Expedia CEO Doesn't See High Prices Stopping Summer Travel
Travelers don't seem to be dissuaded by high inflation, soaring energy costs, labor shortages or the spread of COVID-19 variants in some areas.
June 09, 2022 at 01:07 PM
3 minute read
Travelers are ready to pack their suitcases and get on airplanes in the coming months even with disruptions due to labor shortages and higher inflation, Expedia Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Peter Kern said.
"Are there going to be places where things start to reach their peak or come off their peak, sure," Kern said of travel demand Wednesday at the Bloomberg Technology Summit in San Francisco. "Broadly, we're not seeing any discernible moment or time line where it's all going to fall off."
Travel executives have talked for months about a robust season after two years of COVID-19 restrictions. Travelers don't seem to be dissuaded by high inflation, soaring energy costs, labor shortages or the spread of variants in some areas. During earnings last month, Expedia, Booking Holdings Inc. and Airbnb Inc. all provided upbeat forecasts for the next few months.
"From what we can see of the U.S. markets and western markets, there's tons of pent-up demand," Kern said in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg Television's Emily Chang. "We've seen people wanting to rebound and overspend into travel."
Strategists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimate oil will remain above $100 a barrel through the next year, which could raise travel prices higher and potentially curb demand.
Those more expensive tickets, however, have helped airlines handle the higher energy prices so far, Kern said. "I think they've built in some cushion there," he said.
Seattle-based Expedia and competitor Airbnb are finding ways to reinvent their brands, with Expedia introducing travel boards that allow multiple people to help plan a trip in addition to providing more of its own technology to large and small travel partners. The company also is unifying the rewards program across all its brands, which include Hotels.com and Orbitz. Airbnb launched a categories search function that lets users look for destinations such as tiny homes, beach accommodations or island getaways.
Aside from traditional hotels, short-term rentals have been a boon for Expedia's Vrbo platform during the pandemic as employees took advantage of flexible remote work policies. Vrbo specializes in home vacation rentals outside of urban areas.
"We won't see the kind of outsized growth we saw during COVID, but I think there's plenty of runway to continue to grow," Kern said at the technology summit. "In our markets we're very strong and we've seen great demand and I think that will continue."
Michael Tobin reports for Bloomberg News.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllSecurities Claims Against Lilium N.V. for Electric Plane Production Delays Fail to Take Flight, Federal Judge Holds
5 minute readFamily Sues United Airlines After Miscommunication Leads to 'Near Death' Dive Toward Ocean
2 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Call for Nominations: Elite Trial Lawyers 2025
- 2Senate Judiciary Dems Release Report on Supreme Court Ethics
- 3Senate Confirms Last 2 of Biden's California Judicial Nominees
- 4Morrison & Foerster Doles Out Year-End and Special Bonuses, Raises Base Compensation for Associates
- 5Tom Girardi to Surrender to Federal Authorities on Jan. 7
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250