By Doyinsola Oladipo
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Online travel agency Booking Holdings Inc said on Thursday it set a new record in January for monthly room night bookings, with travelers booking vacations further out than they did during the pandemic.
Travel companies including Booking’s peer, vacation rental Airbnb Inc, have reported strong fourth-quarter results on sustained travel demand, despite economic concerns.
The Booking.com and KAYAK operator’s revenue rose 36% year-over-year to $4 billion for the quarter, exceeding Wall Street’s estimates for $3.89 billion in revenue, according to Refinitiv data.
Gross bookings for the quarter rose 44% from the year-ago period to $27.3 billion, the company said.
Shares rose 0.73% in extended trading.
“We are encouraged by the continued strength and resiliency of demand from travelers last year and into the new year, which we believe speaks to our consumers’ strong desire to use our platforms when booking their travel,” said Glenn Fogel, Booking’s chief executive officer.
Booking Holdings booked over 95 million room nights in January 2023 up 10 million room nights from the previous record set in May 2022, Booking’s Chief Financial Officer, David Goulden told investors on a call.
Booking Holdings said gross travel bookings for fiscal year 2022 increased 58% to $121.3 billion. Total revenues for the full year increased 56% to $17.1 billion.
“Month-on-month trends can be volatile and we recognize that there is uncertainty regarding the future path of the world’s economy,” said Fogel.
The company said booking windows in January normalized back to 2019 levels and travelers are already booking stays late in the year.
(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
