Traveler Behavior Is Still the Biggest Impediment to TripAdvisor's Tours and Activities Business
Skift Take
Should there be TripAdvisor booths at big tourist attractions in Paris, New York, Las Vegas and Rome? It might not be a bad idea to explore to attract the business of travelers who like to book attractions offline. Would it scale? Expedia does it, but the numbers crunchers would have to figure it all out.
There's been so much buzz in the tours and activities business with acquisitions, large funding rounds, and Airbnb getting into the game that it's easy to lose focus on a fundamental headwind: traveler behavior.
Asked to comment on the competitive landscape, TripAdvisor CEO Steve Kaufer said Wednesday that the largest factor impeding more growth in its experiences segment is travelers continuing to want to buy tours and activities only when they arrive at a destination, and offline.
"And while we certainly have competitors who are selling experiences online, it's much less us versus them, in my view, than growing the total size of the pie," Kaufer said, adding that online booking is a huge opportunity over the next few years.
Commenting during TripAdvisor's first quarter earnings call with analysts, Kaufer said the fact that consumers are getting more used to buying all kinds of things on mobile should help its business.
