Booking com is seeing positive developments as international tourism returns to pre-COVID levels. In 2024, its parent company, Booking Holdings, is projected to achieve a turnover of $166 billion, reflecting a 10% increase compared to 2023. Meanwhile, Booking com itself expects a revenue increase of 11%, bringing its total to $23.7 billion.
Booking: Marketing Budget of US$7 Billion in 2024
The Booking's net result has soared by 37%, reaching $5.9 billion. However, marketing expenses remain significantly high, totaling $7.3 billion.
Will 2025 follow the same trend for one of the travel giants? The group, which includes the well-known sites Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, and Kayak, finished the year strongly, surpassing analysts' estimates. Overall sales increased by 17% in the last quarter of 2024.
CEO Glenn Fogel stated that Booking Holdings is "very focused on making the right investments in the business for the long term, including leveraging generative AI technology to deliver greater value to travelers and partners." He emphasized that generative AI will be utilized to simplify trip planning and booking.
Expedia at US$10 Billion Behind Booking
Online travel platform Expedia recently announced its fourth-quarter results, which exceeded Wall Street estimates, primarily due to strong demand for international travel. Following this announcement, the travel giant's shares rose on the stock market. Based in Seattle, Expedia owns several brands, including Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo/Abritel.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Expedia reported a turnover of US$3.18 billion, reflecting a 10% increase compared to the same period in 2023. For the full year, the online travel operator reported a turnover of US$13.7 billion, up 7%, US$10 billion less than its competitor, Booking com. Additionally, Expedia reported a total sales volume of US$110.9 billion in 2024, a 7% increase compared to 2023.
Chinese Travel Giant's Annual Profit Grows 72%
Trip com Group, known in China as Ctrip, is a Shanghai-based company that recently released its annual financial report detailing the results for Q4 2024 and the entire year. In Q4, the group earned 12.7 billion RMB (approximately US$1.8 billion), representing a 23% increase year-on-year (YoY). For 2024, revenue reached 53.3 billion RMB (about US$7.4 billion), marking a 20% increase YoY. The net profit for 2024 was 17.2 billion RMB (around US$ 2.4 billion), up 23% YoY.
Trip com Group attributes its continued growth to increasing demand, particularly Trip com's international operations. Ctrip's outbound hotel and flight bookings have grown by over 20% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, while Trip.com's hotel and flight bookings for travelers entering China increased by over 70% YoY.
The data indicates that China travel saw 100% YoY growth across all platforms in Q4 and the entire year of 2024. Notably, visitors from countries with visa waivers grew by 150% over the past year.