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You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and tim Stenoveek on Bloomberg Radio.

You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and tim Stenoveek on Bloomberg Radio.

Bloomberg News reporting out today that Europe's high travel costs are driving Americans away and that really travelers from around the world are feeling priced out of Europe. And as we said, those big spending Americans are no exception. It's a great thing to ask about with our next guest. As are their company earnings, which came out last night. We welcome Toravago CEO Johannes Thomas, joining us from Jusseldorf, Germany. Travago ADRs by the way, our dad about four percent today, but they are up about thirty five percent here in twenty twenty five. Johanna's good to have you here.

Bloomberg News reporting out today that Europe's high travel costs are driving Americans away and that really travelers from around the world are feeling priced out of Europe. And as we said, those big spending Americans are no exception. It's a great thing to ask about with our next guest. As are their company earnings, which came out last night. We welcome Toravago CEO Johannes Thomas, joining us from Jusseldorf, Germany. Travago ADRs by the way, our dad about four percent today, but they are up about thirty five percent here in twenty twenty five. Johanna's good to have you here.

Welcome.

Welcome.

How are you.

How are you.

I'm very good, Thank you. I appreciate that you having me around. Thank you.

I'm very good, Thank you. I appreciate that you having me around. Thank you.

Well, it's nice to be talking with you. Remind our world about kind of your customers, your based customers in business and the global view that you see when it comes to travel.

Well, it's nice to be talking with you. Remind our world about kind of your customers, your based customers in business and the global view that you see when it comes to travel.

I think base customer is the travel world. It's a one point five trillion market in size, so pretty exciting. It's also growing five to ten percent a year, so a big and growing business. And Travago is a leading brand across the globe in travel and we have been working on the last one and a half years. We establish the brand after a near death experience, during near death experience during the pandemic.

I think base customer is the travel world. It's a one point five trillion market in size, so pretty exciting. It's also growing five to ten percent a year, so a big and growing business. And Travago is a leading brand across the globe in travel and we have been working on the last one and a half years. We establish the brand after a near death experience, during near death experience during the pandemic.

How's that refresh going right now? What can you point to to show a recovery from that near death experience as you described it?

How's that refresh going right now? What can you point to to show a recovery from that near death experience as you described it?

Yeah, I was returning to the company one and a half years ago together with a leadership team and we all have been folks that we were at Trivago for a decade, brought it to the IPO, and then during the pandemic we left basically and then out of the pandemic the company didn't come strong, and we think a result that is a result of law investment. During the pandemic. Travago's built as a brand, So brand investment is important if you invest into a brand during a period where nobody's traveling is pretty inefficient, so there was not a good place to invest in brand. And then after the pandemic stopped around the beginning of twenty twenty two, Travago was pretty conservative and investing in an inter brand. Other companies basically recovered in size other travel companies. Trivago didn't. And that's when one of the founders gave me another as a call if we want to come back to bring back a blueprint that has proven successful. And the last one and a half years we worked hard on getting the company back on track. When we arrived in Q two twenty twenty three, we were a shrinking fourteen percent. Now we've stabilized and brought the business back into growth last quarter, and we see strong double digit growth in Q one, which we are very excited about.

Yeah, I was returning to the company one and a half years ago together with a leadership team and we all have been folks that we were at Trivago for a decade, brought it to the IPO, and then during the pandemic we left basically and then out of the pandemic the company didn't come strong, and we think a result that is a result of law investment. During the pandemic. Travago's built as a brand, So brand investment is important if you invest into a brand during a period where nobody's traveling is pretty inefficient, so there was not a good place to invest in brand. And then after the pandemic stopped around the beginning of twenty twenty two, Travago was pretty conservative and investing in an inter brand. Other companies basically recovered in size other travel companies. Trivago didn't. And that's when one of the founders gave me another as a call if we want to come back to bring back a blueprint that has proven successful. And the last one and a half years we worked hard on getting the company back on track. When we arrived in Q two twenty twenty three, we were a shrinking fourteen percent. Now we've stabilized and brought the business back into growth last quarter, and we see strong double digit growth in Q one, which we are very excited about.

So talk to us about what you are seeing in terms of travel demand specifically and how that compares with the year ago. So, in other words, is travel up. You guys just reported your numbers, and you did break it down into various regions of the world. So give us some perspective, a little bit more insight into those earnings because investors seem a little bit disappointed here. But talk to us about what you are seeing and how that plays into your business, whether it's more upbeat than a year ago, or if you're seeing, you know, consumers travelers being a little bit more cautious.

So talk to us about what you are seeing in terms of travel demand specifically and how that compares with the year ago. So, in other words, is travel up. You guys just reported your numbers, and you did break it down into various regions of the world. So give us some perspective, a little bit more insight into those earnings because investors seem a little bit disappointed here. But talk to us about what you are seeing and how that plays into your business, whether it's more upbeat than a year ago, or if you're seeing, you know, consumers travelers being a little bit more cautious.

Yeah, so I think last year was the year where we exceed at twenty nineteen levels quite upsetsire. So travel is hot. People want to travel, it's exciting, they want to spend and experience the world. It's the number one discretionary expense people have, and that is what continues to be true. We see the travel strong across all segments, being at a US, being at a Europe, rest of the world, Asia, a pretty strong travel demand. See prices slightly up, but I think at fairly fairly consistent levels, and so travel is strong and we expect it to be a strong year, maybe an even stronger year than last year.

Yeah, so I think last year was the year where we exceed at twenty nineteen levels quite upsetsire. So travel is hot. People want to travel, it's exciting, they want to spend and experience the world. It's the number one discretionary expense people have, and that is what continues to be true. We see the travel strong across all segments, being at a US, being at a Europe, rest of the world, Asia, a pretty strong travel demand. See prices slightly up, but I think at fairly fairly consistent levels, and so travel is strong and we expect it to be a strong year, maybe an even stronger year than last year.

Hey, yo, honest, curious about sentiment just across Europe right now and what you're seeing as a European CEO or CEO I should say, in Europe, we've spoken quite a bit of folks in the last couple of weeks who have returned from Davos, and two of them have told us that there is just a feeling of, you know, optimism when it comes to American CEOs and CEOs of American companies, but a feeling of pessimism when it comes to the way that CEOs of European companies feel. Certainly, there's some generalizations in there, but I'm curious about your view.

Hey, yo, honest, curious about sentiment just across Europe right now and what you're seeing as a European CEO or CEO I should say, in Europe, we've spoken quite a bit of folks in the last couple of weeks who have returned from Davos, and two of them have told us that there is just a feeling of, you know, optimism when it comes to American CEOs and CEOs of American companies, but a feeling of pessimism when it comes to the way that CEOs of European companies feel. Certainly, there's some generalizations in there, but I'm curious about your view.

Yeah, I'm skeptical about the level of bureaucracy and the pace of execution of German companies as well, and European companies as well. It's just a lot of regulations and things that make companies slow. Here. I think we try to be very different, having a growth mindset, fanatic learning mindset. As a company, we are in the digital space, we are operating at global scale. We do TV marketing campaigns in more than twenty markets, we operate in more than forty markets. So it's not for us a European or German game. But overall, I think Europe has to end up and have has to put a mindset in place where hard and smart work is needed to be successful. And I think there needs to be a mindset, mindset shift in Europe otherwise it will be a decade that is difficult for the region.

Yeah, I'm skeptical about the level of bureaucracy and the pace of execution of German companies as well, and European companies as well. It's just a lot of regulations and things that make companies slow. Here. I think we try to be very different, having a growth mindset, fanatic learning mindset. As a company, we are in the digital space, we are operating at global scale. We do TV marketing campaigns in more than twenty markets, we operate in more than forty markets. So it's not for us a European or German game. But overall, I think Europe has to end up and have has to put a mindset in place where hard and smart work is needed to be successful. And I think there needs to be a mindset, mindset shift in Europe otherwise it will be a decade that is difficult for the region.

But are you seeing so You're not seeing that weakness across your platforms or you are seeing it.

But are you seeing so You're not seeing that weakness across your platforms or you are seeing it.

We are not seeing it in our developed European segment. The travelers week, I mean, people have money. It's not that there's no money in this region. It's more a question of can you keep growing or will you be outgrown from other regions over time. They have still good budget to invest into travel, but what destinations will you go to in the future. Hotels are thirty percent up compared to pre pandemic, and people are feeling that the number one struggle for travel for travelers is security and safety. Number one geopolitical issues, people stay closer to home, and number two is priced. They increased expensive and that's also true across across the world. A price pressure because travel became so expensive is a big challenge for travelers. So Europe even more the apologies.

We are not seeing it in our developed European segment. The travelers week, I mean, people have money. It's not that there's no money in this region. It's more a question of can you keep growing or will you be outgrown from other regions over time. They have still good budget to invest into travel, but what destinations will you go to in the future. Hotels are thirty percent up compared to pre pandemic, and people are feeling that the number one struggle for travel for travelers is security and safety. Number one geopolitical issues, people stay closer to home, and number two is priced. They increased expensive and that's also true across across the world. A price pressure because travel became so expensive is a big challenge for travelers. So Europe even more the apologies.

What would you say is the way for European regulators to sort of decrease bureaucracy, to encourage innovation, to create real competition, so there isn't this last decade.

What would you say is the way for European regulators to sort of decrease bureaucracy, to encourage innovation, to create real competition, so there isn't this last decade.

You know, I'm not an expert in this topic. I just think less rules, more freedom to people so they can actually take decisions themselves. If if somebody that's taking decisions for me all the time, you know, I stopped taking decisions myself, and I think that's where a lot of you know, collective intelligence is being lost. So I think that would be a good start just to for every rule or legislation you put in place, you kill five, and then you may get to a way where where it's less wild of regulation.

You know, I'm not an expert in this topic. I just think less rules, more freedom to people so they can actually take decisions themselves. If if somebody that's taking decisions for me all the time, you know, I stopped taking decisions myself, and I think that's where a lot of you know, collective intelligence is being lost. So I think that would be a good start just to for every rule or legislation you put in place, you kill five, and then you may get to a way where where it's less wild of regulation.

Now, Johannes, before you go, just got about thirty thirty five seconds here. Geopolitics, trade wars, tariffs, all of this plays out in global financial markets, plays out in the FX market, which can certainly impact whether or not a consumer feels like their currency will go for you know, further along, how is all of this impacting travel demand if at all? And again only got about thirty seconds.

Now, Johannes, before you go, just got about thirty thirty five seconds here. Geopolitics, trade wars, tariffs, all of this plays out in global financial markets, plays out in the FX market, which can certainly impact whether or not a consumer feels like their currency will go for you know, further along, how is all of this impacting travel demand if at all? And again only got about thirty seconds.

So I think travel hugely correlates with GDP. So it depends where the economy is going and whether level will be well off or not, and it's rather reacting quickly on it. People delay demand, delay investments. Otherwise, we see that people already walk early in advance to make sure they get a good deal. They compare prices, and that's where our product fits pretty well into the proposition that you use are looking for.

So I think travel hugely correlates with GDP. So it depends where the economy is going and whether level will be well off or not, and it's rather reacting quickly on it. People delay demand, delay investments. Otherwise, we see that people already walk early in advance to make sure they get a good deal. They compare prices, and that's where our product fits pretty well into the proposition that you use are looking for.

Got it, Johanna's thank you, Johannas Thomas travago Cea

Got it, Johanna's thank you, Johannas Thomas travago Cea