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Priceline rebrands as Booking

US online travel giant Priceline has rebranded as Booking Holdings to reflect the importance of its accommodation site Booking.com.

Most of Priceline Group’s revenue and profits come from Booking.com, the Amsterdam-based accommodation site which Priceline acquired in 2005 for $133 million.

The brand now accounts for about 80% of the group’s annual revenue despite Priceline remaining one of the biggest online travel agents in the US.

Group chief executive Glenn Fogel said: “Our business has expanded from just priceline.com operating solely in the US into six primary brands around the globe, operating in more than 220 countries and territories in over 40 languages.

“Today our largest brand is Booking.com which has more than 1.5 million properties, averages over one million bookings per day and produces a significant majority of Booking Holdings’ gross bookings and operating profit.”

He said the group was making the change “to more accurately align our company name with our largest business, as well as better reflect the global operation we have become”.

Priceline remains better known in the US, but has little presence in Europe, while Booking.com is barely recognised in the US.

Fogel said: “There isn’t the awareness of how big our business is.”

The group comprises Priceline, Booking.com, KAYAK, Agoda, rental cars and OpenTable.

The company’s shares will begin trading under the BKNG symbol on Monday. The group is based in Norwalk, in the US state of Connecticut.

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