0325 GMT - Agentic AI is unlikely to hurt travel booking platforms materially, Citi analysts say in a research note. Alibaba connected its Qwen app to the company's core ecosystem including Fliggy, enabling Qwen users to book flights and hotels on Qwen's app directly. However, it isn't attractive enough to connect a single travel booking platform with an artificial-intelligence assistant, as users prefer to compare prices across platforms, they say. "Multiple factors could influence travel booking decisions and are more complex than a few prompts can capture," they say. An AI assistant that can connect multiple platforms would be more attractive in the short term, they note. Travel booking platforms would face greater impact if AI assistants could directly connect and serve travel product suppliers, they note. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 04, 2026 22:25 ET (03:25 GMT)
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