Tripadvisor is embarking on a dramatic realignment aimed at
helping the company preserve profitability and spur new growth as it deals with
competition from Google and others and with evolving preferences from
travelers.
Along with product changes aimed at created a more
engaging, traveler-centric experience, Tripadvisor confirmed it is also
switching to a lowercase “a” in its name as one of many visible signs that will
be rolling out in the coming months to signal the brand’s transformation.
The Viator brand, which Tripadvisor acquired for $200
million in 2014, will now operate independent of Tripadvisor Experiences, with
its own marketing, product and engineering teams.
In a memo sent to employees after markets closed Thursday,
co-founder and CEO Steve Kaufer says this will “give Viator the opportunity to
grow its brand and business offerings as a leading Experiences OTA.”
In tandem with this change, Kaufer says Dermot Halpin, who
has been president of experiences and vacation rentals, will leave the company
but will stay on as an advisor through the first quarter. During that time,
Kaufer will lead Viator, and then Ben Drew, who has been vice president of
business development and strategy for rentals and attractions, will take over
as president.
Viator founder Rod Cuthbert says he’s been concerned about
TripAdvisor’s neglect of Viator since the deal went through nearly six years
ago, and today’s announcement provides a valuable lesson for brands that make
acquisitions.
“This is definitely an ‘I told you so’ moment for me,”
Cuthbert says. “Back in 2017, I talked about the mistake I felt Trip was making
in shifting emphasis away from Viator, the established leader in tours and
activities, to TripAdvisor Experiences. Based on the announcement today, it
looks like I got that 100% right.
“I’ve had a bunch of calls from current and ex-Viator people
today, and it’d be fair to say there’s a lot of schadenfreude in the air over
Dermot’s departure. It turns out, though, based on what I’ve learned, that in
the end he was the strongest advocate for increasing the focus and investment
in the Viator brand.
“One can only imagine how much more successful this
acquisition might have been had Trip recognized that [former CEO] Barrie
Seidenberg and her executive team -- Scott McNeely, Kelly Gillease, Ken
Frohling -- who all walked within a couple of years, were key to the company’s
future, and knew just a little more about how to grow the business than the
Trip execs who took over the reins.
“There’s definitely a lesson here for acquirers: If you’re
buying a great business, put faith in the people who made it great! Don’t
imagine your own team has some special sauce that’ll make it better. The
Trip/Viator experience says that definitely isn’t the case.”
Kaufer says Viator is one of five lines of business that
exceed $100 million in revenue. The others are hotel B2B solutions, Experiences
on TripAdvisor, TheFork and Tripadvisor Restaurants, and media advertising. In
his memo, Kaufer says he believes growth in these five areas can “collectively
more than offset hotel auction headwinds and will help us return to sustained
top-line growth.”
As part of this strategy, more executive changes are
underway. Gary Fritz, who has been chief growth officer and president for Asia
Pacific, will leave the company in the second quarter. The APAC organization
will now report into Lindsay Nelson, who becomes chief experience and brand
officer. Under Nelson, Jane Lim will lead activities in APAC.
Kaufer writes the company is also “centralizing the
previously distributed teams across design, user research, CRM,
partnerships/business development and communications functions under Lindsay
Nelson. In addition to leading brand marketing, CoreX product, membership and loyalty,
new ventures (consumer), Lindsay will continue to drive the advertising and
media sales organization focused growth outside of Hotel & OTA categories.”
Kanika Soni becomes chief commercial officer and will take
on responsibility for Tripadvisor’s B2C product, SEO and performance marketing
for rentals, experiences and restaurants. She will also continue to oversee the
hotels B2B portfolio and auction and hotels and online travel agency sales
organizations.
___
Source: PhocusWire