Tripadvisor’s stock holds steady as CEO outlines AI, experiences, direct booking

Tripadvisor (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:TRIP) shares were little changed on Thursday, tracking the S&P 400 MidCap Index (SP400), as Chief Executive Matt Goldberg outlined the company’s shift toward a more integrated, experience-driven platform powered by artificial intelligence, mobile engagement and strategic innovation.

Speaking at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, Goldberg said Tripadvisor (TRIP) is focused on long-term shifts in consumer behavior rather than reacting to short-term macroeconomic volatility. This stance will position the company for sustained growth amid turbulence in the travel and hospitality sector, he said.

“Travel will continue to grow and we’ll work through a macro,” he said in conversation with Richard Clark, research analyst at Bernstein. “Up until the point of early May, the travel consumer was durable.”

May is typically when U.S. consumers finalize their summer travel plans, according to historical trends. However, economic disruptions related to President Trump’s tariff and trade policies have introduced a degree of uncertainty for some travelers.

Experiences first, metasearch evolves

Goldberg highlighted Tripadvisor’s continued success in its experiences segment, describing consumer demand for things to do on vacation as “something that the travel consumer is going to defend.”

With summer intent high and cancellation trends stable, Tripadvisor is seeing strong support, especially in experience-driven travel, he said.

Tripadvisor’s (TRIP) metasearch business — once its crown jewel — continues to play a meaningful role by offering price transparency, especially during uncertain times, Goldberg said. As a price comparison platform, it aggregates hotel listings from various booking partners and generates revenue by directing high-intent users to those partners, which pay based on performance and conversion quality.

“Meta can perform on the way up and it can perform well, if there are choppy waters,” said Goldberg. He pointed to improvements in the hotel product and deeper user engagement as driving up partner value and pricing: “That is driving up pricing.”

Meanwhile, Tripadvisor (TRIP) is trialing in-app hotel bookings in tandem with meta, suggesting the two models can coexist.

“We’re finding that the two can work together,” Goldberg said, framing the initiative as part of a broader effort to become “a cross category planning and booking mobile experience.”

Leveraging AI, planning tools and loyalty

Goldberg described the role AI will play in transforming travel planning through personalization and automation. The company’s Trip Planner — called “Trips” — is delivering “tremendous ARPU” and higher engagement levels from users, he said. “It solves the cold start problem… and leverages our trust.”

The AI push extends beyond the product: Tripadvisor is partnering with OpenAI, Perplexity and Amazon on multimodal search, voice integration and conversational interfaces.

“We’re in experimentation mode, both on our platforms and off,” Goldberg said.

Tripadvisor (TRIP) is also building a new, free membership program, distinct from previous subscription efforts. The program is aimed at rewarding users not just for bookings, but also for content contributions across categories.

“That will be unique in the ecosystem,” he said.

Viator, The Fork and global ambitions

Goldberg was bullish on the company’s other platforms — Viator and The Fork — crediting their online travel agency focus and operational efficiency for profitability gains.

Viator, Tripadvisor’s (TRIP) experiences platform, was a strong performer in the first quarter of the year. It reported a 10% increase in revenue to $156 million, along with a 15% rise in bookings. Viator also narrowed its adjusted ebitda loss from $27 million to $18 million.

Goldberg said the platform benefits from “tailwinds” in the offline-to-online shift, as well as a fragmented supply landscape that rewards platforms that can offer seamless booking.

“We think having the focus of an OTA is very valuable,” he said.

The Fork, focused on European dining, has gone from burning ebitda to delivering double-digit growth. “There’s no OpenTable, there’s no Rezzy, there’s no Yelp [in Europe],” Goldberg said. “You’ve got Tripadvisor and The Fork. That’s a pretty good position.”

The Fork in the first quarter grew revenue by 12% to $46 million and trimmed losses to $3 million.

While prior leadership expanded The Fork into new markets, Goldberg said the current strategy is about European dominance with an eye toward AI to expand coverage without bloating operations.

“AI gives us an opportunity… to serve restaurants that are not on your platform,” he said.

Resetting the brand, and the board

With Liberty Tripadvisor exiting as controlling shareholder, Goldberg said the company has gained new flexibility.

“It allows us to think about governance… bring new perspectives to the board… and simplify our capital structure,” he said.

Tripadvisor’s brand is undergoing its own transformation. The shift from a legacy ad-based model toward app-driven engagement, experiences cross-selling and direct bookings is reshaping the business, Goldberg said.

In the past decade, the company struggled to keep pace with larger, more vertically integrated competitors such as Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG) (NEOE:BKNG:CA) and Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE), which offer end-to-end travel solutions.

“We always understood that this was going to be about doing that transformation work,” Goldberg said. “The legacy wasn’t the future.”

The Tripadvisor app now anchors this strategy.

“We’re finding that those travelers… are spending more time on our app,” Goldberg said. “They are leaving more reviews and photos and tips. They’re converting at higher rates and starting to repeat.”

Looking ahead

Goldberg’s vision for the next phase of Tripadvisor (TRIP) focuses on growing average revenue per user, expanding supply into second- and third-tier destinations and driving direct engagement across brands.

He acknowledged the long-standing nature of the company’s challenges but emphasized progress: “We think the Tripadvisor of the future… will be about that portfolio working well.”

As for broader industry shifts such as regulatory crackdowns on Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) or increased competition from Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) and Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB), Goldberg said Tripadvisor (TRIP) isn’t betting on outside forces.

“We don’t rely on regulatory for our strategy,” he said. “There is an unprecedented opportunity to position ourselves for the future, and that’s what we’re intending to do.”