Booking Holdings beats forecasts as vaccines spur travel rebound

Chief executive officer Glenn Fogel said on the previous quarter’s conference call that some newly imposed travel restrictions led to a modest pullback in booking trends in July compared with June.

NEW YORK: Booking Holdings Inc reported gross bookings that beat analysts’ forecasts, as an increase in Covid-19 vaccination rates in some markets helped spur a travel rebound before the Delta variant of the coronavirus set in. The shares jumped in extended trading.

The online travel giant said gross bookings, which represent all travel services – excluding cancellations – booked by customers increased 77% from a year earlier to US$23.7bil (RM98.44bil) in the three months ended in September, beating analysts’ projections for US$21.6bil (RM89.72bil), according to data compiled by Bloomberg.