00:00Per Buhler. He is the CEO of Kayak, the travel search engine owned by Booking.com. Per, what's your take
00:08on the effect of prices on consumers who use your site?
00:14Are they are they searching more and more for cheaper deals? Are they shrinking trips to travel still but maybe
00:21on smaller vacations?
00:24How is the consumer reacting to prices that continue to rise?
00:30Thank you so much for having me here. I'm really excited to talk to you about what we're seeing at
00:34Kayak with all the search interest that's always happening at Kayak.
00:38We love the data. We love digging in. To answer your question, we're seeing people respond to changes in travel
00:45pricing.
00:45A lot of demand is shifting, especially from international trips to domestic trips.
00:51We build a dashboard to keep track of flight prices because that is the main driver of interest moving around.
01:00As always, and we've seen disruptions before, people are incredibly resilient, incredibly resourceful, trying to find a way to make
01:08our trip happen.
01:09If it's not to the place they had in mind at first go, they'll tweak it up and they'll go
01:14somewhere else.
01:14And that's exactly what we're seeing now again.
01:16How are you using AI, Per? Because it seems to me I'm using different chatbots a lot more in terms
01:27of planning trips, but it could be even better in terms of comparing prices.
01:33Yeah, same here. I'm using AI all the time. We launched Ask AI on Kayak to really benefit from everything
01:40AI has to offer in the user journey of comparing prices and trying to find travel options.
01:46It's working really well. It's working really well. It allows people to explore prices and routes, everything that's on offer
01:54on Kayak right then and there.
01:56Obviously, people are also using LLMs, which works really well for exploration, interest, inspiration.
02:06But when you get closer to that place where you're ready to convert, ready to really consider options, platforms like
02:13Kayak do a really specific job at holding people's hand and creating clarity for them such that they can book
02:20with confidence afterwards.
02:21Do you have all the APIs that you need, Per? Because when I'm trying to use AI in an agentic
02:28way, it fails to get into any of the company websites that I'm looking across.
02:35Obviously, you have many years of experience in this industry. You're a well-known name here and partner with a
02:43lot of the biggest travel corporations globally.
02:47But do you have the access you need for your AI agents to get in and do the work that's
02:52necessary?
02:53We absolutely do. And it's been a lot of work, as you mentioned. We're past 22 years in this industry
03:01of building integrations with those that have the rates, really getting real-time, up-to-date information.
03:07Because obviously, that is what you need if you're truly going to make a decision.
03:12So let me be clear. I don't see this as a race between LLMs and Kayak.
03:17I really believe we can help each other. We have a different place in the market.
03:22If you're close to booking a trip, really considering options and trying to find the right one to click on,
03:29platforms like Kayak have a use advantage, by and large, because of these integrations, as well as 22 years of
03:36experience in understanding how to show people options and hold people's hand to really get to the right answers when
03:44booking a trip.
03:44In terms of things to do this summer, a lot of people are talking about the World Cup.
03:50I know, you know, personally, a number of people coming in from Germany, Austria, Switzerland to watch games here.
04:00How much of a driver is a marquee event like that for you at Kayak?
04:04Oh, it's very significant.
04:07To give you a number, we've seen one today where interest to cities that are host cities for World Cup
04:14matches is up 23 percent year on year.
04:17And that is in a market where international travel or cross-continental travel is more challenged than domestic travel.
04:25So it's really significant seeing that interest to host cities from outside the U.S.
04:31I just wonder about prices.
04:34I mean, obviously, the prices for the World Cup is something a lot of people talk about.
04:39But prices, going back to your basic business of airlines or your main business of airlines, we've seen the increases
04:47already.
04:47But how much more do you think there is to come?
04:51Ah, Kayak launched something called our dashboard for flight prices.
05:01Does a great job at creating transparency about exactly what is changing in these prices.
05:07On average, prices are up quite a bit.
05:10But the important word there is average.
05:13There are still great deals to be found.
05:15If you're willing to make an effort, look at certain cities, you can see prices come down already.
05:21International prices have been coming down, I think, for five consecutive weeks now.
05:27And Kayak has a bunch of tools like best flight prices to find you cities where prices have come down
05:34a fair bit.
05:35So to answer your question, yes, it's increased and it will stay elevated.
05:40I was watching your show just before this segment came on.
05:43Maybe some green shoots there.
05:45Eventually, even things like this will pass and flight prices are going to come all the way back down.
05:51Right now, recent data suggests it's not going to get worse.
05:55In fact, we're already at a plateau, if not improving a little bit.
05:59Price is coming down a tidy bit.
06:00Price is coming down a tidy bit.
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