Online travel service TripAdvisor Inc. increased revenue 1.5 times in the fourth quarter of 2022 thanks to increased activity in the travel sector.
The company said in a press release that its October-December revenue rose to $354 million, up from $241 million in the same period a year earlier. Experts polled by FactSet forecasted an average of $344.2 million.
Revenue from TripAdvisor’s core business jumped 34% to $217 million, revenue from restaurant reservation platform The Fork jumped 10% to $33 billion and online marketplace Viator soared 2.2 times to $127 million.
“The improved performance is mainly due to increased consumer demand for tourism-related services, given the easing of quarantine restrictions and the ongoing recovery of the industry,” the company said.
At the same time, a stronger U.S. dollar negatively impacted TripAdvisor’s results, taking about 8 percentage points off its revenue growth rate in the fourth quarter and 10% for the full year 2022.
The company recorded a net loss of $3 million, or $0.02 per share, last quarter, compared with a loss of $29 million, or $0.21 per share, a year earlier.
Earnings excluding one-time factors were $0.16 per share, well above analysts’ consensus forecast of $0.04 per share.
For all of 2022, TripAdvisor’s revenue rose 1.7 times to $1.49 billion, with net income of $20 million versus a loss of $148 million in 2021.
The company expects its growth to continue in 2023, the press release noted.
TripAdvisor stock is adding 9.4% in premarket trading Wednesday. Over the past 12 months, their value has declined 14%.
The vaccination boosted tourism and began returning travelers to historic cities, Fabrizio Orlando, Global Industry Relations Associate Director at Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel website, said.
“As expected, vaccination has become a factor in the activation of tourism both domestically and internationally. Some 48% of those surveyed by us in May 2021 reported that they began to plan a trip precisely after receiving the first dose of the vaccine,” he said at the IV International Hospitality Conference, which took place in Parkovy Congress and Exhibition Center on June 18.
According to a Tripadvisor study, 80% of those surveyed confirmed that vaccination was a factor in the decision to travel throughout the country, and 91% – across the world. Among Tripadvisor users, the vaccinated were more active in planning and booking international travel (34% and 21%) than the unvaccinated (25% and 5%, respectively).
Regarding domestic tourism, unvaccinated people are more actively interested in such locations (51% versus 47% of requests from vaccinated people), but at the same time they book less (19% versus 32%).
Preferences are also badly different, in particular, vaccinated travelers are more bold about places with a mass congestion.
At the same time, unvaccinated travelers in the summer of 2021 choose first of all beach vacations (28% of requests), then outdoor activities (25%), urban tourism only in third place (24%).
According to the study, vaccinated people miss the cities – 32% of requests are related to tours to historic cities. Beach recreation takes second place (26%), while outdoor activities gained 20%.
According to Tripadvisor, the most active among those choosing international destinations are tourists from countries with a large proportion of the vaccinated population: Germany, France, and the U.S. “The undisputed leader is Germany, where two-thirds plan to travel to other countries,” Orlando said.
TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel website with 43 markets and 22 languages. TripAdvisor is headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, USA. Subsidiaries and affiliates of Tripadvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) own and operate a portfolio of online travel brands and companies operating across a variety of websites and apps including TripAdvisor, Airfarewatchdog, BookingBuddy, Cruise Critic, Family Vacation Critic, FlipKey, GateGuru, Holiday Lettings, Holiday Watchdog, Independent Traveler, Jetsetter, lafourchette, Niumba, OneTime, SeatGuru, SmarterTravel, Tingo, Travel Library, TravelPod, Viator, and VirtualTourist.
HISTORIC CITIES, TOURISM, TRAVELERS, TRIPADVISOR, VACCINATION