The fine print of the Marriott-Sonder licensing deal announced Monday spells out the basics of certain exclusivity protections, as well as Sonder royalty fees, and other terms such as renewal options and termination fees.
02.08.2024 - 07:59 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal / Glenn Fogel
In 2014, Booking Holdings — then called the Priceline Group — warned analysts that the 29% room night growth it achieved in the second quarter that year would decelerate over time.
Ten years later, during Booking’s second-quarter earnings call Thursday, Booking said that its quarterly room night growth of 7% was slower than the first quarter’s gain of 9% — and that the pace in the third quarter would be 3-5%.
Average daily rates also declined in the second quarter, driven by strong room night growth in Asia.
“As we look ahead to the third quarter, we believe room night growth will be impacted by a booking window that expands less than it did in Q2, as well as by the more moderate market growth we have seen in Europe, where our growth has remained stable from May through July,” CEO Glenn Fogel said during the call with analysts. “We expect that this will result in some deceleration in room night growth compared to Q2.”
The company’s share price was down more than 5% in after-market trading Thursday evening.
Booking’s outlook for the third quarter, which ends September 30, was for revenue growth of between 2% and 4%, and flat adjusted EBITDA.
One could make the argument that these trends give more credence to people who argue that the glory days of online travel — when companies could produce 29% room night growth — are over.
Still, in the second quarter, Booking Holdings saw its net income jump 18% to $1.5 billion, on revenue of $5.9 billion, a 7% increase.
Booking’s roster of short-term rental listings — it calls them “alternative accommodations” — grew 11% year-over-year in the second quarter to 7.8 million. Chief Financial Officer Ewout Steenbergen said: “We continue to grow our alternative accommodation business faster than our overall business for our alternative [email protected].”
Fogel claimed that the company’s short-term rental business is now “more than two-thirds of the biggest player in the industry,” meaning Airbnb.
“We started from behind,” he said. Another company may have had a bigger head start on us … We think we’ve done a really good job catching up.”
Other highlights of the second quarter:
The fine print of the Marriott-Sonder licensing deal announced Monday spells out the basics of certain exclusivity protections, as well as Sonder royalty fees, and other terms such as renewal options and termination fees.
Booking and Expedia spend a ton on marketing: Nearly $13 billion combined in 2023, up from $10 billion in 2019. And it’s the largest expense for both companies, accounting for roughly half of their total operating expenses.
Executives of top travel companies continue to emphasize that AI will transform the industry — even if it’s taking longer than expected.
Vacasa was managing 40,000 homes at the end of the second quarter, 4,000 fewer than a year earlier, as owners express displeasure with rates and revenue, as well as with owner-company communications.
Beyond Simone Biles going for gold and the opening ceremony, one of the most talked about aspects of the Summer Olympics in Paris is the athletes village — and one of the biggest hotel companies in the world is in charge of maintaining it all.
Like others in the travel industry, Expedia Group saw a “challenging” global economy and “softening” travel demand in July.
Landal GreenParks UK, the UK’s fastest growing company offering holiday breaks in nature, has seen a 24% YoY increase in summer bookings driven by longer staycations in the Southwest region.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, August 7, and now here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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