Just over 18 months into the chief executive role at Tripadvisor, Matt Goldberg says the brands - the reviews site, Viator, theFork and Cruise Critic - are pursuing the common goal of being the “most trusted source for travel and experiences.”
While experiences brand Viator’s numbers have spoken for themselves in past quarters, Goldberg is focused on how it works with Tripadvisor to a greater degree.
During a Center Stage session at The Phocuswright Conference 2023 he provided an update on the company’s three-pronged strategy, generative artificial intelligence developments and marketing endeavors.
“If you can have an audience the size of Tripadvisor, a third of whom come to us for experiences, the other two-thirds in equal proportion for dining and hotels, that’s a really nice balanced portfolio of travelers coming to us," he said. "But if you can get the two working together really effectively, Tripadvisor can be broad and guide a traveler to any kind of experience they want to have, Viator can be very deep.
"Already in 2023 we’ve introduced 30 million more travelers to bookable experiences that Viator can fulfill than the previous year, and for Tripadvisor we can extend that into other categories, other geographies and really drive a very nice growth revenue stream in the marketplace space, which together with media and meta makes that a balanced portfolio that can drive growth and profitability.”
Over the course of the conversation, Goldberg touched on why its Plus paid subscription service, unveiled in early 2021, is less of a focus, adding that a loyalty program for Viator has great potential to drive repeat business.
He also discussed some of the early results from Tripadvisor’s itinerary building tool, which uses generative AI, and said that bookable experiences and hotel experiences will be added going forward.
See below for the full interview with PhocusWire senior reporter Linda Fox.