March 5 (Reuters) - Shares of online travel agencies surged on Thursday after a report that OpenAI is scaling ​back plans to integrate direct bookings into ‌ChatGPT, easing investor fears that the AI chatbots could eventually cut out travel intermediaries.

Shares of Expedia were up 13.7%, while Booking Holdings and Tripadvisor rose ​8.5% and 2.3%, respectively.

The rally followed a report ⁠by The Information that OpenAI found ChatGPT ​users were researching products in the chatbot but not ​completing purchases through it.

The AI company will instead focus on checkouts within specific third-party apps that plug into ChatGPT, the ​report said, citing an OpenAI spokesperson.

OpenAI did ​not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Investors and analysts have ‌grown ⁠increasingly concerned that generative AI tools could become the dominant platform for planning and booking travel, potentially bypassing intermediaries such as online travel agencies.

We ​see the OpenAI ​news as ⁠incrementally positive for online travel agencies, Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke said in ​a note.

"This means that Booking and Expedia ​can ⁠continue to get in front of consumers on AI-platforms, lowering the risk of disintermediation," Clarke added.

Expedia and ⁠Booking ​Holdings were among the first ​companies to integrate with ChatGPT when OpenAI launched its plugins programme in 2023.