The vacation rental company reported “better than expected travel demand” as room nights, gross bookings and revenue grew by double digits, according to Q4 earnings released Thursday.
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Expedia reported a growth in bookings and revenue as it saw travel demand grow throughout the year and across the globe, the company reported on Thursday.
Booked room nights were 12 percent higher in the fourth quarter than a year earlier, which helped drive revenue up 10 percent year over year, the company said in its earnings report.
Room nights, gross bookings and revenue grew by double-digits.
“Our fourth quarter results exceeded our expectations and reflect continued strong execution and better-than-expected travel demand,” Expedia Group CEO Ariane Gorin said. ” All three of our core consumer brands achieved bookings growth and we further accelerated growth in our B2B business. These results contributed to a solid full year 2024 for us. The reinstatement of our quarterly dividend reflects our confidence in our long-term outlook and commitment to shareholder returns.”
The company doesn’t separate bookings or revenue from its short-term rental platform, Vrbo. But Gorin said that the company’s three key brands — Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo — each saw bookings growth.
Gorin said the company added 1 million properties to the Vrbo platform, many of them apartments in urban areas.
She declined to explain how those new properties performed, but noted that they “did contribute to Vrbo’s recovery” during the year. She added that the company would look to continue expanding its supply on the platform moving forward.
That puts the company into direct competition with Airbnb, by far the largest short-term rental platform. Airbnb has moved in recent years to add supply in urban areas, including by partnering with the owners of apartment buildings to allow tenants to lease their apartments out on Airbnb.
Airbnb has set its sights on Expedia’s other holdings, specifically in the much larger hotel industry.
Gorin said the company would work to maintain quality while keeping its sights set on getting more supply onto the Vrbo platform this year.
“When we think quality of supply, it’s not only in the number of properties,” she said. “But it’s also in rate types and flexibility.”
Gorin said the company saw growth in regions across the world, but they were strongest outside of the U.S. and Europe. She said bookings growth increased in the “high teens” in the U.S., “low double-digits” in Europe and “high teens” in the rest of the world.
She also said the company focused on adding more value and increasing the quality of vacation rentals available through the company’s platforms, most notably Vrbo.
“We have improved the quality of our vacation rental supply,” Gorin said.
Gorin said the company would focus on delivering more value for travelers and expanding its profit margin, both by using artificial intelligence, throughout 2025.
Investors liked what they saw in the company’s report, with Expedia’s stock price soaring in after hours trading.
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