Priceline to continue testing and expanding local deals

Priceline’s hotel and car rental business grew substantially in the second quarter, and the company also is pondering local deals as a new revenue stream.

Jeffery Boyd, Priceline’s CEO, says the company, which is testing local deals under a private label partnership in New York City, may soon add another city or two to see if consumers are receptive to receiving local deals under the Priceline brand.

“As everyone knows, there is a lot of clutter in the space now,” Boyd said, answering questions during today’s second quarter earnings call.

One of Priceline’s rivals, Expedia, powers Groupon Getaways, a new vacation flash-sales offering, and and it’s difficult to keep track of all the companies entering the local deals arena.

Speaking of another new travel industry space, Boyd commented on the emergence of Airbnb and its person-to-person apartment and vacation rental business.

Boyd said it is an attractive new category for a segment of travelers, adding that Airbnb is an “interesting business” and a “potential nice addition” to the vacation rental market. Boyd said Priceline wishes the best for Airbnb.

Meanwhile, Priceline’s net income grew 123% to $ 256.4 million during the second quarter on $ 1.1 billion in revenue, a 43.7% jump.

Priceline’s profits grew on the strength of increases in global hotel room nights at subsidiaries Booking.com and Agoda, and car rental day growth at TravelJigsaw, which climbed 56% and 55%, respectively.

In the U.S., rising airfares over the last few years helped Priceline’s opaque air business, and air ticket sales increased more than 7%, Boyd said.

Boyd said Priceline benefited from airline revenue managers using the company’s Name Your Own Price product.