Expedia CEO Peter Kern told CNBC on Monday the business travelers are back. During the dark times of the Covid pandemic at the end of 2020, he guess they will return and that day has come.
“You’re here in Seattle. And I’m traveling all the time. So I think business travel is back. I said from the very beginning that business travel would return. We’re seeing it. all,” Kern said. with Jim Cramerwho was in Expedia’s home city for “Crazy Money.”
Kern said fast came today and it was there. “People are traveling like crazy. If you’ve been in an airport, you know it. Everyone complains about it. They’re overcrowded, not staffed enough.”
Last year, Expedia agree to sell corporate travel arm for American Express Global Business Travel. As part of the agreement, Expedia became a shareholder of Amex GBT and entered into a long-term strategic partnership.
Kern’s company also operates its eponymous Expedia service, as well as other travel services including Hotels.com, Hotwire, Travelocity and Orbitz. The company is also behind Vrbo, which stands for vacation rentals by owners. It competes with Airbnb.
With all those brands under one roof, Kern and Expedia have certainly captured the pulse of the travel industry. The executive said tourism is booming. “No questions asked throughout the summer and still going strong through September. It doesn’t look like much permission,” he said.
