Expedia Sees ‘Tremendous Momentum’ in B2B Segment

Travel website Expedia has a well-known consumer-facing website, but it also delivers a growing number of products behind the scenes.

The company is seeing “tremendous momentum” in its B2B business, Expedia Group Vice Chairman and CEO Peter Kern said Thursday (Aug. 3) during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

That segment of the business saw 32% revenue growth year over year in the second quarter.

“The engine for our B2B business is fueled by the same technology, supply and service that serve our own brands,” Kern said during the call. “And as we have advanced in all areas over the last several years, this has only added to the velocity of our B2B business.”

The comments came during an earnings call in which Expedia reported a slowdown in bookings growth. Total gross bookings were up 5% in the second quarter, but that represented a slowdown from growth rates logged in recent periods. For example, in the first quarter, bookings surged 20%.

In one recent win for Expedia’s B2B segment, the firm partnered during the second quarter with Mastercard. The travel website’s technology will power the payments network’s global system of issuers “so that their customers can spend their loyalty points on great travel experiences,” Kern said.

Mastercard announced this collaboration May 9, saying its new Travel with Rewards program will let its cardholders redeem their points for travel bookings and enjoy “their next adventure.”

In another B2B development, the company teamed up with Walmart to power the retailer’s travel benefit for Walmart+ members through Expedia’s white-label template solution, Kern said.

Walmart announced this partnership July 25, saying it would let Walmart+ members book trips via the Walmart Plus Travel website and get discounts on hotels, car rentals and vacation rentals.

Expedia also continues to deliver more technology to existing partners through Travel OS, Kern said. This offering is a travel operating system that can help other travel companies enhance their business with Expedia’s technology.

The company has also commercialized its fraud prevention capability, offering this technology through its B2B segment, Kern said.

“We believe we still have the most successful and differentiated B2B business in the travel world, with a large addressable segment still available to penetrate further,” Kern said.