes travel work more connected, seamless, and trusted – the supply, the pricing, the payments, and service. Now we’re making that infrastructure even easier for partners to plug into.

“With one connection, partners can build more complete travel experiences for their customers, capture more of the trip, and do it with less complexity.”

Expedia Group’s B2B division currently services 75,000 partners and 200,000 travel advisors globally, processing an estimated 21 billion API calls per day.

The group also announced a series of “marketing enhancements” for its Rapid API partners, including a new merchandising API to help brands create cross-channel marketing campaigns, and updates to its travel media network featuring AI-powered advertising portals.

Addressing potential data and security concerns surrounding the rollout of automated technologies, the company highlighted that all high-risk AI deployments are vetted by its internal ‘responsible AI council’ before scaling.

Paredes added: “Partners want growth, but they also want to know their brand and their customers are in safe hands. A year ago, we said we would build a broader platform for partners, and we did.

“Today, we’re helping partners sell more, serve better, and capture more of the trip, using infrastructure that’s been tested at scale for decades.”