I caught up with Expedia Inc. President and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi this afternoon, a couple of hours before he was scheduled to appear on center stage before all the attendees at the PhoCusWright conference in Orlando Nov. 19.
I asked Khosrowshahi, who was decked out in a pinstripe suit as we sat outdoors in the Florida sun, whether he expected to be breaking any news in his “executive interview” with PhoCusWright President and CEO Philip Wolf later in the afternoon.
Referring to a recent contract battle with Choice Hotels, Khosrowshahi said he didn’t think so because “we’ve made enough news lately.”
Khosrowshahi declined to get into any of the contract details, but said the Choice contract is similar to deals with other chains, adding, “I was confident we’d get it done.”
Looking to upcoming deals with major chains, Khosrowshahi said typically renewals with large chains are almost prenegotiated in the months leading up to contract expirations.
“I certainly don’t see any big disruptions coming up,” Khosrowshahi said.
Then, we turned our attention to the strides being made by Priceline’s Booking.com and the prospects for Expedia’s Venere hotel business in Europe and Asia.
I asked him if he’s nervous about Booking.com and I got a surprise answer.
“Of course, I’m nervous about Booking.com,” Khosrowshahi said, adding that Booking.com’s trajectory is encouraging because it shows that there is plenty of room for growth if a company “executes well.”
Khosrowshahi noted that Expedia’s Easy Manage program, which uses the agency model for small and independent hotels in Europe and Asia-Pacific, has signed some 6,500 properties.
He said the merchant model is most appropriate in large tourist destinations, and having both models at the company’s disposal is advantageous.
The Expedia CEO also said the company would monitor the tack that Orbitz Worldwide is taking with a modified agency model in Asia-Pacific to see if would be worth adopting or not.
In response to a question, Khosrowshahi said Priceline’s exploding market cap, which recently surpassed Expedia’s, is another “encouraging sign” because it shows how the market is growing.
“Priceline’s market cap didn’t come at anyone else’s expense,” Khosrowshai said, noting that Expedia’s market cap has tripled this year.
There have been numerous rumors over the last year about online travel agency consolidation, but Khosrowshahi discounts the buzz, saying he doesn’t expect large-scale consolidation in the short term because you usually don’t see such consolidation in a growth market.
Depending on the number of small and independent hotels that sign on, Khosrowshahi believes TripAdvisor’s new Business Listings product, where hotels on TripAdvisor can display their URLs for direct bookings, could be a significant revenue stream for the Expedia Inc. unit.
“It looks good on paper,” he says, adding that theoretically there is always the possibility when you introduce a new advertising product that it could cannibalize other advertising.
“If we don’t build a good product,” Khosrowshai said, referring to Business Listings, “then someone else will.”
Looking into his crystal ball, Khosrowshahi said he believes the advertising/media business will be “the most significant mover” over the next few years.
Media revenue, including that from Expedia Inc.’s TripAdvisor business, accounted for some $300 million, or roughly 10%, of Expedia Inc.’s $2.9 billion in revenue in 2008.
It wasn’t exactly a headline, but Khosrowshahi said he believes that percentage will grow.
He said there is a huge opportunity in the media business, but it hasn’t scaled yet and there has been no product out there “to move the needle.”
Khosrowshahi expects that needle-mover in the media business will emerge over the next five years.
You should ask Mr Dara Khosrowshahi if he is worried about Victims of Expedia
[NB: Editor's note, URL removed]
John:
You are well known for peddling the Victims site around the comments section of news websites and blogs.
Unless you have something relevant to add to the conversation, please do not bother commenting in future.
To TNOOZ: HI, Thanks for publishing the question for Mr Dara Khosrowshahi. He does not need the link you removed because he knows very well who I am and how to contact me. This is a response to Kevin May. Feel free to not post it if you don’t want. But, please send this to Kevin.
Kevin: 1) Does Mr Dara Khosrowshahi need your poor defense?
2) Kevin, not long ago, someone with your name (I can assume it was you) read my interview at: (http://www.tourcms.com/blog/2008/11/09/interview-with-victimsofexpedia-what-is-the-motivation-for-such-a-site/).
and “that” Kevin May wrote “in order to demonstrate our independence as a media brand focusing on the online travel industry” asked me to submit my case to him to see what was really going on (please read his entire post).
After I sent my case to Kevin, I had no response.
Did EXPEDIA pay you for your silence?
How much?
Are you Mr Khosrowshahi friend?
Is that the way you show “independence”.
People deserve honest information not people like you that are reluctant to publish the truth. They are at risk of being scammed by EXPEDIA.
Hello John:
I submitted a request to Expedia in the UK about you. There was no response.
I can only apologise for not reporting back to that affect. I suspect you were not surprised anyway. Expedia has clearly chosen to ignore you and your campaign. As have plenty of blogs and news sites over the years.
In response to your questions:
“Did Expedia pay you for your silence?” Oh please…… Do we have to go through this charade EVERY SINGLE TIME.
“How much?” As above.
“Are you Mr Khosrowshahi friend?” Er, no.
“Is that the way you show “independence”?” I really don’t have to demonstrate my independence to you. I am happy for our readers to walk away if they think we are in the pocket of any travel company.
“People deserve honest information not people like you that are reluctant to publish the truth. They are at risk of being scammed by EXPEDIA.” You do a pretty good job of throwing your presence around the web and do not need Tnooz to assist you.
Finally, I am happy to investigate any accusation made again any company as long as it comes from an objective source. I fear, given my experience of you over the years, that you are far from objective and have just one mission in life.
Thanks for your response Kevin. We both know the truth about EXPEDIA regardless of what we wrote here. I respect your position. Mr Khosrowshahi lack of response needs no furhter comments.
Good luck with your business