Articles tagged “peter kern”

Peter Kern is correct that Expedia Group currently offers broader travel services than do Airbnb and Booking Holdings, but whether Expedia can gain ground on its rivals and can execute on its strategy are entirely different questions.

After shutting down or selling eight businesses — some of which were relatively inconsequential — since the beginning of 2020, Expedia Group doesn't expect any more such asset dispositions as part of its drive to make the company simpler and more focused. But selling brands may turn out to be the easiest part of the exercise.

Business school students can probably debate this question endlessly and there would be merit in either position: Should smaller companies copy their larger rivals or vice versa? In the Google era, marketing power often wins the day — but differentiation still counts.

Part of Expedia Group's long-running profit margin gap with Booking Holdings has been structural, but a significant piece of it has been inefficiencies. Expedia's Peter Kern is looking to bridge the great divide, but the outcome is far from assured.

Does the reorganization and leadership shuffle make Expedia Group a proverbial lean, mean fighting machine to better compete? As with all these things, it will all depend on the execution.

Major travel companies like Hilton Grand Vacations are pumping millions, if not billions, of dollars into the idea travelers favor the familiarity of a brand. If it pays off, the vacuum of boutique offerings will be the next travel investment opportunity.

Expedia Group's mission statement updated from "The World's Travel Platform" to a more modest blurb may be sending a message to its employees. If any were complacent under the old regime, they'd better be full of hustle to tackle a changing competitive landscape.

Talk about tough love. The CEO of Expedia Group, Peter Kern, is sticking with the tough line despite the pandemic by still demanding a significant reorganization and tech revamp for the online travel giant.

Many companies won't reopen for business when coronavirus ebbs, but two that will definitely still be left standing will be Expedia Group and Airbnb. They could potentially find ways to cooperate in the face of bigger threats in the form of Google and Booking.com.

Barry Diller followed a familiar pattern and appointed someone he's known for years and feels comfortable working with as CEO. Peter Kern will have no trouble working with Apollo and Silver Lake, and with making deep cuts because he is a private equity guy at heart.