Expedia CEO Touts Ads That Punch Airbnb in the Nose

09.02.2024 - 11:11 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal / Peter Kern / Ariane Gorin / Brand Marketing

Outgoing Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern said a technology platform migration completed late last year hurt Vrbo’s ability to convert lookers into bookers, but that now the company’s vacation rental unit is ready to get back on offense.

Kern referenced Vrbo’s recent ads attacking Airbnb, saying he’s “really excited about our new brand work that is designed to punch our main competitor squarely in the nose, and we are leaning back into spend.” (See one of the ads below.)

The tech transition placed Vrbo’s front end on an Expedia tech platform along with sister brand Hotels.com. Kern said that led to “conversion degradation” for Vrbo, and Expedia had reduced its marketing spend on Vrbo.

Noting Vrbo “had a hole to dig out of, Kern said “we are clawing back conversion at a breakneck pace.” He said the company is now increasing marketing spend and that he expects Vrbo’s performance to improve every quarter in 2024.

During the fourth quarter, Expedia Group’s lodging business saw its bookings grow 11%, but the hotel portion increased 18%, suggesting Vrbo’s sluggishness.

Kern’s remarks came during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday. Before the call, Expedia Group announced that Kern would be leaving his post May 12 when his contact expires, and that Expedia for Business President Ariane Gorin would become Expedia Group CEO the next day.

Kern will stay on as Expedia Group vice chairman and a board member.

Kern made extensive comments on the CEO transition ahead. “When this started, the idea was for me to come in for a period of time and sort of right the ship, put us where we want it to be and then build the team and make sure we have the people to take it forward for the next generation as it,” Kern said.

He said revamping the company, which began in 2020 and covered everything from brand deletions to consolidating various brands’ marketing teams and the launch of a unified loyalty program, was a larger job than he expected.

“And I had my doubts a year ago, but we’ve made so much progress, Kern said.

He added: “But I built it so that they [the next generation of company leaders] can take it forward. And there’s never a right time, but hopefully, this is a good time to transition.”

Kern said he was pleased overall with the progress of its One Key loyalty program, which debuted in 2023, and that it will be expanded to several unspecified international markets in 2024. He said members are increasingly engaging with the program’s multiple brands such as earning points on Hotels.com and burning them on Expedia.com.

But he added: “It’s not a switch you flip when you talk about travel timing.” Kern was referring to the fact that members might earn points on a Vrbo booking, but they might not travel