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Booking Holdings (BKNG) Boosts APAC Reach Via Visa Partnership

Zacks Equity Research
·3-min read

Booking Holdings Inc.’s BKNG global travel platform Agoda is consistently building partnerships to provide better services to its customers.

Agoda’s recent collaboration with Visa V to provide credit card instalments across its booking platform without any interest charges serves as a testament to the abovementioned development.

Reportedly, Agoda is going to be the first online travel booking platform to make this payment option accessible to customers holding HSBC Bank Malaysia credit cards in the Asia Pacific region.

Eligible Visa cardholders can put their credit card details at the time of checkout and avail the instalment option for selecting their preferred instalment period with Agoda’s mobile app and website.

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Booking Holdings along with Visa further aims to provide this facility in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines in the days ahead.

Agoda’s recent partnership with Visa is expected to help BKNG gain momentum among the eligible Visa card holding travelers in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Moreover, it is likely to expand BKNG’s presence in this particular region.

This, in turn, is likely to generate more bookings and hence drive the top line.

Booking Holdings Inc. Price and Consensus

Booking Holdings Inc. Price and Consensus
Booking Holdings Inc. Price and Consensus

Booking Holdings Inc. price-consensus-chart | Booking Holdings Inc. Quote

Teeming Travel Prospects

Despite new emerging variants of the coronavirus and the rising COVID cases, the global travel industry is witnessing optimism among travelers in the current environment. This is due to increased vaccination rates as well as more flexibility in travel plans owing to remote-working trends.

Per a Technavio report, the travel market is expected to reach $451.2 billion by 2026, witnessing a CAGR of 13.9% between 2022 and 2026. The report also states that 41% of market growth will be contributed by the Asia Pacific region.

Further, another report by the same firm reveals that the online travel booking platform market is likely to hit $943.6 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 14.6% during the 2022-2026 period.

We believe, Agoda’s collaboration with Visa, is anticipated to help BKNG capitalize on the abovementioned prospects.

Competitive Scenario

Given the higher prospects in the travel industry, Booking Holdings’ competitors, including TripAdvisor TRIP, Expedia EXPE and Airbnb, are also positioning themselves well to capitalize on the improving travel prospects.

TripAdvisor is riding on its Tripadvisor Plus subscription offerings. Additionally, its growing partnerships remain a positive. Recently, TRIP collaborated with Walgreens to promote the latter’s COVID-19 testing solutions so that travelers who are symptomatic, unvaccinated or planning to engage in a mixed group of vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, can enjoy safe trips.

Expedia has been gaining traction among customers owing to its robust portfolio offerings. Moreover, its website provides travelers with destination and flight plan choices, details of the places to be visited, maps, local restaurants, things to do, cruises, special offers and consumer reviews, so that they can book according to their preferences.

Further, Airbnb’s growing technological efforts to attract more hosts and guests to its platform remains noteworthy. This apart, ABNB recently joined forces with Visit Bloomington to promote safe travel with a focus on local attractions, unique stays and experiences to boost travel demand in Bloomington. The partnership is also focused on supporting local shops, restaurants and workers of the city who depend on the local tourism industry.

Nevertheless, the latest move by Agoda is expected to boost BKNG’s competitive prowess against the abovementioned peers. Currently, Booking Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


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Visa Inc. (V) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Expedia Group, Inc. (EXPE) : Free Stock Analysis Report

TripAdvisor, Inc. (TRIP) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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