Recently, Expedia Group released its fourth quarter and full year 2021 financial report, and the data shows that Expedia's adjusted EBITDA in Q4 2021 was $479 million, which became the highest value of adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of the company's history, and the third consecutive quarter of the epidemic to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA for the full year 2021 was $1.5 billion and full-year 2021 revenue was $8.6 billion.
Although Q4 2021 revenue was $2.3 billion, it was still 17% lower than Q4 2019, but the adjusted EBITDA increased by $1 million compared to the same period in 2019 (the most recent period was not affected by the pandemic). Net income for the fourth quarter of 2021 was $276 million and adjusted net income was $167 million. Of the 2021 Q4 percentage of total revenue, accommodation accounted for 75%, advertising and media accounted for 7%, aviation accounted for 3%, and all other revenues accounted for the remaining 15%.
Source: Screenshot of Expedia earnings
In a conference call with analysts, Expedia CFO Eric Hart said: "The results of Q4 further illustrate how we are running a more efficient business than we were before the pandemic. But one sign of this efficiency is that the company currently has about 10,000 fewer employees than at the end of 2019.
Although its business was affected by the Opichron variant strain in December, total bookings for the fourth quarter of 2021 were $17.5 billion, the lowest quarterly decline of the year compared to the previous quarter, but still down 25% compared to the same period in 2019.
Hart said booking trends have been improving in January and have risen in recent weeks compared to 2019, driven largely by bookings in the US, followed by the EMEA region.
Sales and marketing spending for Q4 2021 was approximately $875 million, down 12% compared to the same period in 2019 but more than doubled from the same period in 2020.
Expedia CEO Peter Kern said a key part of the marketing plan is to use a unified strategy that combines creative messages with brand and performance marketing to bring visitors into Expedia's brand portfolio.
Kern said Expedia has many opportunities to improve its direct relationship with consumers. We've pulled out of the big market of Google and metasearch and attracted customers, but we generally haven't done a good job of retaining those customers, making them sticky, and making sure the experience is good. Expedia is now very focused on attracting visitors and making sure they can enjoy all the services Expedia has to offer, such as loyalty programs like loyalty programs like membership pricing, but also making sure they have a better app experience.
A key component of Expedia's customer retention strategy is the redesign of the loyalty program announced last fall. Kern said the loyalty program will cover all of Expedia's brands and products, and all of the research shows that the most important thing for customers is to have the breadth of the product. Kern also said that with loyalty programs in effect and brands more closely linked, this will help companies determine if integration is needed.
Kern is optimistic about 2022 as a period of innovation and "delivery" for Expedia. Expedia believes that travel will recover and Expedia will also play a central role in it, which it hopes to play an important role in driving the future of the industry. It believes in benefits not only for tourists, but also for our own business, as well as for the entire tourism ecosystem, which is what Expedia will focus on this year.