Expedia has stated that its recovery during the first quarter of the year has been strong, despite the omicron variant and the war between Russia and Ukraine, so now the OTA is focused on attracting the right, valuable and long-term customers.
“We have been investing in that recovery, particularly with a view to driving long-term customer engagement, buying the right customers, with the right marketing mix to attract direct, long-term valued customers. So with an eye toward lifetime value, we are investing in that strong recovery and will continue to do so,” said Peter Kern, CEO of Expedia Group.
As an example, he mentioned that his team has boosted Vrbo and app downloads. “Vrbo, based on our third-party data from a company called Sensor Tower was the #1 app for downloads in North America in the first quarter of the year, and that’s one place we’ve put an emphasis. Obviously, our emphasis will change throughout the year, and we’ll be pushing our other brands as well. But the app in particular is one place where we feel like there’s a lot of long-term customer value. We’re improving that product quite a bit, and we think it’s a great place to put capital right now,” Kern said.
In addition, it highlighted its direct-to-consumer business, with the Explore event in the coming days in Las Vegas. “That event is with our trading partners, all of our supplier partners, as well as many partners that we drive demand with. And I’ve talked about this a little bit before, but we have a thriving B2B business. I haven’t spent a lot of time on it, but this is the week we’re going to come out and show all the work. We’re going to share that with our partners with an overall focus on the overall traveler experience, how we’re rethinking our market, and how our technology platform will not only drive our B2C business, but enable our partners to do so much more with their own businesses.” , said.
Likewise, Kern pointed out that in addition to the recovery of domestic travel, the OTA has also had a significant upturn in business travel and international travel. “Although there are countries where the recovery has been slower, most are still growing and returning to travel,” he commented.
Now, however, not only do they have to worry about the usual warnings for Covid, they also have to worry “about rising inflation and of course the geopolitical situation, the pent-up demand that is available to travel seems to be outweighing anything the market can offer, and we continue to feel very good about a summer recovery that should be very robust,” Kern said.
as reported REPORTUR.us, Expedia has shifted its strategy to prioritize offering more technology and marketing to other travel companies, before continuing as an OTA with multiple brands. Under Peter Kern’s leadership, the company underwent several changes largely due to the pandemic, including laying off 12% of its workforce and optimizing the company’s expansion with various brands such as Trivago and Hotels.com. (Expedia’s twist: more technology and marketing to third parties before continuing as an OTA with several brands).