Tripadvisor to switch gears and focus on its other business channels in 2020

Tripadvisor is banking on 202 as being a landmark year for the travel booking coming, emphasizing that its experiences and dining revenue need to surpass that of its core hotel metasearch channel.

That’s the target and it’s part of Tripadvisor’s goal, as articulated in its recent fourth quarter earnings call. The ambition is to redirect its business away from its hotel auction, where Google, stingier online travel agency marketing budgets, and traveler spending inclinations are creating pressure.

Instead of its hotel price comparison service, where online travel agencies and hotels bid for placement in its hotel listings, Tripadvisor will be focusing revenue growth efforts on experiences, dining, hotel business-to-business, and media efforts.

Tripadvisor Co-Founder and CEO told analysts the company expects:

“Our non-hotel auction revenue will drive the lion’s share of our future growth. We expect E&D (Experiences & Dining) revenue alone will exceed the hotel auction in 2020. And over the coming years, the relative sizes of these revenue lines will reduce the hotel auction’s influence on our overall results.”

FOURTH QUARTER BY SEGMENT

In the fourth quarter, Experiences & Dining revenue grew 16 percent to $109 million while Hotel, Media & Platform revenue fell 6 percent to $194 million, and Other revenue, including short-term rentals, cars and cruises, dipped 30 percent to $32 million. Total revenue in the fourth quarter dropped 3 percent to $335 million.

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