The introduction of the "connected trip" to the strategy of Booking Holdings is starting to take shape.
Booking.com hinted at what was in the plan in September this year (introducing Grab services for ride-hailing within the app) but there are clearly big ideas coming down the pipe.
Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, knows this is a major shift in emphasis as it looks to break out from individual brands offering their own services (Booking.com for hotels, RentalCars for ground transportation, Kayak for flights, etc.).
In an interview in the PhocusWire Studio, recorded at The Phocuswright Conference last month, Fogel discusses the strategy and where the opportunities to expand the service may sit.
He also talks about the impact (or not, in the case of Booking Holdings) of Google on search marketing, plus gives a perspective on the flood of investment capital entering the industry and the concerns that should be giving the market some cause for worry in the wake of the WeWork saga in the summer.
Finally, Fogel describes how a strategy to improve the sustainability of hotels, with Booking.com helping take a lead, should be done collaboratively.
The full interview is here:
Booking Holdings' Glenn Fogel on platforms and capital (PhocusWire @ Phocuswright Conference 2019)
* This interview took place before Fogel's appearance on Center Stage at The Phocuswright Conference, when he spent the first third of the session ranting about his check-in experience at the event's hotel. The now-infamous interview is included below:
Executive Interview: Booking Holdings - The Phocuswright Conference 2019