Vanessa F

Vanessa Wu, on behalf of Stephen Ju, requested an update on the opportunity for Holisto (now Trivago Deals) to provide white-label booking engine services, particularly for small and medium-sized OTAs and potentially hotel chains, as previously mentioned.

Answer

CFO Robin Harries clarified that Trivago's priority is not to provide powerful tech stacks to other OTAs. Instead, the focus is on Trivago Book & Go facilitating bookings on Trivago on behalf of partners and Trivago Deals, with the main goal of driving conversion. He noted that conversion rates have increased by 37% compared to 2023, leading to more effective marketing and higher user satisfaction, which is the primary payoff from these initiatives.

Vanessa Wu from UBS inquired about an update on Trivago Deals (formerly Holisto) potentially providing white-label booking engine services to small and medium-sized OTAs and hotel chains.

Answer

Wolf Schmuhl, CFO, clarified that the primary focus for Trivago Deals, integrated as Trivago Book & Go, is to facilitate bookings directly on Trivago's platform to enhance conversion rates, rather than operating as a separate white-label business line for external partners.

Vanessa F, on for Steven Ju, asked about the payback horizon and ROI measurement for marketing spend, as well as the company's strategy for building branded traffic.

Answer

CFO Andrew Russakoff explained their ROI strategy aims to maximize aggregate profit by acquiring volume up to an incremental breakeven LTV, noting the LTV to CAC ratio reached 2.8x. CEO Jeff Kip outlined a three-part brand-building strategy: improving the core product experience, restarting and increasing TV ad spend, and expanding efforts in paid social and influencer marketing.