Ceo Journal

Expedia’s acquisitions versus the Priceline Group’s “competitive moat.” Rock, paper, scissors. It’s an interesting contest and in the $1.4 trillion global travel market, both companies can be winners. Expedia is trending upward and Priceline is showing strong growth, as well. While Expedia dominated headlines with its more than $6 billion worth of acquisitions in 2015, the Priceline Group needs to win the narrative back and CEO Darren Huston made his case about his company’s competitive advantages. “Our capabilities and scale in partner acquisition, customer experience, and efficient demand generation plus our large installed base of accommodations and loyal travelers give the Priceline Group a competitive moat that is deep and wide,” Huston said. [For Darren Huston elaboration on these points, see excerpts from the Priceline Group’s fourth quarter earnings call February 17 at the bottom of this post.] Read full story @ https://skift.com/2016/02/17/priceline-group-...

One of the Priceline Group’s issues is its name. As much as officials of the parent company appreciate the legacy of its namesake Priceline.com and its longtime TV point man William Shatner, they cringe whenever journalists and pundits associate the Group, which also includes Booking.com, Agoda, Kayak, OpenTable and several other brands, with the Negotiator. Stars of the current Priceline.com advertising campaign, William Shatner and Kaley Cuoco. REUTERS/Priceline.com As Priceline Group CEO Darren Huston told me in November: “What an asset [Priceline.com and Shatner], but on the other hand it’s a little bit of baggage for us because we’re the Priceline Group. Every time I do an interview, they show a picture of William Shatner. We’re just so much more than that. I hope people start to learn that. I love our legacy namesake business, but look, we’ve got OpenTable, Booking.com, Kayak. We’re now listed as one of the best companies to work for in the Internet segment in Fortune. That’s q...