Skift Take
Was that a typo? No rooms nights at Expedia Group’s flagship brand leaped 20%. That’s rare territory these days in online travel.
Like others in the travel industry, Expedia Group saw a “challenging” global economy and “softening” travel demand in July.
In its second-quarter earnings announcement Thursday, the company said it would lower its outlook.
“Our second quarter results came in at the high end of our expectations, with gross bookings and revenue growing 6%,” said CEO Ariane Gorin in her first earnings announcement heading the company. “We’re pleased with our momentum and the sequential improvement in our consumer brands. However, in July, we have seen a more challenging macro environment and a softening in travel demand. We are therefore adjusting our expectations for the rest of the year.”
But one standout element of the announcement was that room nights at flagship brand Expedia.com jumped 20%. That compared to 9% growth in the second quarter of 2023.
Overall at Expedia Group, including Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Vrbo and other brands, booked room nights grew 10% to 98.9 million. That was faster than Airbnb’s 9% (nights and experiences booked) and Booking Holdings’ at 7%.
The company’s 10% room night growth was the fastest in a year-a-half.
“Total room nights grew at the fastest rate since the first quarter of 2023,” Expedia Group said in its second quarter earnings announcement.
Net income was flat at $386 million compared to the second quarter of 2023.
