Skift Global Forum Preview: Expedia CEO Sees Airbnb as ‘One-Dimensional’

Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern, who has been busy reshaping his far-flung company over the last couple of years, doubts Booking.com's connected trip strategy, thinks Airbnb's use case is "one dimensional," and argues that Expedia has more upside potential than both. "We're like a great athlete where the upside is enormous," Kern told Skift in a phone interview to discuss a few things that might be topics at September's Skift Global Forum. "And Booking is like just like working on the tip of the pen kind of thing. We're getting a little better each time, but they're really good already. They don't have as much upside in my opinion. Kern contended that the CEOs of these rival companies are more promotional than is his style, and are out there selling their respective companies' stories. Of course, we are sure that at Airbnb headquarters in San Francisco, and at Booking Holdings' central office in Norwalk, Connecticut, there would be ample disagreement. "Airbnb is interesting, but