Expedia Group Reports Strong Q4 Performance, Focuses on AI and Growth in 2025

Expedia Group closed out 2024 on a high note, with new Chief Financial Officer Scott Schenkel describing the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year financial results as a strong performance with a solid finish. Speaking to analysts on Thursday night, shortly after assuming his new role, he highlighted key growth drivers across the business.

The company reported $3.1 billion in revenue for Q4, marking a 10% year-over-year increase. This growth was fueled by a 21% rise in B2B revenue, a 25% surge in advertising revenue, and positive performance across all three of its B2C brands—Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo.

CEO Ariane Gorin, who will reach her one-year milestone as chief executive in May, outlined Expedia’s priorities for 2025, stating that the company intended to build on its momentum from 2024 by focusing on three key areas: delivering more value to travelers, strategically investing in high-growth opportunities, and improving operational efficiencies while expanding margins.

Artificial intelligence is set to play a significant role in advancing these initiatives. Gorin detailed three strategic areas where AI would be integrated across the company. The first involves leveraging AI to enhance products for both B2B partners and travelers, ensuring an improved customer experience that encourages repeat bookings. Although she did not provide an update on Romie, Expedia’s AI assistant introduced last year, she emphasized that AI-driven improvements remained a priority.

The second focus area is adapting to evolving travel behaviors, particularly as travelers begin using generative AI-powered search tools. Gorin noted that Expedia aimed to ensure its brands remained visible in these emerging search environments, highlighting the company’s sophisticated tech-driven marketing team as a key asset in this effort.

The third priority is identifying AI-native travel startups that could serve as potential partners for Expedia, particularly in areas related to supply.

Reflecting on the company’s financial results, Gorin pointed to the rebound of Vrbo and Hotels.com following a challenging period caused by their transition to Expedia’s new technology platform. She noted that upon stepping into the CEO role, she had set a goal to reignite growth for both brands while simultaneously strengthening Expedia’s core brand and advertising business. She expressed pride in the teams’ execution of this strategy.

Vrbo’s growth in 2024 was attributed to improvements in product, marketing, and supply, with the platform adding one million new listings, primarily in urban areas. Gorin mentioned that the company had ambitious plans for 2025 and would continue investing in the brand.

For Hotels.com, she acknowledged that it had been significantly impacted by both the tech migration and changes to the OneKey loyalty program. However, she revealed that major efforts were underway to revitalize the brand, with key initiatives set to be unveiled in 2025.

Regarding OneKey, Gorin stated that its expansion beyond the United States and the United Kingdom was currently on hold as the company evaluated insights from its existing rollout. She explained that Expedia was assessing the program’s impact across its brands and regions before making further decisions about its loyalty strategy, with additional details expected later in the year.

Expedia reported $24.4 billion in gross bookings for Q4, a 13% year-over-year increase, bringing total gross bookings for 2024 to $111 billion, up 7%. Booked room nights rose by 12% in Q4 and 9% for the full year compared to 2023. Lodging gross bookings increased by 12% in the quarter to $17 billion, with hotel bookings specifically climbing 14%.

B2C gross bookings reached $2 billion in Q4, up 6% year over year, while B2B bookings surged by 21% to $1 billion. For the full year, B2C bookings grew by 2% to $9.2 billion, while B2B bookings saw a 21% increase, reaching $4.1 billion.

The company’s adjusted EBITDA for Q4 stood at $643 million, with full-year EBITDA totaling $2.9 billion.

Similar to Q3, Gorin noted that international demand remained stronger than in the U.S. Booked room nights in the U.S. grew at a high single-digit rate, while Europe experienced low double-digit growth, and demand in other regions, particularly APAC, grew at an even higher pace. She emphasized that Expedia’s B2B segment continued to benefit from this strong international demand and that the company’s global expansion strategy was progressing well.

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