Expedia Turned This Weakness Into a Strength in the First Quarter
Photo Credit: A 2015 Jaguar F-Type S Convertible as seen on on November 12, 2020 in Parkrose, Oregon. Expedia reported that its U.S. domestic business was strong during the first quarter of 2021. Flickr.com / Soulrider.222
Skift Take
Expedia is taking advantage of the travel recovery in the U.S., a region that is the company's strongest, while Booking Holdings got pinched for its weaker presence. Don't read too much into it. These are Covid-impacted developments, not protracted trends.
The knock on Expedia Group over the years was that it was too U.S.-focused, but the online travel agency turned that into a strength during the first quarter — at least temporarily.
Referring to Covid's uneven global trajectory as a "study in contrast," Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern told financial analysts Thursday that the company "benefited greatly in our vacation rental business and our domestic U.S. business, but other parts of the business still remain challenged."
So while in the first quarter of 2019, before the pandemic ruptured the world, Expedia Group generated about 62 percent of its revenue from the U.S. But in the first quarter of 2021, because the U.S. was relatively open, and much of Europe and parts of Asia were locked down, Expedia Group generated more than 80 percent of its revenue domestically in the U.S.
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