Uber launches hotel bookings and AI voice features

Business Forum
Uber Technologies announced new products and features at its annual Go-Get product event, including hotel bookings and travel tools that are planned to roll out globally in the coming months.

"Uber is becoming an app for everything - helping people go, get, and now travel all in one place," said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. "We're all living through a moment of cognitive overload: too many apps, too many decisions, too much noise. At the end of the day, our job is to help people reclaim their time, spending less of it managing the logistics of life and more of it actually living."

Uber introduced a partnership with Expedia Group that allows customers to book hotels directly in the Uber app. Uber and Expedia Group are partnering to offer users in the US access to a wide selection of hotels, which will grow to more than 700,000 properties in destinations around the globe. The partnership is expected to expand beyond the US. Following an initial pilot, Uber rides will be integrated directly in the Expedia app beginning in June.

Uber also introduced Travel Mode, a new experience within the Uber and Uber Eats apps, offering travellers curated recommendations on local favourites, tourist destinations, OpenTable reservations, and room service delivered directly to hotel doors. The app becomes a personal travel concierge. Other new features include Shop for Me, which allows users to request items from any store, and AI-powered voice bookings that help users quickly request rides using a conversational assistant.

Uber One now works globally, allowing members to earn credits on rides while enjoying free delivery. The credits earned abroad will apply once members return home.

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