RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 2 sourcesJohn Lyotier, CEO of TravelAI, said one challenge will be communicating to customers that it's not the same Sonder that chaotically shuttered last year. TravelAI
Sonder's brand name and website were acquired by a Canadian AI travel company.
TravelAI CEO John Lyotier said the Sonder brand name still has value with travelers.
Sonder abruptly shuttered and filed for bankruptcy in November, leaving customers stranded.
Sonder is back. Sort of.
TravelAI, a Canadian AI travel company, announced Monday it purchased the Sonder brand and relaunched Sonder.com. The deal did not include Sonder properties or its operating business.
Sonder, which operated boutique hotels and short-term rentals, filed for bankruptcy and shuttered its operations in November after hotel giant Marriott International abruptly ended its partnership with the Airbnb rival. Guests were forced to vacate properties mid-stay, while employees were left without jobs overnight.
Despite the chaotic ending to a travel company valued at $2.2 billion in 2021, TravelAI said the Sonder name still carries weight with travelers — and in search results.
"There is a large percentage of travelers who still search for Sonder every month who were unaware of the issues from last November," John Lyotier, CEO and founder of TravelAI, told Business Insider. "What they remember is that they had a great travel experience."
The new Sonder will not operate properties or take reservations. Instead, it will operate as an AI-powered, curated list of urban stays, including boutique hotels, apartments, and homes, and will send users to third-party sites to book, like Vrbo, Expedia, and Booking.com.
Lyotier said TravelAI is trying to capitalize on the "search equity and residual traffic" to Sonder.com to give travelers the same kinds of quality, unique stays that they expected at Sonder properties .
Properties featured on the site meet what TravelAI calls the "Sonder Bar." TravelAI's system bases its curation on reviews, ratings, photos, neighborhood characteristics, and features identified in former Sonder properties.
The new Sonder.com features properties listed by third parties, such as Vrbo and Expedia, curated with AI. TravelAI
Of the 10 million properties TravelAI can curate from its partner sites, only about 5% meet the Sonder Bar, Lyotier said.
While he declined to share what TravelAI paid for the Sonder brand and website, he said it was a "good value," that the payback will be measured in "months, not years," and that he has a target of $100 million in bookings via Sonder.com in the first year. As of Monday afternoon, Lyotier said the platform had already generated bookings. The company receives a commission when customers click through and book.
TravelAI has acquired several travel brands over the past several years, including Casai.com, OwnerDirect.com, and Smarttours.com. Sonder is its highest-profile brand acquisition to date, Lyotier said.
Through the Sonder acquisition, Lyotier said TravelAI is also hoping to draw attention to the bigger-picture AI travel technologies it's working on.
That includes Sonder Concierge, a beta tool that recommends properties based on what it learns about an individual traveler's preferences. TravelAI also launched an AI memory tool last month, Traveler.md, that's designed to make those preferences usable across different travel sites and AI assistants.
With relaunching Sonder.com, Lyotier said the company will need to communicate to customers that it's not the same brand that booted them out of hotels and left them stranded on vacation last fall.
"That's a challenge we'll have — making sure that the former customers understand that we are not that old Sonder."
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