Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) Business Profile

What it does

Booking Holdings connects travelers with businesses that provide places to stay and other travel services. Its websites and apps let people search for and reserve accommodations, flights, ground transportation and activities. It also helps diners book restaurant reservations and lets travelers compare prices across travel sites.

The company operates five primary consumer-facing brands. Booking.com offers accommodations and other travel services worldwide. Priceline focuses primarily on discount travel in North America, while Agoda caters primarily to travelers in Asia-Pacific. KAYAK compares travel itineraries and prices across platforms, and OpenTable handles restaurant reservations and provides management services to restaurants.

Booking Holdings earns most of its revenue by facilitating travel reservations rather than by operating the hotels or other travel services itself. Travelers use its platforms to find and book services; accommodation providers and other partners use them to reach potential customers. The company also facilitates payments and provides customer service.

Its Connected Trip strategy aims to bring planning, booking, payment and services during a trip together. Booking.com’s Genius loyalty program is part of that effort. The company has also introduced AI tools for travel planning and customer service, including Agoda’s AI Assistant and Priceline’s Penny.

Booking Holdings was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Norwalk. Glenn D. Fogel is its president and chief executive officer.

How it makes money

Booking Holdings earns substantially all of its revenue from online travel reservations. It divides revenue into merchant, agency, and advertising and other categories.

In a merchant transaction, Booking facilitates the traveler’s payment, generally at booking. Revenue can include a reservation commission or the amount charged to the traveler less the amount owed to the travel provider, after the effect of discounts. It can also include payment-processing rebates, customer processing fees and ancillary fees such as travel insurance. Most merchant revenue comes from Booking.com accommodation reservations.

In an agency transaction, Booking does not facilitate the traveler’s payment. Agency revenue consists almost entirely of commissions on Booking.com accommodation reservations. In both models, the company generally recognizes reservation revenue when travel begins, rather than when the booking is made.

KAYAK earns revenue from referrals to partners and advertising placements. OpenTable earns revenue from restaurant reservations and subscriptions for restaurant management services. Other brands also earn advertising revenue. OpenTable’s management subscriptions provide a recurring service relationship; accommodation commissions depend on completed travel reservations.

In 2025, revenue was $26.9 billion; in the third quarter of 2026, adjusted revenue increased 9% year over year.

Payment facilitation has become a larger part of the business. Merchant bookings represented 70% of total gross bookings in 2025 and approximately 75% in the third quarter of 2026. Facilitating more payments brings incremental revenue but also adds costs, including payment processing and chargebacks. Discounts and coupons can reduce the revenue Booking records on reservations.

Customers and how it sells

Booking serves travelers looking for accommodations and other trip services, as well as diners seeking restaurant reservations. Its business customers include hotels, owners and managers of homes and apartments, airlines, rental car companies and restaurants. KAYAK also sends referrals to travel partners, and OpenTable sells management services to restaurants.

Booking.com operates worldwide. At December 31, 2025, it offered approximately 4.4 million properties in over 220 countries and territories and in over 40 languages. Those properties included approximately 3.9 million homes, apartments and other places to stay, alongside hotels, motels and resorts. Priceline operates primarily in North America, Agoda caters primarily to Asia-Pacific, and OpenTable’s restaurant services are primarily in the United States.

Travelers reach the company through its websites and mobile apps, as well as paid search, affiliates, meta-search and social media. In 2025, a mid-fifties percentage of room nights came from consumers going directly to its platforms. Mobile apps accounted for a mid-fifties percentage of room nights that year.

Booking said that, over the last 12 months through the third quarter of 2026, Level 2 and Level 3 Genius members represented more than 30% of Booking.com’s active customer base and accounted for a high 50% share of room nights.

Suppliers and costs

Booking relies on travel service providers for the inventory offered on its platforms. Independent hotels and alternative accommodation partners generate the vast majority of Booking.com room nights. The company provides partners with distribution, payment services, customer service and tools to understand demand. It says partners pay when they earn revenue from a room night.

Marketing, sales and other expenses, and personnel are its most significant operating expenses. Total performance and brand marketing expenses were $8.2 billion in 2025. Performance marketing uses online search engines, primarily Google, as well as affiliates, meta-search and social media to generate bookings.

Payment facilitation adds expenses for personnel, processing and chargebacks, including fraud-related chargebacks. In 2025, incremental revenue from facilitating payments exceeded the associated incremental variable expenses. Alternative accommodations can also bring additional customer service and partner-related costs.

Marketing expenses are generally recognized when incurred, typically when the associated reservation is booked, while reservation revenue is generally recognized when travel begins. Cancellations can therefore reduce marketing efficiency when the company has already spent money to obtain a booking.

Competitive position

Booking competes globally with online and traditional travel and restaurant reservation services. Its current and potential competitors include online travel and meta-search services, search and marketplace companies, hotels and other travel providers, traditional agencies, financial services companies, and providers of AI assistants and agents. No individual companies are named as competitors in the available company descriptions.

For many travelers, price is the primary factor in deciding whether to book. Booking uses discounts, coupons, loyalty programs and flexible cancellation policies to compete. The company says some competitors accept little or no profit, or a loss, on transactions to gain share. It also says competing services can be launched at relatively low cost and that generative AI is reducing the cost of innovation.

Our reading: Booking’s accommodation selection and supplier relationships are a meaningful competitive asset: travelers can compare a broad range of properties, while independent providers can reach customers across markets.

Our reading: Direct bookings and Genius loyalty provide another source of strength because they give travelers reasons to return without necessarily arriving through paid marketing. Those advantages face pressure from price competition and new ways for travelers to discover trips, including AI-powered services.

Growth opportunities

Booking expects to benefit from growth in global travel and a continued shift from offline to online booking. It is investing in the United States and Asia, adding travel services beyond accommodations, expanding payments and developing its Connected Trip offering. The company’s goal is to let travelers plan and book more parts of a trip together, supported by the Genius loyalty program.

Global room nights increased 8% year over year in 2025, driven primarily by travel demand in Europe and Asia. In the third quarter of 2026, room nights grew 7% year over year. Flight tickets increased 19% and attraction tickets grew 24% year over year in that quarter. Connected Trip transactions grew almost 20% year over year, from a low double-digit share of Booking.com’s total transactions.

The company is also expanding alternative accommodations. Booking.com’s alternative accommodation listings growth accelerated to 9% in the third quarter of 2026. Such properties represented approximately 37% of Booking.com room nights in the quarter.

Booking is building its own AI tools and working with technology partners on new distribution channels. Agoda’s AI Assistant helps travelers move from an idea to a bookable trip, while Booking.com is adding tools for discovery and servicing reservations. The company expects AI to help improve customer service and internal productivity. It remains on track for $650 million in annual run-rate transformation savings in 2027.

Structural risks

• Travel disruption: Declines or disruptions in travel can hurt results. In October 2026, demand was affected by disruptions involving the Middle East, elevated airfares and localized unrest in some European cities. Booking’s outlook assumed the conflict’s direct and indirect effects on travel would persist through year-end.
• Competition and discovery: Travel reservation markets are intensely competitive. New offerings can be launched at relatively low cost, and generative AI is reducing that cost. Some global technology companies have more consumers, data and resources than Booking.
• Regulation: Booking faces evolving requirements covering competition, consumer protection, payments and digital platforms. Rules on short-term rentals can also limit property owners’ and managers’ ability to rent accommodations.
• Data security and privacy: Processing, storing and using personal data exposes the company to breaches that could lead to liabilities or reputational damage. Regulatory violations can also result in penalties or restrictions on operations.
• Costs and margins: More merchant bookings increase payment-related expenses, while alternative accommodations can require additional service and partner costs. Cancellations can impair marketing efficiency because marketing expense may be incurred before a reservation is canceled.

Bottom line

Our reading

Booking is a travel marketplace whose economics depend heavily on completed accommodation reservations, with payments and other travel services extending the relationship. Its property selection, partner services and direct customer relationships support the business, but it still spends heavily on marketing and must compete on price. Travel disruptions, changing rules and new discovery channels can affect demand, costs and how travelers reach its platforms.