New York (AFP) – Uber on Wednesday unveiled a new feature allowing users to book a hotel room directly from its app, the latest step in its push to become a one-stop shop for everyday needs. The company had already broadened its ambitions in 2014 with the launch of Uber Eats, which started as a food delivery service before expanding into wider shopping, from cosmetics to electronics.
The San Francisco-based company will now let users book hotel rooms through the app via a partnership with travel site Expedia, which lists more than 700,000 properties. The tie-up also envisions eventually adding short-term rentals from the Vrbo platform. The hotel booking tool works much like other travel sites, with search, maps, and filters for price, amenities, and guest ratings. Users can pay with card details already saved in the app.
“We’re no longer just an app for rides, or even two apps, or a family of apps for both rides and eats. Uber is now an app for everything,” chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said at a presentation on Wednesday in New York. “Together, we can reduce the number of steps, we can save people time and money,” Expedia chief Ariane Gorin added.
The move reflects a broader trend toward apps that handle many aspects of daily life — a model long established in China, where platforms like WeChat and Alipay bundle together payments, bookings, messaging, and much more. Rival Airbnb has been on a similar path. The home-rental company introduced bookable local activities back in 2016 and last summer added on-demand personal services such as haircuts and massages, while also launching its own ride-hailing option.
Elon Musk has outlined similar ambitions for X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, and has said a banking feature is on the way. On the AI front, Uber said users will soon be able to ask the app to plan a week of meals, generate a shopping list, and arrange delivery — all in one go. A voice assistant is also in the works, letting people navigate the app through natural conversation.
© 2024 AFP
