Expedia Group reported strong financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024, capping off a successful year with significant increases in key performance indicators.
In the fourth quarter, the company saw a 12% increase in hotel room nights compared to the previous year. Total gross bookings increased 13% to $24.4 billion, while revenue increased 10% to $3.18 billion. Overall, gross bookings and revenue for 2024 were up 7% compared to 2023.
Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin attributed the growth to strong performance in its business-to-business (B2B) business, which saw a 24% increase in bookings in the fourth quarter. The company’s advertising business also saw a 25% increase in revenue.
The latest opportunity in artificial intelligence is potential partnerships with startups and technology companies working in the AI ??space, she added.
Expedia’s CFO Scott Schenkel, who took over in December, set realistic expectations for the first quarter of the year. The company’s guidance calls for flat or slightly improved year-over-year changes in some metrics. Schenkel reminded everyone that the first quarter is traditionally Expedia’s weakest.
“We expect total bookings growth in the first quarter to be between 4% and 6%, while revenue growth will be between 3% and 5%,” he said. “This reflects approximately two percentage points of negative currency impact at current levels, as well as the impact of the leap year and the shift of Easter to April.”
Dividend return and share buyback
The company announced the reinstatement of its quarterly dividend, reflecting its confidence in its long-term outlook. In addition, Expedia repurchased 12 million shares in 2024, further enhancing the value of its shareholders.
Hotels.com and Vrbo Performance
The Hotels.com and VRBO platforms, after upgrades in previous quarters, returned to growth. Hotels.com saw slight growth, mainly due to increased interest from international markets, while Vrbo (the short-term rental accommodation platform) improved traffic and bookings.
Strategy and Future Outlook
Gorin emphasized the company’s intention to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to improve its products, both for customers and partners. In addition, she recognized the change in traveler behavior, which is increasingly turning to AI genetic models to search for booking information, and underlined the need for Expedia to adapt to these new trends.
“Travelers will start to search for information in different ways, and we need to ensure that our brands appear in these new environments, where users leverage the inherent search capabilities of genetic artificial intelligence (GenAI),” he said.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
