The End of Travel’s Big Four Stranglehold: Rafat’s Notes from Skift Global Forum

For the first time in years, there is an opening in the online travel giants' grip on travel booking. Just as AI services have created an opportunity to break Google's search dominance, similar cracks are appearing in the travel oligopoly of Booking, Expedia, Airbnb, and Trip.com.

After interviewing the major online travel platform CEOs last week at Skift Global Forum, I've been thinking about what these shifts mean and what changes are ahead. The potential for disruption is more tangible than it's been in years.

The evidence is everywhere, starting with the most candid admission yet: Airbnb CEO and Co-Founder Brian Chesky’s on-stage acknowledgment that he is not happy as his company’s growth has slowed from post-pandemic highs of ~40% (2022) to ~9% (H1 2025).

It is a high-profile example of a broader “platform maturity syndrome” in online travel: CAC is higher, Google/EU UI keeps shifting the funnel, and platforms are pivoting from pure volum