Will Agentic AI Turn OTAs Into Passive Order Takers?

The rapid development of agentic AI raises an important question for OTAs: Do Expedia, Booking.com, Trip.com, and MakeMyTrip risk becoming mere fulfillment arms of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude?

I just booked a hotel for the holidays in New York City using ChatGPT's Agent Mode in its new Atlas browser. The booking was through Expedia, but I never had to leave ChatGPT to complete the transaction.

I simply told Agent Mode what I wanted to book and specified that I wanted to use Expedia (I could have also chosen others). ChatGPT took care of nearly everything else: It entered the destination, dates and number of travelers on Expedia, sorted search results, and recommended a room type.

source: OPenAI

Before agentic AI completed the booking, I just needed to enter my name and payment information, and whether I wanted travel insurance (I didn't). I opted to pay at the property instead of immediately.

The reservation confirmation