LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 2026--
Thirty years after bringing travel online — and into reach for millions of people — Expedia Group is taking its next visionary steps for the future of travel: unveiling new AI-powered traveler experiences, marketplace capabilities and a long-term philanthropic commitment to protect the places people love to visit. At Explore 26, its annual partner conference, the company’s founding and defining leaders — Rich Barton, Dara Khosrowshahi, Barry Diller, and current CEO Ariane Gorin — joined nearly 2,000 partners in Las Vegas to show how three decades of first-party data, world-class supply, and deep servicing expertise are being re-engineered for the AI era.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260519925747/en/
From its creation by Barton as a small start-up inside Microsoft at the dawn of the internet, through the mobile shift under Khosrowshahi, and to Gorin’s leadership in the AI era, Expedia Group has reinvented itself across three major technology waves. Today, the company operates the world’s most trusted and intelligent travel marketplace, connecting millions of travelers with partners across lodging, air, car, activities and more.
“At Expedia Group, our purpose is simple: to help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time,” said Ariane Gorin, CEO, Expedia Group. “As we celebrate 30 years, we’re focused on advancing our intelligent, trusted global marketplace that takes on the complexity of travel, so travelers and partners can focus on what really matters: unforgettable experiences.”
Powering Seamless Travel from inspiration to arrival through strategic partnerships
Through new integrations and partnerships, Expedia Group continues to move beyond travel booking to power more of the moments before, during and after a trip.
"Expedia helps you book with confidence and CLEAR helps you win the day of travel. Together, we’re connecting the journey so travelers can go from booking to boarding with less friction and more control,” said Caryn Seidman Becker, CEO of CLEAR.
Building the most intelligent and trusted marketplace for the AI era
Expedia Group is embedding AI across every stage of the travel journey, to become an always-on travel companion that helps travelers decide, book and navigate trips with confidence. At Explore 26, Expedia Group unveiled new innovations that bring that vision to life for travelers.
Announcing Expedia Trails Fund: Protecting the Places that Make Travel Worth It
As Expedia Group looks to the next 30 years, and travelers head outside in record numbers, the company is launching Expedia Trails Fund — a multi-year commitment to restore, protect, and future-proof the trails, parks, and coastlines that inspire millions of trips.
The Expedia Trails Fund will initially launch with projects at The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and Trust for Public Land, supporting trail and park improvements that help restore the natural places travelers love. Through its first 11 projects and $4.3 million in grants, Expedia is improving safety and access at iconic U.S. destinations—from Okefenokee and Yellowstone’s Paradise Valley to Hawaiʻi’s Kealakekua Bay and natural areas near Seattle and Chicago—benefiting more than 1 million visits annually.
In addition, Expedia is partnering with AllTrails to match support for the 2026 AllTrails Stewards Fund, expanding community-led trail development and restoration around the world. Expedia and AllTrails will also partner to give AllTrails premium members access to discounts on Expedia.com lodging bookings. The company expects to add more partners and projects over time.
The Expedia Trails Fund responds to a growing shift among travelers — particularly Gen Z and Millennials — who increasingly want travel choices that align with their values. Expedia Group-commissioned research found that demand for outdoor travel is strong, with 86% of Gen Z and Millennial travelers surveyed saying they took at least one national park or nature trip in the last 12 months, and nearly half (46%) saying they take one to two such trips each year.
“As we help more people explore the world, we also have a responsibility to protect it. The Expedia Trails Fund will support rebuilding trails and improving access across protected landscapes—keeping these destinations accessible so travelers continue to visit and local communities can thrive for years to come,” said Gorin.
Writing the next chapter of travel, together
Explore 26 marks an important milestone in Expedia Group’s next chapter — one defined by AI innovation, deeper connectivity and a broader commitment to the future of travel.
“We’ve led through three decades of technology shifts by testing early, learning fast and staying relentlessly focused on travelers,” Gorin said. “As we enter this next era, we’re excited to build the future of this marketplace together — with travelers and partners around the world.”
Download the digital assets here. Examples shown are for illustrative purposes only.
About Expedia Group
Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is the global travel marketplace with one purpose: to help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time. Expedia Group™ connects travelers, partners, and advertisers through its trusted brands, leading technology, and rich first-party data, delivering predictive, personalized experiences that shape the future of travel.
Expedia Group’s ecosystem includes three flagship consumer brands – Expedia®, Hotels.com®, and Vrbo® – the largest B2B travel business, and a premier advertising network. Guided by an experienced and passionate global team, Expedia Group helps millions of travelers in more than 70 countries explore the world with confidence and ease.
© 2026 Expedia, Inc., an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Expedia Group and the Expedia Group logo are trademarks of Expedia, Inc. CST: 2029030-50.
For more information, visitwww.expediagroup.com.
Follow Expedia Group onFacebook,Instagram,XandLinkedIn.
Follow Expedia onFacebook,Instagram,TikTok,Pinterest,XandYouTube.
Follow Vrbo onFacebook,Instagram,TikTok,Pinterest, andX.
Follow Hotels.com onInstagram,TikTok,FacebookandX.
The company’s founding and defining leaders — Barry Diller, current CEO Ariane Gorin, Dara Khosrowshahi, and Rich Barton — joined nearly 2,000 partners in Las Vegas to show how three decades of first-party data, world-class supply, and deep servicing expertise are being re-engineered for the AI era.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leaders on Thursday are expected to abandon a proposal for $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom amid backlash from members of their own party.
Pressured by the White House, Republicans tried to add the money to a roughly $70 billion bill to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. But the security proposal met with opposition from some GOP lawmakers who are questioning the timing of the request, the cost and how the taxpayer dollars would be used.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged “ongoing vote issues” on Wednesday as leaders tried to measure Republican support and figure out what will be allowed in the bill under the chamber’s rules.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters Wednesday that the bill was “back to square one” without the security money because “the votes are not there.”
Thune hopes to pass the bill this week and send it to the House before leaving for a weeklong Memorial Day recess. But the bill’s text has still not been released as leaders were wrangling over the security proposal and new GOP concerns over the Trump administration's $1.776 billion settlement fund.
Republican senators were set to meet with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday as they finalized the text and decided whether to put parameters on the settlement, which was designed to compensate Trump's allies who believe they have been politically persecuted. Thune told reporters that senators have questions about the fund and want to know "how we might make sure that it’s fenced in appropriately.”
The last-minute scramble comes as Democrats have criticized Republicans for trying to fund Trump’s ballroom when voters are concerned about basic affordability issues — and as some GOP lawmakers have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump. Several GOP senators have spoken out against the settlement, which was announced this week, and many were upset by the president’s endorsement Tuesday of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the party primary runoff next week against Sen. John Cornyn.
The “anti-weaponization” fund, part of a settlement that resolves Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns, unexpectedly has become one of the main complications in the bill. Democrats said they would force votes to block it or place restrictions on it.
Democrats have an opening because Republicans are trying to pass the immigration enforcement bill through a complicated budget process that requires a long series of amendment votes. Democrats are considering multiple amendments, potentially to block that new fund outright or to ban any payments to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Presenting a united front, Democrats from both the House and Senate rallied on the Capitol steps Thursday to show their opposition. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the amendment process “will give Republicans countless chances to do the right thing.”
He added that if they declined to make changes, it would show voters that “Ballroom Republicans are not working for you, they are busy fighting for Trump."
Those amendments, along with others, could pass as a growing number of Republicans have voiced reservations about the fund. So Republicans are now discussing their own last-minute additions to head that off, potentially placing some parameters on the settlement and who could receive compensation, according to two people with knowledge of the private discussions who requested anonymity to discuss them.
It was unclear how any Senate changes would be received in the House. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday that the House will pass the bill “whatever form it takes.”
As Republicans challenged the settlement and parts of his agenda, Trump unloaded on the Senate in a social media post on Wednesday.
He urged Republicans to fire the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, who said over the weekend that parts of the $1 billion security proposal cannot remain in the ICE and Border Patrol bill. Trump also renewed his long-standing calls for the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, a Republican bill that would require all voters to prove U.S. citizenship, and to end the Senate filibuster.
Republicans need to “get smart and tough,” Trump said, or “you’ll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!”
While they have been loyal to Trump on most issues, Senate Republicans have resisted his repeated calls — even in his first term — to kill the filibuster, which triggers a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
Hanging over the growing GOP rift is Trump’s surprise endorsement of Paxton. That intervention has Republican senators privately fuming that it could cost them their majority in November as they view the incumbent, Cornyn, as the better candidate in the November general election.
Under the Secret Service’s request, about $220 million would fund security improvements related to the ballroom. The rest would go for a new screening center for visitors, training and other security measures.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the effort to add the security package to the bill was a “bad idea.” The bill should not have included the other security improvements, he said, “because it’s just giving everybody the ‘billion-dollar ballroom.'”
Several other Republicans in the House and Senate have questioned the request, and senators left a briefing with the director of the Secret Service last week saying they needed a lot more information.
People “can’t afford groceries and gasoline and healthcare, and we’re going to do a billion dollars for a ballroom?” asked Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost reelection in his GOP primary on Saturday after Trump endorsed one of his opponents.
Left in the bill is the money for ICE and Border Patrol, which Democrats have blocked for months in protest of the administration's immigration enforcement crackdown.
Democrats demanded changes for the agencies, but negotiations with the White House yielded little progress. So Republicans are using the complicated budget maneuver called reconciliation — the same process that allowed them to pass Trump's tax and spending cuts bill last year — to fund the agencies through the end of Trump's term with a simple majority and no Democratic votes.
Still, passage requires sign-off from the parliamentarian and unity from Republicans.
Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and House GOP leaders hold a news conference after primary elections that affirmed President Donald Trump's dominance of the Republican Party, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
President Donald Trump tours Ballroom construction around the outside the White House, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Washington, where the East Wing once stood. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Ballroom construction site can be seen as President Donald Trump tours the area at the White House, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
