Booking Holdings
A global travel technology holding company whose portfolio includes online booking, fare-comparison, metasearch, car-rental, and restaurant-reservation platforms.
Last updated October 7, 2026
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Overview
Booking Holdings is a United States-based travel technology company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. It operates a portfolio of consumer-facing online travel services rather than functioning as a single uniform booking website. Its principal businesses include Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, Cheapflights, Rentalcars.com, Momondo, and OpenTable. Collectively, these platforms help consumers search for and reserve accommodation, flights, rental cars, vacation-related services, and restaurant tables. The company originated in the online-travel business established by Jay S. Walker in the 1990s. Its original Priceline service became known for the Name Your Own Price model, which allowed customers to submit bids for selected travel and other products. The company later experimented with groceries, gasoline, mortgages, and automobiles, but those non-core initiatives were discontinued around 2000. The business increasingly concentrated on travel and used acquisitions to build a broad international portfolio. A major turning point came with the acquisition of ActiveHotels.com in 2004 and Booking.com in 2005. Booking.com became the group’s central global accommodation platform, particularly strengthening its presence in Europe and expanding the company beyond Priceline’s original United States-focused model. Over time, the group added or developed metasearch and comparison services, accommodation and transportation marketplaces, and restaurant reservations. Its multi-brand structure allows different services to target different markets, customer segments, and stages of the travel-purchasing process. The corporate parent was renamed The Priceline Group in 2014 and Booking Holdings in 2018. The 2018 rebranding reflected the strategic importance of Booking.com within the portfolio and was accompanied by the change of the Nasdaq ticker from PCLN to BKNG. The company primarily earns revenue through commissions and transaction-related fees, with a smaller contribution from advertising and related commercial services. Its platforms operate in roughly 40 languages and serve customers and travel suppliers across about 200 countries and territories. Booking Holdings’ portfolio spans both transaction platforms and search or comparison services. Booking.com and Agoda focus heavily on accommodation reservations; Priceline offers travel reservations and its own value-oriented pricing propositions; KAYAK, Momondo, and Cheapflights compare travel options; Rentalcars.com facilitates vehicle rental; and OpenTable connects diners with restaurants. This combination gives the group exposure to hotel, air, ground-transportation, dining, and travel-discovery activity while allowing individual brands to retain distinct identities. In 2023, consumers using Booking Holdings websites booked approximately 1.235 billion accommodation room nights, 88 million rental-car days, and 68 million airline tickets. These figures illustrate the scale of the group’s marketplace activity, although they represent bookings made through the portfolio and are not equivalent to the company’s own revenue. The company remains an active, publicly traded global travel group led by Chief Executive Officer and President Glenn D. Fogel.
History
Booking Holdings developed from Priceline.com, an online commerce venture founded by Jay S. Walker in the mid-1990s. Priceline introduced a Name Your Own Price model that enabled customers to bid for certain travel products. The company was incorporated as Priceline.com Incorporated and became publicly traded on March 31, 1999, with the ticker PCLN. Its early business plan extended beyond travel, including experiments with groceries, gasoline, mortgages, and automobiles. These activities were discontinued around 2000 as the company concentrated on travel and related online services. The group’s international expansion accelerated through acquisitions. It acquired ActiveHotels.com in 2004, adding a European hotel-reservation business, and purchased Booking.com in July 2005. Booking.com became the organization’s most important accommodation platform and substantially broadened the company’s international reach. The group subsequently built a portfolio that included Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, Cheapflights, Rentalcars.com, Momondo, and OpenTable. These businesses cover direct booking, travel comparison, fare metasearch, car rental, and restaurant reservations. In April 2014, Priceline.com Incorporated changed its corporate name to The Priceline Group. The change reflected the company’s evolution from a single flagship website into a multi-brand travel group. In August 2017, KAYAK acquired the assets of Mundi, a Brazilian metasearch business, extending the group’s comparison capabilities in Latin America. In February 2018, The Priceline Group became Booking Holdings. The name change highlighted Booking.com’s importance within the portfolio and was accompanied by the replacement of the Nasdaq ticker PCLN with BKNG. The corporate strategy continued to emphasize a collection of specialized brands rather than consolidating all services under one consumer identity. Management also changed over time. Jeffery H. Boyd became chief executive officer in 2002 and later became chairman in 2013. Darren Huston took over as CEO in January 2014 but resigned in April 2016 after the company addressed an undisclosed personal relationship with an employee. Boyd served as interim CEO until Glenn D. Fogel became president and CEO in January 2017. Booking Holdings’ modern business model is based primarily on commissions and transaction-related revenue generated when consumers reserve travel through its platforms. Advertising provides a smaller source of revenue, especially through search and comparison services. The group operates in approximately 40 languages and reaches customers and suppliers in about 200 countries and territories. Its platforms have become significant intermediaries between travelers and hotels, airlines, car-rental companies, restaurants, and other travel providers. In 2023, users of the company’s websites booked approximately 1.235 billion accommodation room nights, 88 million rental-car days, and 68 million airline tickets. The company remains an active public corporation headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.
- 2023
Travel-booking activity reaches large scale
[1]Users of Booking Holdings websites booked approximately 1.235 billion accommodation room nights, 88 million rental-car days, and 68 million airline tickets during the year.
- 2018
Booking Holdings rebrand
[1]The Priceline Group changed its name to Booking Holdings and adopted BKNG as its Nasdaq ticker.
- 2017
KAYAK acquires Mundi assets
[1]KAYAK acquired the assets of Brazilian metasearch company Mundi, adding regional travel-comparison capabilities.
- 2014
Corporate name becomes The Priceline Group
[1]Priceline.com Incorporated adopted The Priceline Group name as its portfolio expanded beyond the original Priceline service.
- 2005
Booking.com acquisition
[1]The company acquired Booking.com, which later became the group’s flagship global accommodation platform.
- 2004
ActiveHotels.com acquisition
[1]The group acquired European hotel-reservation company ActiveHotels.com, strengthening its accommodation business outside the United States.
- 1999
Initial public offering
[1]Priceline.com Incorporated became a public company on March 31, 1999, trading under the PCLN ticker.
- 1996
Priceline.com is founded
[1]Jay S. Walker founded Priceline.com in Connecticut, launching an online travel model built initially around customer bidding.
Products and positioning
A diversified global online travel marketplace and travel-technology group, combining large-scale transaction platforms with metasearch, comparison, transportation, and dining services.
Accommodation marketplace · 1996
Booking.com
Booking.com is the group’s flagship accommodation platform and a principal driver of its international presence. It connects travelers with hotels, apartments, vacation rentals, and other lodging providers across a broad range of markets. The service supports search, comparison, reservation, and supplier distribution, and operates through localized websites and applications in many languages.
Online travel agency · 1997
Priceline
Priceline is the group’s original consumer travel brand. It offers accommodation, flights, rental cars, and vacation-related reservations, and is historically associated with price-oriented propositions and the Name Your Own Price model. The brand remains focused on helping consumers find travel deals through a United States-centered online travel proposition.
Online travel agency
Agoda
Agoda is an international digital travel platform with particular strength in Asian markets. Its services include accommodation reservations and other travel-booking functions, linking consumers with hotels, homes, and travel providers through localized digital channels.
Travel metasearch · 2004
KAYAK
KAYAK is a travel search and comparison service that aggregates information from airlines, hotels, car-rental companies, and online travel agencies. Rather than serving only as a direct booking storefront, it helps users compare prices, schedules, and travel options before directing them to a provider or completing a reservation.
Car-rental marketplace
Rentalcars.com
Rentalcars.com is a digital marketplace for rental vehicles. It enables travelers to compare and reserve cars from participating rental suppliers across international destinations, extending Booking Holdings’ coverage from accommodation and air travel into ground transportation.
Travel metasearch
Momondo
Momondo is a travel metasearch brand that helps users compare flight, hotel, and related travel options. Its role within the portfolio is centered on discovery and comparison, complementing Booking Holdings’ direct booking brands.
Flight metasearch
Cheapflights
Cheapflights is a flight-search and comparison service designed to help travelers discover airfares across airlines and travel sellers. It contributes airfare-search reach to the group’s broader metasearch and travel-discovery network.
Restaurant reservation platform · 1998
OpenTable
OpenTable connects diners with restaurants through online search and reservation tools. Its inclusion broadens Booking Holdings’ consumer relationship beyond transportation and lodging into dining, while providing restaurants with reservation-management and customer-acquisition services.
Controversies
Brand decisions
2021
Proposed GoToGate acquisitionM&ABackground
Booking Holdings sought to expand its travel-booking capabilities through a proposed acquisition of GoToGate.
Action taken
The company offered to acquire GoToGate, but the transaction was subsequently blocked by European regulators in 2023.
Aftermath
The blocked transaction demonstrated that further consolidation in online travel could face regulatory scrutiny in Europe.
2018
Rebrand from The Priceline Group to Booking HoldingsStrategyBackground
The company had developed from a single Priceline service into a portfolio of global travel brands, with Booking.com becoming its most prominent international platform.
Action taken
The corporate parent adopted the Booking Holdings name and changed its Nasdaq ticker from PCLN to BKNG.
Aftermath
The rebrand aligned the parent company more closely with Booking.com and the wider Booking-branded portfolio while preserving Priceline and other individual consumer brands.
Recent events
Booking Holdings reports Q3 2026 earnings[4]
Reported:
Booking Holdings reported Q3 2026 revenue of $8.89 billion, below analyst estimates, while non-GAAP profit per share was above consensus.
Booking Holdings announces planned $100M investment in new company Vayo[5]
Reported:
Booking Holdings announced on October 14, 2026 a planned $100M investment in its new company Vayo, which is launching in private beta with a waitlist open at vayo.com. The release notes the intention to invest is subject to continued advancement of the product and market conditions.
Vayo launches personal travel agent service in private beta with waitlist open at vayo.com[5]
Reported:
Vayo, a new personal travel agent company from Booking Holdings, launched in private beta on October 14, 2026 with its waitlist open at vayo.com. The beta offers free, invite-only access initially focused on frequent travelers, and Vayo works across Booking Holdings brands and other travel platforms.
Booking Holdings completes acquisition of Getaroom[6]
Reported:
Booking Holdings announced that it had completed its previously announced acquisition of Getaroom from Court Square Capital Partners for approximately $1.2 billion. Getaroom would roll into Booking Holdings' Priceline brand to form a Strategic Partnerships business unit with the Priceline Partner Network.
Booking Holdings expands Genius loyalty program to sister brands[7]
Reported:
Booking Holdings is expanding its Genius loyalty and discount program, previously operated on Booking.com, to sister brands Priceline, Agoda and Kayak. Travelers who log into the sites will be able to access Genius rates and perks.
Booking.com announces planned workforce cuts[8]
Reported:
Booking Holdings announced plans to cut up to 25% of its workforce globally because the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect travel; the source says the cuts would affect Booking.com only and that affected employees would be notified starting in September.
Booking Holdings prices $750 million convertible notes offering[9]
Reported:
Booking Holdings announced the pricing of a private offering of $750 million in convertible senior notes. The issuance and sale were scheduled to settle on April 14, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions.
Booking Holdings withdraws first-quarter 2020 financial guidance[10]
Reported:
Booking Holdings announced that it was withdrawing its previously announced first-quarter 2020 financial guidance because of the worsening impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on travel demand.
Booking Holdings announces withdrawal from Libra[11]
Reported:
Booking Holdings said it would withdraw from Facebook-led cryptocurrency project Libra. The report describes an announced intention to leave, not a completed withdrawal.
Priceline Group appoints Christa Quarles as OpenTable CEO[12]
Reported:
The Priceline Group announced that Christa Quarles was named Chief Executive Officer of OpenTable, effective immediately.
Sources14 sources
- 1Booking Holdingsen.wikipedia.org
- 2Booking Holdings Leadershipbookingholdings.com
- 3Booking Holdings official websitebookingholdings.com
- 4Booking Holdings公布2026年第三季度业绩markets.financialcontent.com
- 5Booking Holdings宣布计划向新公司Vayo投资1亿美元prnewswire.com
- 6Booking Holdings完成对Getaroom的收购prnewswire.com
- 7Booking Holdings 将 Genius 忠诚计划扩展至旗下品牌skift.com
- 8Booking.com宣布计划裁员tech.sina.com.cn
- 9Booking Holdings为7.5亿美元可转换票据发行定价prnewswire.com
- 10Booking Holdings撤回2020年第一季度财务指引prnewswire.com
- 11Booking Holdings宣布退出Librafinance.sina.com.cn
- 12Priceline Group任命Christa Quarles为OpenTable首席执行官eturbonews.com
- 13Booking Holdings Announces Pricing of $750,000,000 Convertible Senior Notes Offeringprnewswire.com
- 14Booking Holdings撤回一季度业绩预期finance.sina.com.cn
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