Analysts expect tourism activity to recover in the spring and summer of this year.
【Global Travel News】On the morning of February 11, Beijing time, Expedia Group announced the fourth quarter and full year of 2021 financial results. Despite the impact of Omilon, Expedia still achieved earnings in Q4 last year that exceeded analysts' expectations.
Two years ago, the COVID-19 outbreak caused the travel business to be almost completely suspended, but now that some countries and regions have reopened their borders, the restart of business and tourism activities has allowed Expedia's performance to rebound last year.
Expedia GROUP CEO Peter Kern said that although tourism activities were again affected by the COVID-19 pandemic this quarter, the impact of Omilon this time was less severe and shorter than the impact of previous waves. Kern expects a solid and comprehensive recovery to be seen in 2022.
Analysts expect travel activity to recover in the spring and summer as COVID-19 infection rates decline, and these expectations have also pushed Expedia's stock price higher and hit new highs. Cowen Inc. analyst Kevin Kopelman believes that given the high demand for the market, travel bookings are expected to see a significant pick-up this year.
62.9 million room nights were occupied in the quarter, up 74% year-on-year, and 234 million room nights were stayed in the year, up 35% year-on-year.
Expedia total revenue was $2.3 billion in Q4 2021, down 17% from Q4 2019 but up 148% from the fourth quarter of 2020; total bookings were $17.5 billion, down 25%. Net income for the quarter was $276 million, beating analysts' expectations, with a net loss of $412 million for the year-ago quarter. Full-year 2021 revenue of $8.598 billion, up 65% year-over-year.
From the perspective of business revenue division, in Q4 2021, accommodation revenue accounted for 75% of total revenue, advertising and media revenue accounted for 7%, air ticket revenue accounted for 3%, and all other revenue accounted for 15%.
In terms of sales and marketing in the fourth quarter of last year, Expedia increased its 106% year-over-year investment, mainly including $531 million in direct costs, due to rising tourism demand and the company's increased marketing efforts.
Expedia Group 2021 at a glance
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