Skift Take
There doesn't seem to be much of a downside for Booking.com getting into cruises. As with flights, which it launched in 2019, we can only say — what took you so long?
Known for many years as primarily a Europe-focused accommodations business, Amsterdam-based Booking.com on Thursday launched cruises in the U.S. through a partnership with cruise agency World Travel Holdings.
For Booking.com, which is the flagship brand of Booking Holdings, the deal to offer a white label cruise site powered by World Travel Holdings in the U.S. punctuates the company's commitment to be a larger force in the U.S., where it competes with Expedia and Airbnb. The U.S. is the largest cruise market in the world, representing 58% of all cruise bookings, the