Skift Take
Competition certainly played a role in the Expedia-Hopper split. Which company suffered the greatest? The larger company, Expedia, had more resources to absorb a hit.
Hopper founder and CEO Fred Lalonde said Expedia Group's decision to abruptly remove its hotel inventory in July was driven by competition, and claimed it was Expedia that ended up suffering.
"Expedia lost those bookings, not Hopper," Lalonde said. Expedia Group provided perhaps half of Hopper's hotel inventory before the breakup, and Lalonde played down the impact to his own company, adding that 65% of Hopper's hotel inventory in North America comes from direct relationships.
The Hopper CEO's comments came on-stage at Skift Global Forum Thursday.
Lalonde said Hopper has 13% marketshare of flights in the U.S., and that it has been taking marketshare from Expedia.
“Where did that share come from over the past four years?" Lalonde asked? Some smaller OTAs (online travel agencies) got in trouble during the pandemic, and we took the share, but the vast majority of it came from