Tripadvisor Reorganization Brings Exec Departures and New Life for Viator
Skift Take
Flush with SoftBank and other venture capital money, GetYourGuide and Klook, as well as Airbnb and Booking.com, are nipping at Tripadvisor's heels in tours and activities. Tripadvisor will try to leverage its brand, Viator, which already had a following before Tripadvisor absorbed it, to keep the insurgents at bay.
Fresh off the news announcing 200 layoffs around the world, Tripadvisor informed employees on Thursday about a wide-ranging reorganization. The company will reverse its long-standing playbook and emphasize Viator as a separate tours and activities brand.
In an employee letter obtained by Skift from a source close to the company, and sent after market close Thursday afternoon, Tripadvisor co-founder and CEO Steve Kaufer announced that Viator and Tripadvisor Experiences, which is found under the "Things to do" tab on the company's homepage, will operate as independent brands and with separate product, engineering, and marketing teams. (See the letter embedded below.)
As part of that change, Dermot Halpin, who headed Attractions and was mentioned by Skift as a potential candidate to become Expedia Group CEO, will transition out of Tripadvisor, serving as an advisor through the end of the first quarter. Kaufer will head Tripadvisor Experiences for the next 90 days on an interim basis. Ben Drew, who was vice president of business development and strategy for Tripadvisor Rentals and Attractions, will become president of Viator and a member of the Tripadvisor executive leadership team.
Although Tripadvisor's
