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Despegar has sold its destination management company BDExperience to World2Meet, the travel division of Iberostar Group, for an undisclosed amount.
As part of the agreement, BDExperience will continue to supply destination services to Despegar in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
The news came as the Latin America-based online travel agency reported its second quarter 2024 earnings with gross bookings up 4% to $1.3 billion.
Revenues increased 12% to $185 million year over year while adjusted EBITDA came in at almost $37 million, up 22% year over year. Adjusted net income was up 397% year over year to $30 million.
“Despegar’s strong performance in the second quarter was driven by our ongoing commercial efforts to improve our revenue mix through higher package sales in addition to robust demand in our key markets, Brazil and Mexico,” said Damian Scokin, Despegar’s CEO.
“Another key pillar of our growth strategy is Despegar’s B2B and White Label operations, which continue to grow. We are particularly excited about new White Label partnerships that we have signed with our first global super-app partner in Latin America, with Scotiabank, Chile, a leading financial institution, as well as with Elektra Mexico’s retail and financial services conglomerate. These partnerships not only offer substantial growth opportunities, given the strength of our partners’ respective brands and their massive customer bases in the region, but also attest to the quality and flexibility of our industry-leading travel technology platform.”
The company also provided an update on its artificial intelligence travel assistant, Sofia, with daily conversations up fourfold since its debut in March and a doubling of the share of users who return to use Sofia after their first interaction.
Updates to the technology include after-sales support, with Sofia now able to access a traveler’s previous and current reservations. The AI agent now has conversational capabilities to drive interaction through a “sales path incorporating more commercial intent.”
In addition, the tool enables customers to continue conversations across multiple devices with the aim of making travel planning quicker and thereby boosting conversion.
Sofia has also been boosted with greater knowledge of Despegar’s products and services, such as its loyalty program and payment options. The company also has plans to integrate Sofia into its B2B platforms.
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