Expedia Looks to Trivago and HomeAway to Propel Future Growth
Photo Credit: Expedia is looking to Trivago to spur more international growth. Trivago employees hail from more than 50 countries and pictured is a group of them on December 16, 2016. Trivago
Skift Take
Expedia isn't overlooking its core online travel agency brands such as Expedia.com and Hotels.com, but Trivago and HomeAway are clearly rising stars. Trivago hardly ever saw a TV commercial it didn't like but increased profits in Q1, and HomeAway is in the midst of a multi-year digital-booking transition.
Trivago, Egencia and HomeAway are clearly the up-and-coming business units within the Expedia Inc. arsenal and officials didn't try to contain their exuberance for the brands' performance and projected trajectories.
Speaking during Expedia's first quarter earnings call Thursday, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said paid channels — meaning Google, Facebook and metasearch, for example — are increasing their share of the travel audience, and metasearch is the fastest-growing part of the mix.
This metasearch growth positions Expedia well because its Trivago unit, pumped up in part by monies that various Expedia brands and the Priceline Group are spending on marketing within the hotel-search platform, is the fastest growing metasearch company, Khosrowshahi maintained.
For the first quarter, Trivago, which went public late last year, saw its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) jump 169 percent to $21 million on revenue of $286 million, a 62 perc
