Skift Take
As Booking Holdings brands try to cross-sell their customers on more products, such as attractions, restaurants, and ground transportation, more companywide collaboration may be inevitable. No brand mergers are in the offing, but signs point toward more coordination.
The multiple companies of Booking Holdings have run entirely independently of each other for years. But it's not clear how long the status quo may remain the case.
Since becoming CEO of the group in 2017, Glenn Fogel has spoken about his vision for the conglomerate. Until now, Booking Holdings subsidiaries have typically driven most of their revenue from the sales of a single product, such as lodging or flights, to their customers. Fogel's vision is for its consumer-facing brands to provide multiple services, cross-sells, and upsells to customers before, during, and after their trips.
During a conference call on Thursday, when Booking Holdings executives discussed first-quarter earnings, pressure for greater collaboration across companies seemed to be a subtle theme.
Fogel summarized his vision this way: "Our overall strategy is 'the connected trip.' There's much more than just going onto a site and booking a hotel. That's what we're trying to do is create all these different things and stitch them together in a way that provides significantly more value than any single service could do on its own."
Last year, Skift reported on how that has led to Booking.com to chart a path toward becoming a full-service travel agency. For example, Booking, which became a global giant of hotel booking, has recently added other products, such as short-term rentals and tours and attractions, to its menu.
Until now, Booking Holdings has famously been a set of independent fiefdoms. Each major consumer brand has retained separate management. That's not changing any time soon.
However, Fogel's vision may also be creating a centrifugal
