A sustainable rebound for travel?

The travel recovery has boosted Booking Holdings Inc. to record quarterly earnings, and Wall Street expects the company to post even bigger profits this year.

The company, which operates its namesake website, Booking.com, plus Priceline, Kayak and other travel and dining sites, has earned $1.8 billion through the first three quarters of 2022.

CEO Glenn Fogel spoke recently to The Associated Press about whether the rebound in travel is sustainable, uncertainty about the economy, and his management style.

You had a record third-quarter profit, and analysts expect a good fourth quarter. What’s the outlook for the new year?

Gross bookings for the first quarter are up 25% over 2019. So that was a very positive sign. It’s always a very early indicator, and things can change, there can be cancellations — certainly we’ve seen that over the last few years. But we are encouraged by what we see so far.

Airline and hotel prices are up sharply. How long can consumers pay those prices?

The prices are very high. Those prices would not be so high if there wasn’t demand. One hypothesis is people have built up large savings during the last few years ... people built up savings, and now they want to spend them

But aren’t they going to exhaust those savings, and will that be soon?

Well, that is the question. One thing that nobody knows is what’s going to happen with our economies going forward, the U.S. economy in particular.

How is working from home changing travel demand?

If people are under a flexible work schedule — meaning they only have to show up at a set location some of the time ... they are working from another location that they will also combine with a vacation. You see that in the increased amount of travel on Thursdays and Fridays.

How big a problem are fake reviews, and how does that affect the company?

We already do a very good job making sure that what’s put on is an opinion of someone that at least has actually experienced whatever they’re commenting on. One cannot put a comment or a review on a hotel unless they’ve actually stayed at a hotel on our platform.

Has your management style changed in the time you’ve been CEO?

As you age, you recognize how important it is to reserve judgment and wait, think before making decisions — that it’s important to let things settle.

You’re 60. How long do you plan to stay, and what’s the succession plan?

(Laughs) That’s something that I discuss with my board of directors. It’s always important for all companies to keep in mind that nobody is ever in a job forever. I will say I love this job, I love what we’re doing.