Skift Global Forum Preview: Expedia CEO Sees Airbnb as ‘One-Dimensional’
Peter Kern is correct that Expedia Group currently offers broader travel services than do Airbnb and Booking Holdings, but whether Expedia can gain ground on its rivals and can execute on its strategy are entirely different questions.
Join Skift editors and research analysts as we explore our 2021 theme: Reigniting Travel’s New Economy. Now in its eighth year, Skift Global Forum 2021 is where global industry leaders will come together to discuss travel’s great comeback, making this Forum the most consequential in its history.
Join Skift editors and research analysts as we explore our 2021 theme: Reigniting Travel’s New Economy. Now in its eighth year, Skift Global Forum 2021 is where global industry leaders will come together to discuss travel’s great comeback, making this Forum the most consequential in its history.
Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern, who has been busy reshaping his far-flung company over the last couple of years, doubts Booking.com’s connected trip strategy, thinks Airbnb’s use case is “one dimensional,” and argues that Expedia has more upside potential than both.
“We’re like a great athlete where the upside is enormous,” Kern told Skift in a phone interview to discuss a few things that might be topics at September’s Skift Global Forum. “And Booking is like just like working on the tip of the pen kind of thing. We’re getting a little better each time, but they’re really good already. They don’t have as much upside in my opinion."