Phocuswright 2022: Viator IPO not being pursued, says Tripadvisor boss

Phocuswright 2022: Viator IPO not being pursued, says Tripadvisor boss

Matt Goldberg told the annual conference in Arizona that plans were shelved due to market conditions but there are 'a lot of ways to crystallise value' in the tours and activities brand

Plans for an IPO of Viator are on hold but have not been ruled out as a possibility in the future if market conditions make it viable, the new boss of parent Tripadvisor told the Phocuswright conference this week.

Matt Goldberg became chief executive of the reviews giant in July following reports in February that the tours and activities division was being prepared to be spun out of the firm.

Viator is trading strongly with revenues up 179%, Goldberg told this week’s conference in Phoenix, Arizona, but he ruled out an IPO for now.

“I’m open to any way we can crystallise value in our asset,” Goldberg said. “The markets today won’t allow us to pursue that so we are going to wait. We are putting our heads down and executing.”

Goldberg said Tripadvisor was working with partners to create more value and said the acceleration seen in Viator was “the culmination of a market that is exploding”.

“We want to make sure that Viator and the team are in a position to move faster. A lot of people do not know about this category; certainly do not know which brand to turn to. 

“We think a combination of Tripadvisor and Viator is very very powerful. We’ve not made any decision about what we will do in the future. There are a lot of ways to crystallise value. 

“In the mean time we put our heads down and focus on the customer to deliver a really valuable customer proposition.”

Viator is seeing increased traffic coming to it direct and repeat visits and higher lifetime value of its users that is driving up awareness of the tours and activities category, Goldberg said.