Articles tagged “viator”

The sale gives Tripadvisor the cash to chase the $1 trillion experiences market through Viator.

Tripadvisor had a tough first quarter, adversely impacted by cancellations in Mexico, Hawaii, and elsewhere because of the Middle East conflict. Its quest for strategic alternatives has been a multiyear slog.

There are conflicting messages at Tripadvisor these days. Goldberg told employees that it "will take time" for its 3-month-old strategy revamp "to show up in the numbers." Meanwhile, activist investor Starboard Value argued "the time for incrementalism is over."

Starboard Value will likely find plenty of support among Tripadvisor's long-suffering shareholders.

Tripadvisor has borne the brunt of declining SEO traffic from Google for many years. Now AI Overviews are pinching Tripadvisor even harder.

Google is expanding its experiences' advertising business, heightening competition among online travel agencies and the attractions themselves.

That Airbnb didn't acquire Tiqets for its own experiences business after leading a Series C funding round, didn't give Tiqets much street cred. The Expedia deal couldn't have been a very substantial one for investors given the lack of financial disclosures.

The perennial tug between Tripadvisor and Viator experiences, and the consequent market confusion, will seemingly persist under the new strategy as neither will be the lead experiences brand. Hotel metasearch will be downplayed but managed for profitability.

The core Tripadvisor brand, which has been profitable but shrinking, took the brunt of the layoffs.

Tripadvisor is feeling the heat from activist investor Starboard Value. The merging of Brand Tripadvisor and Viator's operations should enable Tripadvisor to wrangle some cost efficiencies.