Booking Holdings Builds on European and Asian Strength, While U.S. Lags
Photo Credit: A person looks at a phone with Booking.com's app open. Booking Holdings
Skift Take
Booking Holdings sees many Americans remaining cautious about travel. The good news: It has less U.S. exposure than rivals Expedia and Airbnb.
Booking Holdings' gross bookings and revenue in the second quarter exceeded management's earlier forecasts, but the performance highlighted a tale of two markets: strong international demand versus continued weakness in U.S. leisure travel.
CEO Glenn Fogel said that the U.S. proved to be the company's slowest-growing region, though executives said conditions improved slightly from the first quarter.
"We see generally the top end of the U.S. consumer market will be a little stronger, spending more in the 5-star hotel category, spending more on international travel, including Europe," CFO Ewout Steenbergen said. Meanwhile, "at the lower end, more careful behavior of U.S. consumers" persisted.
Overall room nights for hotels and alternative accommodations grew 8%, year-over-year.
The works out well for Booking Holdings, which has less exposure to the U.S. market than competitors like Expedia and Airbnb.
While inbound travel to the U.S.
