search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
BUSINESS NEWS travel industry converged in Florida this week. Lee Hayhurst reports from Fort Lauderdale


Expedia eyes growth via group-wide collaboration


Expedia believes it has potential to grow if the brands in its group work more collaboratively. With growth currently stalled at


the global travel giant, chief executive Mark Okerstrom was asked if Expedia is now a “post-growth” company. “I don’t know about growth being


over,” he said. “We certainly take the perspective of our key imperatives, which is being customer-centric and locally relevant on a global basis. “We are pushing ourselves to


be more collaborative across the company and we have made great progress. There continues to be opportunities for us moving forward. “Had we started that a little bit


earlier, would we have been more successful? Yes, absolutely. But what we have done has resulted in better products for our consumers.” Recent earning updates saw


Expedia’s share price tumble sharply, largely due to advances Google has made with its travel shopping platforms hitting organic traffic. Okerstrom said: “We do have a


diverse set of marketing channels. “Is SEO a meaningful channel for


us? Yes, but it’s certainly not our only channel.”


TripAdvisor boss outlines vision for the next 20 years


TripAdvisor boss Steve Kaufer set out his vision for the company in the next 20 years as it prepares to mark two decades since its launch. Getting to know its customers


better and persuading them to share travelweekly.co.uk


Steve Kaufer, TripAdvisor


Brand marketing and mobile apps


have been picked out as strategically important areas for Expedia as part of its traffic diversification strategy. Okerstrom said that while the


number of bednights booked are up, rates are down due to a shift to secondary and tertiary destinations and alternative accommodation types. Expedia continues to focus on the


large travel markets outside its US home such as Europe and Asia, as well


Mark


Okerstrom, Expedia


as Latin America, Okerstrom added. “We have taken the approach


of saying ‘where do we have a big opportunity and where are we closest to achieving full potential?’, and prioritising markets that way,” he said. As part of Expedia’s international


growth strategy, alternative accommodation brand Vrbo.com, which is part of its HomeAway division, is set for expansion outside of the US.


more of their preferences in exchange for a more personalised service is at the heart of the strategy. The brand also plans to improve


the way its app provides relevant recommendations both during the trip research phase and when users are in the destination. Kaufer said last year’s revamp of


TripAdvisor to turn it into more of a social travel feed was a “great step forward in how we try to personalise the experience”.


Booking.com aims to offer customers ‘connected trips’


Booking Holdings is confident “the world’s most valuable travel group” will perfect offering consumers what it calls the “connected trip”. The travel giant has recently


switched strategy so that its various brands, that have to date operated independently, work more collaboratively. This is seeing Booking.com, for accommodation; Rentalcars.com (Booking Go), for ground transportation; the Kayak group, for flights; and OpenTable, for restaurant bookings, combine to create the full holiday. Glenn Fogel, president and chief


executive of Booking Holdings, said the long-term goal was to create the “fully connected trip”. “We want to be able to use all


the information [we have] about that consumer to personalise and give them what they need. You want to be managing it all together in one payment platform. And when things go wrong, we can fix it.”


Glenn Fogel, Booking Holdings


“You are going to be inspired by


the content and we also want to do more when you are in destination.” Kaufer said TripAdvisor’s app


today is similar in functionality to its desktop site. But he added: “Is it convenient for in-destination use? Our answer is not nearly enough.” Looking to the next 20 years,


Kaufer said: “We have tremendous assets at our disposal. How do we better use that? I’m still here because we’ve not yet solved that problem.”


28 NOVEMBER 2019 95


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100