TripAdvisor focuses on good news in Experiences as overall revenue continues to fall

TripAdvisor saw overall revenues decline for the second quarter in a row as its Hotels, Media & Platform division fell short again.

Despite the drag on one part of the company's key metrics, total adjusted EBITDA is up 17% to $128 million during the second quarter 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.

The Hotels, Media & Platform division is contributing in a major way to the uplift in profit, with a 27% increase year-over-year.

Still, overall revenue increased from $376 million to $422 million over the course of the first and second quarters of 2019 but year-over-year the business is down 3% in the comparable three-month periods.

The Experiences & Dining wing of the business saw revenues jump by over a quarter to $125 million - the second reporting period in a row that the division has seen a 20%+ increase.

President and CEO, Steve Kaufer, says investments during 2019 in the division are "setting a foundation to increasingly monetize our influence across more travel categories."

He adds: "Phocuswright estimates that global travel activities is a $159 billion market that is currently 80% offline. PwC estimates the global restaurant market reached $1.6 trillion in 2018 and expects its growth to accelerate through 2022.

"We want to reinforce our market-leading position now and remain far from profit-taking mode. We could choose to operate this segment closer to enterprise-level profit margins today; however, we believe investing in platform expansion to capture market share and long term growth is the best way to maximize future profits and shareholder value."

Back in the Hotels, Media & Platform division, revenues fell from $272 million to $254 million between the second quarter of 2018 and the same period this year.

Kaufer says: Hotels revenue decreased primarily due to performance marketing optimizations throughout last year and, to a lesser extent, adverse changes in foreign currency and lower SEO revenue.

"We attribute our SEO trends to Google increasingly pushing its own hotel products in search results, a practice we anticipate will receive increased focus from regulators moving forward."

The division is concentrating on a number of strategic initiatives on the back of its improved profitability, Kaufer says.

These include attempts to improve loyalty and membership, delivering a new TripAdvisor brand marketing plan and expanding its B2B products for hoteliers.

* Steve Kaufer will participate at The Phocuswright Conference 2019 in Hollywood, Florida, in November. Registration and details here!

Check out his interviews on Center Stage from 2018...