Priceline: Booking.com surpasses one million reservations in one day on its website

The Priceline Group‘s second-quarter results beat expectations, despite recent terrorist attacks and political instability in Europe, as well as competition from major hotel chains and their direct booking incentives, tnooz.com reports.

Customers booked 141 million room nights with Priceline in the second quarter, up 24% year-over-year. Consolidated gross bookings accounted for $17.9 billion dollars, up about 21% on a constant-currency basis or about 19% year over year in U.S. dollars. Gross profit was up 16%, or about 18% on a constant-currency basis.

Priceline cited the “remarkable accomplishment” of Booking.com which now has one million properties on its platform, an increase of 30% over last year and nearly double what it had two years ago. Executives also highlighted the 493,000 instantly bookable vacation rental properties that are available on Booking.com which grew 39% year-over-year.

Booking.com reached another milestone in the second quarter as it surpassed one million reservations in one day on its website.

Boyd said the recent efforts from major hotel chains such as Hilton and Marriott to get customers to book direct by offering discounted rates was just another tactic that hotels have utilized against OTAs over the years, likening the discounts to the substantial investments hotels have made with their own booking engines.

“Our approach is to try to make sure that our customers have the best prices that are published and available and I think we are doing a pretty good job of doing that,” Boyd said.

Discounted rates

Boyd also cautioned against the expectation that consumers will have about receiving discounted rates when booking directly with the hotel, which Boyd said could ultimately impact ADRs for the chains. However, Boyd was careful to add that Priceline values its relationships with hotel partners and the inventory it gets from them.

Other highlights from the earnings call include:

European markets: Given the volatile political climate abroad, Priceline said certain markets such as Turkey and France have been impaired but that demand for other markets such as Ireland, Germany, Portugal, and Spain have been strong. Priceline said that Britain’s exit from the EU also did not significantly impact their earnings one way or another.

Kayak’s innovation: Speaking about Kayak’s new Facebook messenger bot which can answer travel queries within the app, Priceline executives said that even though the technology is in the early stages, they are excited to be innovating on that kind of platform. Being early adopters also positions Priceline to benefit if these types of platforms become meaningful sources of e-commerce.

Additionally, Kayak is looking to expand its international footprint, although Priceline execs did not share any specifics on that.

Targeted ads

Priceline is also looking at doing more with Facebook for all its brands, including targeted ads.

Alternative accommodations: Priceline continues to build up its alternative accommodations market—non-traditional hotel rooms—in an effort to compete with the likes of HomeAway and Airbnb. However in regards to recent regulatory concerns on vacation rentals, Priceline said it’s a “law-abiding company” and is not looking to disrupt the system.

Corporate travel: Priceline had stated in a previous quarter that business travel accounts for one out of five bookings on Bookings.com. Moving forward, it intends to build awareness for business travelers and owners about its Business Travel platform, which is still limited to just accommodations.

CEO search: Boyd has been the interim CEO for Priceline since Darren Huston stepped down in April. On the earnings call, Boyd said the search for a CEO “continues in the normal way with our board of directors and our recruiting firm and they are right in the middle of it.”

Looking ahead: Priceline expects a year-over-year increase in room nights booked for the third quarter to be approximately 18-21%. Total gross travel booking is expected to increase 14-19% while gross profit is expected to increase 15-20%.

Read more here.

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