Booking Holdings Inc (BKNG) 2017 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to The Priceline Group's First Quarter 2017 Conference Call.

歡迎參加 Priceline 集團 2017 年第一季電話會議。

The Priceline Group would like to remind everyone that this call may contain forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from those expressed, implied or forecasted in any such forward-looking statements. Expressions of future goals or expectations and similar expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements. For a list of factors that could cause the group's actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the safe harbor statements at the end of the group's earnings press release as well as the group's most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unless required by law, The Priceline Group undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Priceline 集團謹此提醒各位，本次電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述是根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款作出的。這些前瞻性陳述並非對未來績效的保證，並且受到某些難以預測的風險、不確定性和假設的影響。因此，實際結果可能與任何此類前瞻性聲明中表達、暗示或預測的結果有重大差異。表達未來目標或期望以及反映歷史事實以外的類似表達旨在識別前瞻性陳述。有關可能導致集團實際業績與前瞻性聲明中所述業績存在重大差異的因素列表，請參閱集團盈利新聞稿末尾的安全港聲明以及集團向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新文件。除非法律另有規定，否則 Priceline 集團不承擔因新資訊、未來事件或其他原因而公開更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

A copy of the group's earnings press release, together with the accompanying financial and statistical supplement, is available on the For Investors section of The Priceline Group's website, www.pricelinegroup.com.

該集團的獲利新聞稿及其隨附的財務和統計補充資料可在 Priceline 集團網站 www.pricelinegroup.com 的「投資者」部分查閱。

And now, I'd like to introduce The Priceline Group's speakers for this afternoon, Glenn Fogel and Daniel Finnegan. Go ahead, gentleman.

現在，我謹向大家介紹今天下午 Priceline 集團的演講嘉賓，Glenn Fogel 和 Daniel Finnegan。請繼續，先生們。

Thank you very much, and welcome to The Priceline Group's first quarter conference call. I'm joined this afternoon by our CFO, Dan Finnegan.

非常感謝，歡迎參加Priceline集團第一季電話會議。今天下午，我們的財務長丹‧芬尼根也來到了現場。

The Priceline Group performed well in the first quarter, reporting year-over-year room night growth of 27%. Consolidated gross bookings for the first quarter were approximately $20.7 billion, up about 24% year-over-year or about 27% on a constant-currency basis. Gross profit was up about 16% or about 17% on a constant-currency basis. Earnings per share were $9.11, and non-GAAP earnings per share were $9.88, up 7% versus the prior year, surpassing the high end of our guidance.

Priceline 集團在第一季表現良好，客房夜數年增 27%。第一季綜合總預訂金額約 207 億美元，較去年同期成長約 24%，以固定匯率計算成長約 27%。毛利成長約 16%，以固定匯率計算成長約 17%。每股收益為 9.11 美元，非 GAAP 每股收益為 9.88 美元，比上年增長 7%，超過了我們預期的上限。

Looking at the group brand by brand. Booking.com executed another solid quarter with strong top line growth. Booking.com's total property count now stands at over 1.2 million, which represents a year-over-year increase of 36%. The Booking.com platform now includes approximately 640,000 instantly bookable vacation rental properties, which is a year-over-year growth rate of 51%. This very strong growth rate demonstrates Booking's focus on rapidly growing its non-hotel accommodation inventory. We believe adding these types of properties creates a more robust marketplace and provides real choice for our customers. Our service is differentiated because all properties are instantly bookable and we do not charge fees to our travelers.

逐一品牌查看集團旗下各品牌。Booking.com 又一個季度業績穩健，營收實現強勁成長。Booking.com 的飯店總數現已超過 120 萬家，年增 36%。Booking.com 平台目前擁有約 64 萬套可立即預訂的度假租賃房源，較去年同期成長 51%。這一強勁的成長速度表明 Booking 專注於快速增加其非飯店住宿庫存。我們相信，增加這類房產能夠打造更強大的市場，並為我們的客戶提供真正的選擇。我們的服務與眾不同之處在於所有房源均可即時預訂，我們不向旅客收取任何費用。

Overall, Booking.com's hotel and non-hotel properties represent a combined total of approximately 25.5 million potentially bookable rooms. Of this total, 17.5 million are within our traditional hotel partners and 8 million are bookable rooms in our homes, apartments, villas and other non-hotel categories.

總體而言，Booking.com 的飯店和非飯店物業總計約有 2,550 萬間潛在可預訂客房。其中，1750萬間客房屬於我們的傳統飯店合作夥伴，800萬間客房屬於我們的住宅、公寓、別墅和其他非飯店類別，可供預訂。

In our rental cars product, the group grew rental car days 15% in the quarter, which marks the third consecutive quarter of accelerating growth and the fastest growth rate since the second quarter of 2015. This growth was driven primarily by Rentalcars.com as they continue to make smart investments in product innovation and customer service. Improving trends at priceline.com also contributed to the acceleration in rental car days growth for the quarter.

在我們的租車產品方面，集團本季租車天數成長了 15%，這是連續第三個季度加速成長，也是自 2015 年第二季以來最快的成長速度。這一成長主要得益於 Rentalcars.com 的持續發展，他們不斷在產品創新和客戶服務方面進行明智的投資。priceline.com 的良好發展趨勢也促進了本季租車天數的成長。

Turning to priceline.com overall. We're pleased to see the team make progress in Q1 as priceline.com began to see benefits from their investments in technology and people. These investments have resulted in improvement to product, user interface and experiment velocity and shows that priceline.com is relentlessly focused on delivering the very best deals to its customers. We believe that these efforts, along with priceline.com's new best deal brand campaign, which highlights its consumer value proposition, will drive further improvements.

改用 priceline.com。我們很高興看到團隊在第一季取得了進展，priceline.com 開始從其在技術和人才方面的投資中受益。這些投資帶來了產品、使用者介面和實驗速度的提升，顯示 priceline.com 始終致力於為客戶提供最優惠的價格。我們相信，這些努力，加上 priceline.com 新的「最佳優惠」品牌推廣活動（該活動突出了其消費者價值主張），將推動進一步的改進。

Regarding KAYAK. It delivered attractive profit margins in Q1 and continued to invest in usability improvements, mobile enhancements and new product development. We expect such investments will enable KAYAK to differentiate itself in the marketplace and grow its audience.

關於KAYAK。該公司在第一季實現了可觀的利潤率，並繼續投資於可用性改進、行動裝置增強和新產品開發。我們預計此類投資將使 KAYAK 在市場中脫穎而出，並擴大其用戶群。

As to the Momondo transaction, we reiterate our previous public statement that we expect to close the transaction later in the year, pending successful completion of the regulatory review.

關於 Momondo 交易，我們重申先前的公開聲明，我們預計將在今年稍後完成交易，前提是監管審查順利完成。

Now Agoda, which posted another quarter of strong gross bookings growth, with the direct channel growing nicely and increasing share versus the pay channels. Agoda continues to innovate and invest in its merchant supply platform and experiment with closed user group and other discount offerings to enable it to compete in its core APAC markets, where the use of discounted rates is a more common practice.

Agoda 又一個季度實現了強勁的總預訂量成長，其中直接管道成長良好，相對於付費管道的份額不斷增加。Agoda 不斷創新並投資於其商家供應平台，並嘗試封閉用戶群和其他折扣優惠，以使其能夠在核心亞太市場中保持競爭力，因為在亞太市場，使用折扣價格是一種更常見的做法。

Finally, OpenTable produced another solid quarter of healthy diner reservation growth, beating expectations on both the top and bottom line. OpenTable made further progress upgrading restaurants from its legacy electronic reservation book system to its cloud-based guest-center service, which enables OpenTable to easily introduce system changes and improvements. OpenTable has maintained a fast pace of innovation, recently launching a chat extension feature in Facebook Messenger. While it is still very early days for this product, we are pleased that OpenTable continues to be at the forefront of new technologies.

最後，OpenTable 又實現了穩健的季度食客預訂成長，營收和利潤均超出預期。OpenTable 在將餐廳從傳統的電子預訂系統升級到基於雲端的客戶中心服務方面取得了進一步進展，這使得 OpenTable 能夠輕鬆引入系統變更和改進。OpenTable一直保持著快速的創新步伐，最近在Facebook Messenger中推出了聊天擴充功能。雖然該產品仍處於早期階段，但我們很高興看到 OpenTable 繼續走在新技術的前沿。

In summary, I am pleased with the group's performance in the first quarter, but we cannot rest. We are now beginning to prepare for our busy third quarter and are continuously working to improve our services to ensure a successful upcoming high-travel season.

總而言之，我對團隊第一季的表現感到滿意，但我們不能掉以輕心。我們現在開始為繁忙的第三季度做準備，並不斷努力改善我們的服務，以確保即將到來的旅遊旺季取得成功。

As always, I would like to thank our employees around the world for their hard work and dedication, our supplier partners, and most importantly, our customers.

一如既往，我要感謝世界各地員工的辛勤工作和奉獻精神，感謝我們的供應商合作夥伴，最重要的是，感謝我們的客戶。

Finally, I'd like to share some news with you, which is that Dan Finnegan, who most of you know by now, or at least you know his voice since this is his 33rd earnings call, has announced that now, in his 14th year of dedicated service to The Priceline Group, is going to be retiring. Now he's not going anywhere just yet, but we'll be starting a formal search for the company's new CFO. Dan will remain as CFO for as long as needed until we find the right person and have completed a smooth transition, but we want to let you all know about the proposed plans. And I want to take this moment to personally, and on behalf of more than 18,000 employees, to thank Dan for all he has done for The Priceline Group. Dan, thank you for everything.

最後，我想和大家分享一個消息，那就是丹·芬尼根（Dan Finnegan），你們大多數人現在應該都認識他了，或者至少你們熟悉他的聲音，因為這是他第 33 次參加財報電話會議了，他宣布，在他為 Priceline 集團兢兢業業服務的第 14 年，他即將退休。他暫時不會離開，但我們將正式啟動公司新任財務長的招募工作。丹將繼續擔任首席財務官，直到我們找到合適的人選並完成平穩過渡為止，但我們想讓大家了解擬議的計劃。我謹藉此機會，代表超過 18,000 名員工，向 Dan 致以衷心的感謝，感謝他為 Priceline 集團所做的一切。丹，謝謝你為你所做的一切。

I will now turn the call over to you for your 33rd detailed financial review.

現在我將把通話交給您，進行您的第33次詳細財務審查。

Thanks, Glenn. I'll discuss operating results and cash flows for the quarter and then provide guidance for the second quarter of 2017. All growth rates referenced in my comments are relative to the prior year comparable period, unless otherwise indicated. I highlight that as we have discussed for several quarters now, the non-GAAP figures for our Q1 results and Q2 forecast includes stock-based compensation and do not reflect the reduction to income tax expense related to available NOLs. The reconciliation between our GAAP and non-GAAP results is detailed in our earnings release.

謝謝你，格倫。我將討論本季的經營業績和現金流，然後對 2017 年第二季進行展望。除非另有說明，否則我評論中提到的所有成長率均相對於去年同期。我在此強調，正如我們幾個季度以來一直在討論的那樣，我們第一季業績和第二季預測的非GAAP數據包括股票選擇權費用，並且沒有反映與可用淨營業虧損相關的所得稅費用減少。我們的獲利報告中詳細說明了 GAAP 和非 GAAP 結果之間的調整。

2017 is off to a strong start. The room nights booked in Q1 grew by 27% despite a challenging prior year growth comp. We estimate that the shift of Easter into Q2 had a slightly beneficial impact on Q1 gross bookings growth with an offsetting negative impact to Q2 gross bookings growth, which I will discuss further in a moment. The Q1 impact is offset by Q1 prior year's extra day for leap year. Performance was strong across each of our key geographic regions, and we believe we grew our market share in the U.S. and internationally through outstanding organic execution by our brands.

2017年開局強勁。儘管去年同期成長面臨挑戰，但第一季預訂客房夜數仍成長了 27%。我們估計，復活節推遲到第二季度對第一季總預訂量增長產生了輕微的有利影響，但對第二季度總預訂量增長產生了抵消性的負面影響，我稍後會進一步討論這一點。第一季的影響被去年第一季因閏年多出的一天所抵銷。我們在各個主要地理區域都取得了強勁的業績，我們相信，透過旗下品牌出色的自然成長，我們在美國和國際市場的份額都得到了提升。

Rental car days growth also accelerated to 15% in Q1 compared to 14% in Q4. Average daily rates for accommodations or ADRs were up about 1% for Q1 versus prior year on a constant-currency basis for the consolidated group, which was consistent with our forecast.

與第四季的 14% 相比，第一季租車天數成長速度加快至 15%。以固定匯率計算，集團第一季住宿平均每日價格（ADR）較上年同期上漲約 1%，與我們的預測一致。

Foreign exchange rates unfavorably impacted growth rates expressed in U.S. dollars for our Q1 results as compared to the prior year. Q1 gross bookings grew by 24% expressed in U.S. dollars and grew by about 27% on a constant-currency basis compared to prior year.

與上年同期相比，以美元計價的第一季業績成長率受到外匯匯率不利影響。第一季總預訂量以美元計算成長了 24%，以固定匯率計算成長了約 27%。

Gross profit for the quarter for The Priceline Group was $2.3 billion and grew by 16% in U.S. dollars and by about 17% on a constant-currency basis compared to the prior year.

Priceline 集團本季毛利為 23 億美元，以美元計算成長 16%，以固定匯率計算成長約 17%，與去年同期相比。

Gross profit as a percentage of gross bookings for Q1 is 84 bps lower than prior year Q1. The decrease is due largely to book-versus-stay time lag, impacted by Easter shifting to Q2 this year and an expanding booking window. Other contributing factors to the variance are discounted closed user group rates and business mix. The shift of Easter from Q1 last year to Q2 this year also negatively impacts Q1 gross profit, operating profit, EBITDA, net income and profit margins and will benefit those metrics in Q2, in both cases, compared to the prior year.

第一季毛利佔總訂單金額的百分比比去年同期下降了 84 個基點。下降的主要原因是預訂與入住之間存在時間差，這主要是由於今年復活節假期移至第二季度以及預訂窗口期延長所致。造成這種差異的其他因素包括折扣封閉用戶群組價格和業務組合。去年復活節從第一季推遲到今年第二季度，這對第一季度的毛利潤、營業利潤、EBITDA、淨收入和利潤率都產生了負面影響，但與去年相比，第二季度的這些指標將會受益。

Our international operations generated a gross profit of $2 billion, which grew by 17% in U.S. dollars and by about 19% on a constant-currency basis compared to the prior year. Gross profit for our U.S. operations amounted to $315 million, which grew about 6% compared to the prior year.

我們的國際業務創造了 20 億美元的毛利，與前一年相比，以美元計價成長了 17%，以固定匯率計算成長了約 19%。我們美國業務的毛利達到 3.15 億美元，比上年成長約 6%。

Advertising and other revenue, which is mainly comprised of non-intercompany revenues for KAYAK and OpenTable, grew by 8% in Q1 compared to the prior year.

廣告和其他收入（主要包括 KAYAK 和 OpenTable 的非公司間收入）在第一季比去年同期成長了 8%。

Margin performance was better than our forecast due to gross profit growth and advertising efficiency that exceeded our forecast. The timing of investments in non-ad OpEx was also favorable to forecast.

由於毛利成長和廣告效率都超出預期，利潤率表現優於我們的預期。非廣告營運支出的投資時機也有利於預測。

GAAP operating income grew by 1%, and GAAP operating margins decreased by 341 bps compared to Q1 last year, due mainly to performance advertising. Performance advertising deleverage was impacted mainly by the timing of bookings versus stays that I just discussed and strong growth in performance advertising channels.

GAAP 營業收入成長 1%，GAAP 營業利潤率較去年第一季下降 341 個基點，主要原因是效果廣告的影響。效果廣告槓桿作用減弱主要受到我剛才討論的預訂與入住時間差異以及效果廣告管道強勁增長的影響。

Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 amounted to $635 million, which exceeded the top end of our guidance range of $580 million and grew by 4% versus prior year.

第一季調整後 EBITDA 為 6.35 億美元，超過了我們先前 5.8 億美元的預期上限，比去年同期成長了 4%。

GAAP net income and fully diluted EPS both increased by 22%. Non-GAAP net income per share was $9.88, up 7% versus the prior year, exceeding our guidance for the quarter and FactSet consensus of $8.82.

GAAP淨利潤和完全稀釋後每股收益均成長了22%。非GAAP每股淨收益為9.88美元，比去年同期成長7%，超過了我們對本季的預期以及FactSet的普遍預期8.82美元。

Our non-GAAP tax rate of about 16% was favorable to our forecasted rate of 19%, mainly due to nonrecurring discrete tax adjustments in the quarter.

我們約 16% 的非 GAAP 稅率優於我們預測的 19%，這主要是由於本季非經常性離散稅務調整。

In terms of cash flow, we generated $381 million of cash from operations during first quarter 2017, which is an increase of about 10%. We made a prepayment of income taxes in the Netherlands in Q1 to earn a prepayment discount, which negatively impacts operating cash flow for Q1, but will benefit subsequent quarters when the taxes would have otherwise been due.

就現金流而言，我們在 2017 年第一季透過經營活動產生了 3.81 億美元的現金，比上一季成長了約 10%。我們在第一季預付了荷蘭的所得稅以獲得預付折扣，這會對第一季的營運現金流量產生負面影響，但會在後續季度受益，因為屆時稅款原本應該到期。

During the quarter, we returned $212 million to our shareholders through share buybacks. In March, we raised EUR 1 billion of cash for our U.S. parent company by offering a 5-year bond in Europe at a 0.8% interest rate. Our cash and investments amounted to $15.5 billion at March 31, 2017, with about $2.3 billion of that balance in the U.S.

本季度，我們透過股票回購向股東返還了 2.12 億美元。今年 3 月，我們透過在歐洲發行 5 年期債券，以 0.8% 的利率為美國母公司籌集了 10 億歐元現金。截至 2017 年 3 月 31 日，我們的現金和投資總額為 155 億美元，其中約 23 億美元在美國。

Now for Q2 guidance. We are forecasting booked room nights to grow by 16% to 21% and total gross bookings to grow by 12% to 17% in U.S. dollars and by 15% to 20% on a constant-currency basis. Our Q2 forecast assumes that constant-currency accommodation ADRs for the consolidated group will be up by about 1% compared to the prior year period.

接下來是第二季業績指引。我們預測，以美元計算，預訂客房夜數將增長 16% 至 21%，總預訂額將增長 12% 至 17%；以固定匯率計算，總預訂額將增長 15% 至 20%。我們第二季的預測假設，合併集團的固定匯率住宿平均存託憑證（ADR）將比上年同期成長約 1%。

As mentioned a moment ago, seasonal factors added to growth in Q1 and are forecasted to pressure growth in Q2. We're comfortable with the combined forecasted growth rate for the first half of the year, which we believe is reflective of generally healthy macro travel trends and implies a continuation of market share gains evident in our reported Q1 results.

正如剛才所提到的，季節性因素促進了第一季的成長，預計這些因素將對第二季的成長構成壓力。我們對今年上半年的綜合預測成長率感到滿意，我們認為這反映了整體健康的宏觀旅遊趨勢，並意味著我們在公佈的第一季業績中表現出的市場份額成長勢頭將得以延續。

We forecast gross profit to grow by 14% to 19% in U.S. dollars and by 17% to 22% on a constant-currency basis.

我們預測，以美元計價的毛利將成長 14% 至 19%，以固定匯率計算將成長 17% 至 22%。

GAAP operating margins, expressed as operating income as a percentage of gross profit, are expected to be lower than prior year Q2 by about 140 bps. Our Q2 forecast assumes year-over-year pressure on performance marketing ROIs and that pay channel growth will continue to be strong. Our forecast also reflects brand advertising and non-advertising expenses as we invest towards high-travel season and innovation to drive future growth.

GAAP 營業利潤率（以營業收入佔毛利的百分比表示）預計將比去年同期下降約 140 個基點。我們第二季的預測假設效果行銷投資報酬率年比承壓，付費通路的成長將持續保持強勁。我們的預測也反映了品牌廣告和非廣告支出，因為我們投資於旅遊旺季和創新，以推動未來的成長。

Q2 adjusted EBITDA is expected to range between $860 million and $905 million, which at the midpoint is up 9% versus prior year. EBITDA growth and margins are impacted by the factors I just discussed for GAAP operating profit.

第二季調整後 EBITDA 預計在 8.6 億美元至 9.05 億美元之間，其中數值比上年同期成長 9%。EBITDA 成長和利潤率受到我剛才討論的 GAAP 營業利潤相關因素的影響。

We forecast GAAP EPS between $12.55 to $13.25 per share for Q2, which at the midpoint is up by about 11% versus prior year. Our EPS guidance includes interest expense on our recent bond issuance and assumes a fully diluted share count of 50.1 million shares, which reflects the beneficial impact of the common stock repurchases we have made to date, offset by additional equivalent shares related to our convertible bonds due to the increase in our stock price.

我們預測第二季 GAAP 每股收益在 12.55 美元至 13.25 美元之間，其中數值比上年同期成長約 11%。我們的每股盈餘預期包括近期債券發行的利息支出，並假設完全稀釋後的股份數量為 5,010 萬股，這反映了我們迄今為止進行的普通股回購的正面影響，但被由於股價上漲而與可轉換債券相關的額外等值股份所抵消。

We're forecasting Q2 non-GAAP fully diluted EPS of approximately $13.30 to $14 per share, which at the midpoint is up by about 8% versus prior year.

我們預測第二季非GAAP完全稀釋後每股盈餘約為13.30美元至14美元，其中數值比上年同期成長約8%。

Our forecasted non-GAAP income tax rate is about 18% for Q2 and the full year.

我們預測第二季和全年的非GAAP所得稅率約為18%。

Our Q2 forecast is based upon recent foreign exchange rates and assumes that our growth rates in U.S. dollars will be negatively impacted by foreign exchange rate fluctuations. Consistent with past practice, we have hedge contracts in place to substantially shield our second quarter EBITDA and net earnings from any further fluctuation in the euro, British pound and various other currencies versus the dollar between now and the end of the quarter. Our forecast does not assume any significant change of macroeconomic conditions in general or in the travel market in particular.

我們第二季的預測是基於近期的外匯匯率，並假設以美元計價的成長率將受到外匯匯率波動的負面影響。與以往的做法一致，我們已簽訂對沖合約，以大幅保護我們第二季度的 EBITDA 和淨收益免受歐元、英鎊和各種其他貨幣兌美元匯率從現在到本季度末的任何進一步波動的影響。我們的預測並未假設宏觀經濟狀況（包括旅遊市場）會發生任何重大變化。

As Glenn just mentioned, I've decided that now in my 14th year with the company, the time is right to start working towards my retirement. Equally importantly, I think the time is also right for the company. We are in great hands with Glenn and our brand CEOs running the business. Our brand CFOs and my headquarters finance team are world class, and we'll keep doing great work as we transition to a new Priceline Group CFO. I will stay with the company as long as necessary to help recruit my successor and to ensure a smooth transition.

正如格倫剛才提到的，我已經決定，在我為公司工作的第 14 年，現在是時候開始為退休做準備了。同樣重要的是，我認為現在對公司來說也是個好時機。格倫和我們各品牌的執行長們在管理公司，我們非常放心。我們的品牌財務長和總部財務團隊都是世界一流的，在過渡到新的 Priceline 集團財務長期間，我們將繼續出色地完成工作。我將留在公司，直到完成招募繼任者的工作，確保平穩過渡為止。

I thank all my colleagues around the world for their incredible accomplishments over these many years. It has been a dream come true to be part of such a wonderful team.

我感謝世界各地的同事們多年來所取得的卓越成就。能夠成為如此優秀團隊的一員，真是夢想成真。

And we will now take your questions.

現在我們將回答各位的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Douglas Anmuth with JP Morgan.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的道格拉斯·安穆斯。

This is Dae Lee on for Doug Anmuth. First question on gaining share in the U.S. How much of that do you think is taking share from competitors versus adding new properties like vacation rentals? And my second question on share buyback, could you please update us on how you're strategically thinking about buybacks and what could cause that to change?

這裡是 Dae Lee 替 Doug Anmuth 報道。關於在美國市場獲得市場份額，第一個問題是：您認為其中有多少是透過從競爭對手那裡奪取市場份額來實現的，又有多少是透過增加新的房產項目（例如度假租賃房產）來實現的？關於股票回購，我的第二個問題是，您能否介紹一下您在股票回購方面的策略考量，以及哪些因素可能導致這種考量改變？

David for Doug, I believe?

我猜是David代替Doug吧？

It's Dae Lee in for Doug.

戴李代替道格上場。

Let me take -- I'm going to do the second one about share buyback question, and I'll let Dan talk about the first one. We believe we'll be consistent going forward the same way we've been in the past regarding share buyback. We are opportunistic. We recognize shareholders want us to use our cash effectively, efficiently and appropriately. So as opportunities are there, we will be buying share back, but we do it in a measured way. I think the best way to look forward is to see how we've done over the last few years and consider that as guidance for going forward.

讓我來回答－我先回答第二個關於股票回購的問題，第一個問題就讓丹來回答吧。我們相信，在股票回購方面，我們今後將一如既往地保持一致。我們善於抓住機會。我們明白股東希望我們有效、有效率、適當地使用現金。所以，當機會出現時，我們會回購股票，但我們會採取謹慎的方式。我認為展望未來最好的方法是回顧過去幾年我們所取得的成就，並將其作為未來發展的指導。

And as far as share in the U.S., Dae Lee, we look at the market -- we tend to size the market based upon the properties that we have on our extranet. So there's over 1.2 million properties on Booking.com today. We know the number of rooms that are in those properties, and so we look at that as a proxy for the market. That includes vacation rentals, so -- and our room nights booked also include vacation rentals. So we see them as basically interchangeable with hotels and other types of properties as places where people want to stay when they travel, and we want to give them the maximum number of choices. So looking at it that way, we can see our growth, in total, we still have a relatively low share of the worldwide market, single digits. And we can also see our growth for the U.S. market relative to the market's growth, relative to what other players have reported, including our biggest other online travel competitor, and we feel that we're gaining share based upon those metrics.

至於在美國的市場份額，Dae Lee，我們會觀察市場——我們傾向於根據我們在外部網路上的房產來估算市場規模。所以，如今Booking.com上有超過120萬個房源。我們知道這些房產的房間數量，所以我們將其作為市場的指標。這包括度假租賃，所以——我們預訂的房間晚數也包括度假租賃。因此，我們認為它們基本上可以與酒店和其他類型的住宿場所互換，作為人們旅行時想要入住的地方，我們希望為他們提供盡可能多的選擇。所以從這個角度來看，我們可以看到我們的成長，但總體而言，我們在全球市場的份額仍然相對較低，只有個位數。我們還可以看到，相對於市場整體成長情況，相對於其他參與者（包括我們最大的線上旅遊競爭對手）的報告情況，我們在美國市場的成長情況如何，我們認為根據這些指標，我們的市場份額正在不斷擴大。

Our next question comes from Brian Nowak with Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的布萊恩·諾瓦克。

I have a 2-part single question. It's on the U.S. Booking.com and on the vacation rentals. You've had really good progress there the last year or so. Arguably, even more than that. I guess, I'd be curious, if you could just talk about the 1 or 2 areas you really look to improve in the U.S. Booking.com and vacation rentals to kind of further drive growth, what would those 1 or 2 areas be?

我有一個包含兩個部分的問題。它在美國Booking.com和度假租賃網站上都有。過去一年左右，你在那方面取得了非常好的進展。可以說，甚至遠不止如此。我想問的是，如果您能談談您在美國Booking.com和度假租賃領域最想改進的一兩個方面，以進一步推動成長，那會是哪一兩個方面呢？

Well, Brian, as I think the way you asked that question, vacation rentals -- and I'm going to talk about it in general and not narrow to any specific geography. We believe it is a very important growth area for us. We've been involved with this for some time. We continue to grow it, as I mentioned, about 41% increase in the instantly bookable vacation rental properties. We are very pleased with the way we do the business, and that is we don't charge those travelers fees. And I just said, these are all instantly bookable. We think that's an advantage. One of the things we need to continue to do is add even more properties. When you look at some of our competitors, they have more properties. And breadth is an important thing to make sure that we have the availability, the right properties at the right price for our customers. So we're going to continue to do that. We also need to make sure that all people are aware that this is a great product. I think that it's not unknown that we do not have the same awareness or there's not the same awareness of our vacation rental property, particularly in the U.S., as some other competitors have. So we need to make sure that everyone knows that we've got a great product there, too. And your other question was?

布萊恩，我覺得你問這個問題的方式，是關於度假租賃的——我打算泛泛而談，不局限於任何特定的地理位置。我們認為這對我們來說是一個非常重要的成長領域。我們參與這項工作已經有一段時間了。正如我之前提到的，我們繼續保持成長勢頭，可立即預訂的度假租賃房產數量增加了約 41%。我們對我們的經營方式非常滿意，那就是我們不向旅客收取任何費用。我剛才說過，這些都可以立即預訂。我們認為這是一個優勢。我們需要繼續做的事情之一就是增加更多房產。看看我們的一些競爭對手，他們擁有的房產更多。房源的廣度非常重要，它可以確保我們能夠為客戶提供合適的房源和合適的價格。所以我們會繼續這樣做。我們還需要確保所有人都知道這是一個很棒的產品。我認為，我們與一些競爭對手相比，尤其是在美國，對我們的度假租賃房產缺乏同樣的認知度，這並非什麼秘密。所以我們需要確保每個人都知道，我們在那裡也有一個很棒的產品。你的另一個問題是？

It's on the U.S. Booking.com kind of -- same kind of question, where you've done really well, but if you could kind of point to 1 or 2 areas where you say, here's some low-hanging fruit we can still improve, what would those be?

這有點像美國 Booking.com 的情況——同樣的問題，你們做得非常好，但如果你們能指出一兩個方面，說說我們仍然可以改進的容易實現的方面，那會是哪些方面呢？

Well, I think that we continue to do the same formula that we've done throughout the history of our company and has helped us get to the level of success that we are. There's not 1 or 2. There is: make sure we have breadth of property; make sure we have best price; make sure we have the way a customer goes through our path is the easiest, best way for somebody to do it; be sure that we are offering them in the way they want it. If they want to reserve a property and not have to pay until they show up at the property, we offer that. If they want to pay upfront, we need to be able to offer that. And we have different brands that offer different ways to do it. In fact, most of them offer both ways, though not for all properties. I think, in the end, it's just continuing to crank out the same formula we've had in the past, maintain good relationships with the suppliers to make sure we're offering them a great relationship, and we will continue to grow as we have grown in the past.

我認為，我們一直以來都堅持使用相同的方法，而正是這種方法幫助我們取得了今天的成功。沒有一兩個條件。而是：確保我們擁有廣泛的房源；確保我們提供最優惠的價格；確保客戶在我們這裡辦理業務的流程是最便捷、最好的；確保我們以客戶想要的方式提供服務。如果他們想預訂房產，但又不想在到達房產之前付款，我們可以提供這項服務。如果他們想預付貨款，我們需要能夠提供這種選擇。我們旗下不同的品牌提供不同的實現方式。事實上，大多數房產都提供這兩種選擇，但並非所有房產都是如此。我認為，歸根結底，就是繼續沿用我們過去的做法，與供應商保持良好的關係，確保我們為他們提供良好的合作關係，我們將繼續像過去一樣發展壯大。

Our next question comes from Justin Post with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

下一個問題來自美國銀行美林證券的賈斯汀·波斯特。

Sorry to see you leaving, Dan. I hope you stay for a while. A few questions on guidance. I guess, first of all, just help us put the 8% earnings growth in context. It seems like a pretty healthy macro and an easier comp. And then I think on the prepared remarks you said, expect some ROI pressure. I believe, on the last call, you indicated that kind of ROI pressure was lessening. Has there been a real change there that's going on? And then maybe, did you put your usual amount of conservatism in 2Q guidance, given the late -- how it's back-end loaded?

丹，很遺憾看到你離開。希望你能多待一段時間。關於指導的幾個問題。我想，首先，請幫我們把 8% 的獲利成長放在合適的背景下理解一下。這看起來是個相當健康的宏觀策略，而且組合也比較簡單。然後，我認為根據你事先準備好的發言，應該會面臨一些投資報酬率的壓力。我相信，在上次通話中，您曾表示那種投資報酬率的壓力正在減輕。那裡真的發生了變化嗎？那麼，考慮到第二季末的業績成長主要集中在下半年，您是否像往常一樣在第二季業績預期中採取了較為保守的態度呢？

Okay. Thanks, Justin. Well, first of all, for the guidance, no change in approach. Same approach we'll be -- we've used every quarter. It's a little bit different in that there's volatility in the early part of the quarter here because of the shift of Easter, and so that makes things a little bit more difficult. I'd say that the market remains healthy. We see occupancy and ADRs are strong. The seasonal impact has certainly negatively impacted growth for Q2. We think the booking window expansion that we've been talking about for a couple of years now is probably, all else being equal, moving some bookings that would have been made in the past in Q2 into Q1 and even to Q4 because people are booking early. If you look at the midpoint of our room night guide for Q2 together with our actual results for Q1, it would imply a 23% growth rate, which would compare -- it takes the seasonality out of it and the shift of hotel or booking window -- shift of Easter timing or booking window. So that 23% growth would compare to a 27% growth for the first half of last year, which -- we're comfortable with that. We think that's very solid performance. We expect the business to decelerate structurally, given the size of it and the long-term trends that we've seen over many years. The growth may decelerate more in certain quarters. We have accelerated in certain quarters. But overall, for the long term, our growth has been very resilient. It's been a pleasant surprise. The growth drivers that drive -- that have driven our growth in the past are still there, so the secular shift from offline to online continues. We still have a single-digit share of a bit -- very big market. So there's a lot of opportunity to continue to add properties and to continue to penetrate the properties we have more deeply. Our teams are adding properties at a very healthy rate, as Glenn talked about. They're working every day to continuously improve conversion on our websites. And then we've maintained a very consistent approach to advertising. No change in our approach. No change in competitive position that we can detect. So we continue to invest in reasonable ROIs to drive a healthy mix of top line growth and profitability. The 8% growth in guidance for EBITDA is a function of that top line growth that we talked about and then just the margin pressure that we're guiding to in the quarter, which is less than what we've seen over many of the last quarters where we've guided, and the drivers are pretty much every line item. So we are assuming that there will be more ROI pressure in Q2. But what I said last quarter, that overall, we think for the first half of this year, the margin pressure from performance marketing will be less than what we experienced in the back half of last year, I'd stay with that statement. I still feel comfortable with that. And then we're also investing in brand advertising as we're in peak booking season, getting ready for peak travel season. And we're investing in OpEx for our brands, customer service people, property people to continue to sign new properties and continue our growth in the future, and then IT people that are working on innovative projects and just keeping up with the growth of the business.

好的。謝謝你，賈斯汀。首先，在指導方針方面，方法不變。我們將繼續採用同樣的做法——我們每季都採用這種做法。情況略有不同，因為復活節的日期有所變動，導致本季初市場波動較大，這使得情況變得更加複雜。我認為市場依然健康。入住率和平均房價都表現強勁。季節性因素無疑對第二季的成長產生了負面影響。我們認為，我們已經討論了幾年的預訂窗口擴大，在其他條件相同的情況下，可能會將過去在第二季度進行的一些預訂轉移到第一季度甚至第四季度，因為人們現在都提前預訂了。如果將我們第二季度客房夜數指南的中點與第一季的實際結果進行比較，就會發現增長率為 23%，這與——它消除了季節性因素以及酒店或預訂窗口的變動——復活節時間或預訂窗口的變動——相比。因此，23% 的成長率與去年上半年的 27% 的成長率相比，我們對此感到滿意。我們認為這表現非常出色。鑑於該業務的規模以及我們多年來看到的長期趨勢，我們預計該業務將出現結構性放緩。某些地區的成長速度可能會進一步放緩。我們在某些​​方面加快了步伐。但總體而言，從長遠來看，我們的成長一直非常穩健。真是個令人驚喜的結果。過去推動我們成長的那些成長動力依然存在，因此從線下到線上的長期轉變仍在繼續。我們仍然只佔一個非常大的市場的個位數份額。因此，我們有很多機會繼續增加房產，並繼續深入挖掘我們現有的房產。正如格倫所說，我們的團隊正在以非常健康的速度增加房產。他們每天都在努力，不斷提高我們網站的轉換率。然後，我們在廣告方面一直保持著非常一致的策略。我們的方法沒有改變。我們未發現競爭地位有任何變化。因此，我們將繼續投資於投資回報率合理的項目，以推動營收成長和獲利能力的健康平衡。EBITDA 成長預期為 8%，這得益於我們先前提到的營收成長，以及我們預期本季利潤率將面臨的壓力。這一壓力低於我們過去幾季的預期，而推動因素幾乎涵蓋了所有項目。因此，我們預期第二季投資報酬率壓力會更大。但我上個季度說過的話，即我們認為今年上半年效果行銷帶來的利潤壓力將小於去年下半年，我仍然堅持這個觀點。我仍然覺得這樣挺好。此外，由於正值預訂旺季，我們也加大品牌廣告投入，為旅遊旺季做準備。我們正在投資營運支出，用於我們的品牌、客戶服務人員、物業人員，以便繼續簽署新物業協議，並在未來繼續發展壯大；此外，我們還投資於 IT 人員，他們致力於創新項目，並跟上業務增長的步伐。

Our next question comes from Mark Mahaney with RBC.

下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行的馬克·馬哈尼。

Okay. First, congratulations, Dan. It's a phenomenal 33-quarter stretch, both fundamentally and, obviously, in terms of the stock, so congratulations on that. Two-point -- 2 questions, please. First, you talked about an expanding bookings window. Is that -- as you mix shift more and more away from hotels to non-hotels and vacation rentals, alternative accommodations, is that just a natural outflow of that, that will bring you expanded bookings? And then I think you may have just covered this a little bit in Justin's question, but I'll try it again. The advertising efficiency that exceeded your forecast in the March quarter, was there something -- anything new in particular to call out there, anything that suggests that you'll sustainably improve advertising efficiencies? Or do you think that there was kind of onetime-ish kind of items?

好的。首先，恭喜你，丹。從基本面和股價來看，這都是一段非凡的 33 個季度的輝煌時期，所以恭喜你們。兩點——請問兩個問題。首先，您提到了延長預訂窗口期。隨著您越來越傾向於選擇非飯店住宿、度假租賃等替代住宿方式，這是否是一種自然而然的趨勢，會為您帶來更多的預訂量？我覺得你可能已經在賈斯汀的問題中稍微提到過這一點了，但我再試一次。三月季度廣告效率超乎預期，這其中有什麼特別之處嗎？有什麼新發現值得一提嗎？有什麼跡象顯示你們能夠持續提高廣告效率？還是你認為其中一些只出現過一次的物品？

Okay. Thanks, Mark. Regarding the expanding booking window, I would attribute that more to people continuing to repeat with our business, becoming familiar with the model, with strong occupancy rates and rising ADRs, looking to book farther in advance and feeling comfortable doing that because they know we have a very flexible model. And if their plans change later, they're able to change their booking. So I think that's the more fundamental driver there. That, I would expect to continue. If there were some significant change in macro or maybe people felt less comfortable about whether or not they were going to travel, economically, or the ADRs were dropping, maybe they would change their behavior, but it would still be a free option to make a booking. And then if prices drop, you can change your booking later. So I think that's what's driving that. And then ad efficiency was pretty solid in Q1. It's a mix of what's going on in all of our brands. So you have some brands like KAYAK and Agoda leaning a little bit more heavily into brand advertising or discounting to drive demand to their websites. There's still underlying ROI pressure, in general, and it's the trend we've seen for many years now. I would expect to see that going forward, too, Mark, until we don't see it for an extended period of time. I would just build that into the forecast. It's what we have built into our forecast for Q2, and so that's what's built in there. I wouldn't -- there's nothing that I've seen that would lead me to believe that there's a sustainable ability for ROIs to improve year-over-year.

好的。謝謝你，馬克。關於預訂窗口擴大的問題，我認為這更多是由於人們不斷重複光顧我們的業務，熟悉了我們的模式，入住率高，平均房價上漲，他們希望提前更長時間預訂，並且因為知道我們擁有非常靈活的模式而感到安心。如果他們的計劃之後有變，他們可以更改預訂。所以我認為這才是更根本的驅動因素。我預計這種情況還會持續下去。如果宏觀經濟發生重大變化，或者人們對旅行的經濟狀況感到擔憂，或者平均房價下降，他們可能會改變自己的行為，但預訂仍然是免費的。如果價格下降，您可以稍後更改預訂。所以我認為這就是背後的驅動因素。第一季的廣告效率相當不錯。這是我們所有品牌正在發生的事情的綜合體現。因此，像 KAYAK 和 Agoda 這樣的一些品牌更加重視品牌廣告或折扣，以推動對其網站的需求。整體而言，投資報酬率的壓力依然存在，而且這種趨勢我們已經看到很多年了。馬克，我預計這種情況還會持續下去，直到很長一段時間都看不到為止。我會把這一點納入預測中。這是我們在第二季預測中已經考慮的因素，所以預測中已經包含了這些因素。我不會——我沒有看到任何跡象表明投資回報率能夠持續逐年提高。

Our next question comes from Heath Terry with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的希思·特里。

You actually kind of touched on this a little bit in response to Mark's question. But just kind of curious how we should be thinking about the trade-off between growth and margins going forward, understand that the performance advertising line's going to be the biggest variable there. But you guys are clearly outgrowing the industry, but we've also seen about 300 basis points of compression so far this year, and it seems to be about that implied in your Q2 guidance. Is that the kind -- right kind of run rate in terms of what's necessary to grow bookings and revenues or gross profit at this level given where the macro environment is? Or is there a better way to think of that?

你其實在回答馬克的問題時已經稍微提到這一點了。但我很好奇，未來我們應該如何權衡成長和利潤率之間的關係，要知道，效果廣告線將是其中最大的變數。但你們顯然已經超越了行業平均水平，不過今年到目前為止，我們也看到了大約 300 個基點的壓縮，這似乎也與你們第二季度的業績預期相符。考慮到當前的宏觀環境，這種成長速度是否足以實現預訂量、收入或毛利的持續成長？或是有沒有更好的思考方式？

I see a little less margin pressure than what you're talking about for Q2, Heath, unless you're adjusting for Easter timing, but then, there would be less pressure in Q1. So yes, I'm seeing more like 150 bps for GAAP operating margins. It's always a balance between top line growth and bottom line growth. We try to strike a balance. From time to time, we see opportunities to invest in brand advertising. We think that's a good thing to do for our business for the long term. There are OpEx investments that we've come across in the past, things like investing in mobile, which have been critical to the success of the business. If you go back to 2012, we were a business that was generating room night reservations of 200 million, and over the last 12 months, we're more like 600 million room nights. So I think those investments have paid off, and we're going to try to make smart investments for the future. We're always looking to manage those expenses as closely as we can. And with a fast-growing business, we generally expect that we can make the investments that we need to make and not have pressure on margins from non-ad OpEx. But from time to time, where we see the opportunity, we won't let short-term margin objectives do something that might be detrimental to the long-term growth of the business.

希思，除非你考慮到復活節假期的因素，否則我認為第二季的利潤率壓力會比你說的要小一些，但即便如此，第一季的壓力也會更小。是的，我看到的GAAP營業利潤率比較接近150個基點。營收成長和利潤成長之間始終需要保持平衡。我們力求找到平衡點。我們不時會看到投資品牌廣告的機會。我們認為從長遠來看，這對我們的業務發展有好處。我們過去曾遇到一些營運支出投資，例如對行動領域的投資，這些投資對業務的成功至關重要。回顧 2012 年，我們的業務客房預訂量為 2 億晚，而過去 12 個月，我們的客房預訂量已達到 6 億晚左右。所以我認為這些投資已經取得了回報，我們將努力為未來進行明智的投資。我們一直在努力盡可能地控制這些開支。隨著業務的快速成長，我們通常期望能夠進行必要的投資，並且不會因非廣告營運支出而對利潤率造成壓力。但有時，當我們看到機會時，我們不會為了短期利潤目標而做出可能損害企業長期發展的事情。

Okay, great. I appreciate that. And then I guess, just on the alternative accommodations business. How much of an advantage, at least when it comes to gaining share and traction in that space, do you feel like your fee-free model for consumers is for you relative to most of the other competitors in the space who are charging consumer-facing fees at this point?

好的，太好了。我很感激。然後，我想，就另類住宿業務而言吧。至少在獲取市場份額和發展勢頭方面，您認為相對於目前該領域大多數向消費者收取費用的競爭對手而言，您的免手續費模式對您有多大優勢？

It's Glenn speaking. Well, that's a difficult question to answer in terms of how we're doing versus the competitors, given some are private and don't reveal how fast they're growing. I can only attest to our growth rate. And while we don't give out specific different types of growth rates for our different types of properties, I'm comfortable saying that in the area you're talking about, that is growing faster than the overall average for the entire company, so we are pleased with that stronger growth rate in that area. We believe, and we -- our DNA is experiment and test. If we thought another way was better, we would do it that way. We're pleased with the way we're doing it, and we think in the long run this will be the winner. And one piece of evidence that I'd point to is I noticed that some of our competitors who have been shifting to our method of instantly bookable, and talking about how fast they're going to be able to get those to be instantly bookable. So I think that would kind of indicate that other people believe that this is the better route.

我是格倫。嗯，要回答我們與競爭對手相比表現如何這個問題，確實很困難，因為有些競爭對手是私人企業，不會透露他們的成長速度。我只能證明我們的成長速度。雖然我們不公佈不同類型物業的具體增長率，但我可以肯定地說，在您提到的該地區，其增長速度比整個公司的平均水平要快，因此我們對該地區更強勁的增長率感到滿意。我們相信，我們的DNA就是實驗和測試。如果我們認為另一種方法比較好，我們就會採取那種方法。我們對目前的做法很滿意，並認為從長遠來看，這將是最終的勝利。我注意到，一些競爭對手已經開始採用我們這種即時預訂的方式，並且他們也在談論他們能以多快的速度實現即時預訂，這便是一個佐證。所以我認為這表明其他人也認為這是更好的方法。

Our next question is from Eric Sheridan with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的艾瑞克·謝裡丹。

Congrats, Dan, on the decision. Maybe focusing back on driving engagement with your return customers. I want to understand a little bit about where you're allocating capital, either in remarketing to bookers or maybe even the Genius program and how you're thinking about the returns driving second and third direct traffic back to the site might change some of the marketing efficiency long term.

恭喜丹做出這個決定。或許應該重新把重點放在提高老客戶的參與度。我想了解一下你們的資金分配情況，無論是用於對預訂者進行再行銷，還是用於 Genius 計劃，以及你們如何看待將第二和第三直接流量引回網站的回報，這可能會從長遠來看改變一些行銷效率。

So we don't disclose repeat rates nor do we disclose how much money we're devoting to remarketing. So a lot of the data you would like to hear, unfortunately, I can't share that with you. I can share with you, though, how important we believe repeat business is. And the way you get repeat business isn't just marketing-type stuff. What you have to do is provide a great bookings experience for the customer. That's something that we think we have done no matter which way they're doing it. Whether they're doing it online or mobile, we believe that we provide a great service to our customers, and that's why they come back. And a couple of other reasons, and one that I think is so important is customer service. We spend a lot of money on customer service. And right now, in this quarter, we're hiring customer service people to be prepared for that very, very important third quarter high season. We have to do that right and we need the people to do that. We need to train them now so they will perform well in that high-season period because good customer service is where you get loyalty. And it doesn't have to be anything that's screwed up in the booking of it. If the customer has a problem, we want to be able to help them out no matter what the situation is. That's how we build loyalty, and I think that's one of the reasons for our strong growth. And I can give lots of anecdotes, but I won't. But I know we've reached out and we've helped our customers a great deal. And I think that's one of the great reasons that we're being successful. Does that help?

因此，我們既不揭露復購率，也不揭露我們在再行銷上投入了多少資金。所以，很遺憾，很多你想了解的數據我無法與你分享。不過，我可以跟大家分享一下，我們覺得回頭客有多重要。而獲得回頭客的方法不僅僅是行銷手段。你需要做的就是為客戶提供良好的預訂體驗。無論他們用什麼方式，我們都認為我們已經做到了。無論他們是透過網路還是行動裝置進行操作，我們相信我們為客戶提供了優質的服務，這就是他們再次光顧的原因。還有其他幾個原因，其中一個我認為非常重要，那就是客戶服務。我們在客戶服務上投入了大量資金。而現在，在這個季度，我們正在招募客服人員，為非常重要的第三季旺季做好準備。我們必須把這件事做好，而且我們需要人民的參與。我們現在需要對他們進行培訓，以便他們在旺季期間能夠表現出色，因為良好的客戶服務是贏得客戶忠誠度的關鍵。而且不一定是預訂過程中出了什麼問題。如果客戶遇到問題，無論情況如何，我們都希望能夠幫助他們。這就是我們建立客戶忠誠度的方式，我認為這也是我們實現強勁成長的原因之一。我可以講很多軼事，但我不會講。但我知道我們已經主動聯繫了客戶，並且給予了他們很大的幫助。我認為這是我們成功的重要原因之一。這樣有幫助嗎？

Our next question comes from Mark May with Citi.

下一個問題來自花旗銀行的馬克‧梅。

I know that vacation rentals have been a meaningful contributor to room night growth recently, but yes, I think you recently stated that you're not only in the early process of adding inventory there, but that you haven't maybe promoted it like -- as much as you would like to your users. And I guess, just the question is, what are your plans for enhancing the promotion of this offering to your users? And then secondly, another question in terms of advertising performance, advertising leverage. Is there anything that you're seeing, either in the market externally or things that you're doing internally driven, where you actually think that you could actually see some leverage in ad spend in the near to medium term?

我知道度假租賃最近對客房夜數的增長做出了重要貢獻，但是，是的，我想您最近說過，您不僅還處於增加這方面庫存的早期階段，而且您可能還沒有像您希望的那樣向您的用戶進行推廣。所以我想問的是，你們有什麼計畫來加強向用戶推廣這項服務？其次，關於廣告效果和廣告槓桿作用，還有另一個問題。無論是在外部市場還是在公司內部，您是否看到任何可以真正幫助您在中短期內提高廣告支出的因素？

So I'll take the first one and Dan will take the second one. I agree with that statement that not as many people know about our great product as I would like because I'd like everybody to know about it. Now in terms of your question about how we're going to make more people be aware of our vacation rental business, we are acting. We are working on it, and we are coming up with plans. But I think the last thing I want to do is reveal what our plans are to our competitors and how we're going to make more people aware that we do have this great product, so I'm going to have to pass on actually giving away the plans on how we're going to make people aware of our product. Dan?

那我拿第一個，丹拿第二個。我同意這種說法，了解我們優秀產品的人確實不多，我希望每個人都能了解它。至於你問的我們將如​​何讓更多人了解我們的度假租賃業務，我們正在採取行動。我們正在努力，並製定計劃。但我認為我最不想做的就是向競爭對手透露我們的計劃，以及我們將如何讓更多人知道我們擁有這款優秀的產品，所以我不得不放棄透露我們將如何讓人們了解我們產品的計劃。擔？

And then performance advertising leverage, Mark, it's all the factors you mentioned, so it's what's happening with external players, what we're doing internally, what -- again, trying to strike a balance between top line growth and bottom line growth. So we're pushing into channels where we think we can do that efficiently. There's also the matter in which the auction is run by the advertiser, and we're balancing all those to try and strike a good balance. What I answered earlier to somebody else's question, I wouldn't forecast that there's going to be leverage in performance marketing. I would have to see that for a number of quarters and have some reason to expect it to continue before I would build that into a forecast. While we have had quarters here and there where the leverage story on performance marketing has been better, in general now, for many years, all the way back to 2012, it's been a source of margin pressure. And I've seen it as a source of margin pressure in other players in our space, too. In fact, to a greater degree, on their margins than what we've experienced with ours. So I feel comfortable that we are continuing to expand our lead in a very competitive marketplace, and performance marketing has been the most important tool that we've used to try and drive traffic to our website over our history and build our brands. We're improving our capabilities with brand advertising, and we look to deploy money there, too, where we think we can get a reasonable return, even if it's over a longer period of time because there's typically a lag there between when you spend and then the benefit that you get by having more brand awareness and having people potentially come to you directly, which could improve the performance advertising metrics. And maybe even just causing them to search for our brand or a higher propensity to click on our brand when they search in other paid channels. So I think there's opportunities for us from time to time to invest a little bit more heavily in brand advertising and that could help, but I wouldn't forecast performance advertising leverage until we see that happening.

馬克，效果廣告槓桿作用，就是你提到的所有因素，包括外部參與者的動態、我們內部的運作，以及——再次強調，努力在營收成長和利潤成長之間取得平衡。所以我們正在努力進入我們認為可以有效實現這一目標的管道。還有一點，就是拍賣是由廣告商進行的，我們正在權衡所有這些因素，以求達到一個良好的平衡。我之前回答別人的問題時說過，我不認為效果行銷會有槓桿效應。我需要觀察幾個季度，並且有理由預期這種情況會持續下去，才會將其納入預測中。雖然偶爾會有幾個季度效果行銷的槓桿效應有所改善，但總體而言，多年來，從 2012 年至今，它一直是利潤率承壓的根源。而且我也看到，這對我們這個領域的其他企業來說，也是利潤率承壓的原因之一。事實上，他們的利潤率比我們所經歷的要高得多。因此，我對我們能夠在競爭激烈的市場中繼續擴大領先優勢感到很放心，而且，效果行銷一直是我們在發展歷程中用來為網站引流和打造品牌的最重要工具。我們正在提升品牌廣告能力，並計劃將資金投入到我們認為能夠獲得合理回報的領域，即使回報週期較長，因為通常情況下，投入資金和獲得更高的品牌知名度以及人們可能直接找到你所帶來的收益之間存在滯後，而這可能會改善廣告效果指標。甚至可能促使他們在其他付費管道搜尋我們的品牌，或提高他們點擊我們品牌的意願。所以我認為，我們時不時有機會加大對品牌廣告的投入，這可能會有所幫助，但在看到這種情況發生之前，我不會預測效果廣告的槓桿作用。

Our next question comes from Paul Bieber with Crédit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的保羅·比伯。

Congratulations, Dan. I was hoping you could provide some color on the puts and takes that drove the lower year-over-year agency take rates. I think some of that is from the Easter shift, but hoping that you could elaborate. And then the second question is, I was hoping that you could provide color on why metasearch is becoming so strategically important across the industry. Is it because of trivago's growth? Is it because of the breakdown in rate parity? Or is there some other reasons for just the strategic importance of metasearch?

恭喜你，丹。我希望您能詳細解釋一下導致機構持倉率年減的賣出和賣出情況。我認為部分原因是復活節假期帶來的業務調整，但希望您能詳細說明一下。第二個問題是，我希望您能詳細解釋為什麼元搜尋在整個產業中變得如此具有戰略意義。是因為 trivago 的發展壯大嗎？是因為利率平價機制崩壞嗎？或者，元搜尋的戰略重要性還有其他一些原因嗎？

Why don't I take that second one first and then Dan can take the first one? So meta is important. We have KAYAK. We're pleased with their performance. And there are others, like you mentioned, trivago. But I'd caution you on saying how important it is. I'm not sure. It's a qualitative term not a quantitative term, and I'd like to point out that our overall business through meta is still a relatively small amount, so I wouldn't overemphasize it. It's important, but I wouldn't overemphasize it. Why is it growing? Why do people like to use it? I could give some potential reasons of people enjoy to be able to see multiple price properties there with different prices that they can see, "Is this the best price or not?" And then they can go off to a place like Booking.com or Priceline or Agoda and do the actual booking. But the why side is important to us as to making sure that we're there. We try and run our business, so we are where the customer wants to be. The customers who want to use meta, we have a great product there for them. And that's how we do it. It's us not trying to tell the customer, "You should use this." It's us making sure we have the best product service available for that customer who wants to use it. And I think that's the best way to look at it. Dan?

為什麼我不先拿第二個，然後讓丹拿第一個呢？所以，元資訊很重要。我們有KAYAK。我們對他們的表現很滿意。還有其他一些，就像你提到的 trivago。但我建議你不要妄下斷言說這件事有多重要。我不知道。這是一個定性術語，而不是定量術語。我想指出的是，我們透過元平台開展的整體業務量仍然相對較小，所以我不會過度強調它。這很重要，但我不會過度強調它。為什麼它會生長？人們為什麼喜歡使用它？我可以列舉一些人們喜歡在這裡看到不同價位房源的潛在原因，這樣他們就可以比較「這個價格是否最優？」然後他們可以前往 Booking.com、Priceline 或 Agoda 等網站進行實際預訂。但對我們來說，弄清楚「為什麼」這一點很重要，因為它關係到我們能否到達目的地。我們努力經營業務，力求滿足客戶的需求。對於那些想要使用元資料的客戶，我們有一個非常棒的產品可以滿足他們的需求。我們就是這麼做的。我們並不是要告訴顧客“你應該用這個”，而是要確保為想要使用我們產品的顧客提供最好的產品和服務。我認為這是看待這個問題的最佳方式。擔？

And Paul, your assumption was correct on the agency take rates. So you're looking at agency gross profit divided by agency gross bookings. That's down because of the Easter shift. The fundamental take rates are very stable.

保羅，你對代理費率的假設是正確的。所以，你要計算的是代理商的毛利除以代理商的總預訂量。這是因為復活節假期調整了訂單量。基本收益率非常穩定。

Our next question comes from Ross Sandler with Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的羅斯桑德勒。

Congrats, Dan. I just had 2 questions. One was a follow-up on the earlier question about repeat users. So as some of those efforts that Glenn mentioned to drive repeats, are those metrics actually improving? Or do you guys kind of view this as a space where the potential around repeat, given the low frequency of purchases, just may not be there? Or is there a penetration rate that you think the industry needs to be at where repeat -- organic repeat can be a source of leverage at some point down the road? And then the second question is any color on Facebook's new retargeting product for travel? I know you guys have been testing it. How's that been going?

恭喜你，丹。我只有兩個問題。其中一項是針對先前關於重複使用者的提問的後續問題。那麼，格倫提到的那些旨在提高復購率的措施，這些指標真的有所改善嗎？或者你們認為，考慮到購買頻率較低，這個領域的複購潛力可能不存在？或者，您認為產業需要達到怎樣的滲透率，才能讓回頭客——也就是自然回頭客——在未來的某個時候成為一種槓桿？那麼第二個問題是，Facebook 針對旅遊市場推出的全新重定向產品是否有任何顏色？我知道你們一直在測試它。進展如何？

It's Glenn speaking. So going back on that repeat thing. I think the way we answered it pretty much answers it as much as we can say, though I will add, we are very pleased with our repeat rate. And I'm not going to give out a repeat number, but I'd caution anybody in trying to think they know what it is. So I just want to caution you on that. The second thing, which I didn't mention about repeat, which I think is an important factor, is providing that great service and make -- and having them come back is something that not only helps us in the business with that person, but there's that ability for people to be talking about what a good service it is. So you get another benefit in that word-of-mouth-type advertising that's also very helpful and very powerful. So we agree repeat's very important. We work to make sure we give a good service. We want them to have that good service, and then there's an echo effect on it going forward. In regards to Facebook, we've mentioned earlier several times that we are working with Facebook, trying to improve the way to get more business out of Facebook. We have people who are dedicated to working with Facebook to create this because, as we've pointed out, we would like to spend a lot more money with Facebook. But as Dan has pointed and we've talked about a lot in the past, we try to be very disciplined about our marketing expense and we want to get the appropriate ROI. So we need to come up with tools and ways to get -- and products and -- ways that Facebook will give us a good return on our spend. When that happens, we are ready, willing, able to spend a lot of money with them to find another way to get customers. Is that helpful?

我是格倫。所以，我們又回到重複這個話題了。我認為我們的回答已經基本回答了這個問題，不過我還要補充一點，我們對回頭客數量非常滿意。我不會重複透露號碼，但我建議大家不要妄自揣測自己知道號碼是什麼。所以我想提醒你。第二點，我之前沒有提到回頭客，我認為這很重要，那就是提供優質的服務，讓他們再次光顧——這不僅有助於我們與該客戶建立業務關係，而且還能讓人們談論我們提供的優質服務。因此，口碑宣傳還能帶來另一個好處，那就是它非常有幫助，而且非常有效。所以我們一致認為重複練習非常重要。我們努力確保提供優質服務。我們希望他們享受到優質的服務，這樣就能產生正面的連鎖反應。關於 Facebook，我們之前已經多次提到，我們正在與 Facebook 合作，努力改進從 Facebook 獲得更多業務的方式。我們有專人與 Facebook 合作開發這個項目，因為正如我們之前提到的，我們希望在 Facebook 上投入更多資金。但正如丹所指出的，也是我們過去多次討論過的，我們努力嚴格控制行銷支出，並希望獲得適當的投資回報率。所以我們需要想出一些工具和方法，以及一些產品和途徑，讓 Facebook 能為我們帶來良好的投資回報。當這種情況發生時，我們已經準備好、願意、能夠花很多錢與他們合作，尋找其他獲取客戶的方法。這樣有幫助嗎？

Real helpful.

非常有幫助。

Our next question comes from Perry Gold with MoffettNathanson.

下一個問題來自 MoffettNathanson 的 Perry Gold。

Congratulations, Dan. Two, please, if I may. Can you provide any color in terms of any potential impact you saw to inbound travel to the U.S. as a result of the current administration's rhetoric and attempted travel bans? And could you also provide any color on broader macro or regional trends you've seen through the first 5 weeks or so of 2Q? Any notable changes to call out?

恭喜你，丹。如果可以的話，請給我兩個。您能否就現任政府的言論和試圖實施的旅行禁令對入境美國旅遊可能造成的影響提供一些具體細節？您能否也介紹一下您在第二季前 5 週左右觀察到的更廣泛的宏觀或區域趨勢？有什麼值得注意的變化嗎？

I'll just take the first part and Dan can talk about the second part. Regarding political events, a couple things that I'd like to emphasize. One, we are an extremely global company. We are able to get someone a property in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. And if somebody decides that they don't want to visit one place, for whatever reason it is, we are fortunate that we have properties where, hopefully, they will want to go, and they'll be able to use us for that. So that's the first point. The second point is we've heard a lot of rhetoric about this so we look at our data. And we have not seen a material impact from political events in the U.S. that we can tease out as saying that's a cause of something happening. It's -- just we don't see it there in a material way. Other people may be seeing different things, but we can't comment on theirs. We're just looking at our data. And Dan, you...

我來講第一部分，丹可以講第二部分。關於政治事件，我想強調幾點。第一，我們是一家全球性極強的公司。我們能夠幫助客戶在全球200多個國家和地區找到合適的房產。如果有人因為某些原因決定不去某個地方，我們很幸運，我們還有一些房產，希望他們能去那裡，而且他們也可以透過我們來安排住宿。這是第一點。第二點是，我們聽到了很多關於這方面的言論，所以我們要看看我們的數據。我們還沒有看到美國政治事件產生實質影響，可以據此斷定這是導致某件事發生的原因。只是——我們沒有以實質的方式在那裡看到它。其他人可能看到不同的東西，但我們無法對他們的看法發表評論。我們只是在查看數據。還有丹，你…

And Perry, we feel like the broader and macro trends are positive, and particularly in the travel market. We see occupancy rates are strong. ADRs are up. The reported results of other players in the space, I think, were very strong. So it feels to us that the macro is healthy. As far as it relates to the trend thus far in the quarter, it's a little bit clouded by the shift in Easter. So when a -- there's a holiday like that, where people are traveling, what we'll typically see is an uptick in cancellations going into the holiday for people whose plans have changed. And then while people are traveling, they're not making bookings, and so that impacts our gross bookings growth. So I'd say the broad macro is positive. It's a little bit difficult to read because of the impact of the shift and timing for Easter into Q2.

佩里，我們感覺更廣泛的宏觀趨勢是正面的，尤其是在旅遊市場。入住率表現強勁。美國存託憑證價格上漲。我認為，該領域其他參與者的業績報告非常出色。因此，我們認為宏觀層面是健康的。就本季迄今的趨勢而言，復活節假期的到來使情況變得有些不明朗。所以，當有像那樣的假期，人們都在旅行時，我們通常會看到假期臨近時，由於人們的計劃發生了變化，取消預訂的人數會增加。而且，人們在旅行期間不會預訂，因此這會影響我們的總預訂量成長。所以我認為宏觀經濟情勢總體向好。由於復活節假期推遲到第二季度，時間安排有所變化，因此閱讀起來有點困難。

Our next question comes from Lloyd Walmsley with Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行的勞埃德‧沃姆斯利。

Wondering if you can just talk a little bit about the seasonality of the kind of non-core hotel accommodation business versus the core hotel. Do you see kind of more alternative accommodations have a longer booking window that's concentrated in the beginning of the year such that, that faster growth kind of influences growth rates in 1Q structurally relative to the rest of the year while it's growing faster? Is there any color you can give that help us understand that seasonality?

我想請您談談非核心飯店住宿業務與核心飯店業務的季節性差異。您是否注意到，一些另類住宿的預訂窗口期較長，集中在年初，因此，這種較快的增長速度會從結構上影響第一季相對於其他季度的增長率？有沒有什麼顏色可以用來幫助我們理解這種季節性？

Lloyd, we're not seeing any significant impact on the booking window from the growth in vacation rentals on our site. And maybe that's based upon the way we're presenting them, very integrated into our search results, and so people are still searching the way they would search. Maybe there are some on the margin, people that are coming in specifically, looking for vacation rentals and they're booking a little bit earlier. But we think that the expansion of the booking window is more driven by growth in repeat users and direct traffic than the addition of vacation rental properties.

Lloyd，我們網站上度假租賃業務的成長並沒有對預訂窗口產生任何重大影響。也許這是因為我們呈現它們的方式，它們與我們的搜尋結果緊密結合，所以人們仍然以他們習慣的方式進行搜尋。或許有一些邊緣人群，他們專門來這裡尋找度假租賃房，而且他們會提前預訂。但我們認為，預訂窗口的擴大更多是由回頭客和直接流量的成長所驅動的，而不是度假租賃房產的增加。

And I guess as a follow-up, it sounds like most of the users coming in and booking alternative accommodations are probably coming in on similar marketing channels and similar search terms. But is there any difference in terms of like where you're finding people who end up booking nontraditional or the kind of marketing ROIs associated with those folks or those channels?

我想補充一點，聽起來大多數前來預訂其他住宿的用戶可能都是透過類似的行銷管道和類似的搜尋字詞進入網站的。但是，在尋找最終選擇非傳統預訂方式的人群，或者與這些人或這些管道相關的營銷投資回報率方面，是否存在任何差異？

We're using the same channels to find people that end up booking vacation rentals. It opens up the panoply of keywords that we can advertise on by having these different types of properties, but the channels are the same. And we've said from time to time in the past that the vacation rental ADRs, take rates and ROIs are fairly similar. I mean, we don't run a separate ad word campaign just for the vacation rentals. They're part of our broader campaigns, and so we look at it in total.

我們使用相同的管道來尋找最終預訂度假租賃房的人。擁有這些不同類型的屬性，我們就可以使用各種各樣的關鍵字進行廣告宣傳，但管道是相同的。我們過去也曾多次說過，度假租賃的平均房價、佣金率和投資報酬率都相當相似。我的意思是，我們不會專門為度假租賃投放單獨的關鍵字廣告活動。它們是我們更廣泛宣傳活動的一部分，因此我們要從整體上看待它們。

Our next question comes from Peter Stabler with Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的彼得·斯塔布勒。

This is Rob on the call for Peter. Another question on vacation rentals around the instant bookability. Looking at your competitors today, properties that are online bookable with a 24-hour confirmation outnumber instantly bookable properties there maybe by 5 to 1 or more, depending on the market. Just wondering how important changing that owner or manager behavior will be for your supply growth into the future and what you think might change that behavior over time? Also, just wondering, it's been a while since you gave us a sense of the relative scale of VR room nights. So I think the last time was maybe back in mid-2015. Wondering if you might be willing to give us an update there.

這是羅佈在幫彼得打電話。關於度假租賃的即時預訂功能，還有另一個問題。看看你現在的競爭對手，那些可以在線上預訂並在 24 小時內確認的房源數量可能比可以立即預訂的房源多 5 倍甚至更多，具體比例取決於市場狀況。我想知道改變業主或管理者的行為對你們未來的供應成長有多重要，以及你們認為隨著時間的推移，什麼因素可能會改變這種行為？另外，我只是好奇，您已經很久沒有讓我們了解VR密室之夜的相對規模了。所以我覺得上一次可能是2015年中期。不知道您是否願意向我們提供那邊的最新狀況？

So we're not disclosing the room night data, so we'll not be passing that over. But in regards to growing the supplier base, 51% supplier base growth in that category is a very rapid growth. So I don't think we're up to a stage where we have to be concerned about changing property manager behavior right now. If and when that happens, we'll deal with it at that point. But right now, just by this most recent data that we've disclosed, over 50% growth rate says that we've got a lot of properties out there to put on with the thing -- the way want to do it right now and not have to convince anybody of anything. We just need to get them signed up and put on the service.

因此，我們不會公開客房入住晚數數據，也不會透露相關資訊。但就供應商基礎的成長而言，該類別供應商基礎成長 51% 是一個非常快速的成長。所以我認為我們目前還不需要擔心改變物業經理的行為。如果這種情況發生，到時候我們會處理。但就目前而言，僅根據我們最新披露的數據，超過 50% 的成長率表明，我們有很多房產可以按照我們現在想要的方式出售，而無需說服任何人。我們只需要讓他們註冊並開通這項服務。

Our next question comes from Brian Fitzgerald with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自傑富瑞集團的布萊恩·菲茨傑拉德。

Thank you, Dan, and congratulations also. Maybe a quick question on TripAdvisor. Have you seen any impact to your performance there since Expedia's been added there? And then any -- I think you said it's too small really to move too many needles, but any impact to the business from your Instant Book leads on TripAdvisor?

謝謝你，丹，也恭喜你。或許可以快速問一下 TripAdvisor 上的問題。自從 Expedia 加入以來，您的業績是否受到了任何影響？然後——我想你說過這個數字太小，不會產生太大影響，但是 TripAdvisor 上的即時預訂線索對業務有任何影響嗎？

Brian, no, what we said was when we got added to Instant Book, there was a lot of questions back then what was the impact, and because of the relative size of TripAdvisor to our business, it wasn't a significant impact to our growth or our advertising efficiency. And so the same is true now as Expedia got added. It hasn't significantly impacted our growth trend or ADRs with TripAdvisor.

Brian，不，我們當時說的是，當我們被添加到 Instant Book 時，當時有很多關於其影響的問題，但由於 TripAdvisor 相對於我們業務的規模而言，它對我們的成長或廣告效率並沒有產生重大影響。現在 Expedia 加入後，情況也是如此。這並未對我們在 TripAdvisor 上的成長趨勢或平均房價產生重大影響。

Our next question comes from Naved Khan with Cantor Fitzgerald.

下一個問題來自 Cantor Fitzgerald 的 Naved Khan。

Can you elaborate a bit on the impact of the strong euro on the U.S. inbound and outbound and how meaningful it is as a part of the overall business? And then just on an expense line item, I look at G&A, it jumped a bit sequentially as well as year-on-year. Anything to call out there?

您能否詳細說明強勢歐元對美國入境和出境的影響，以及它對整體業務的重要性？然後，就費用項目而言，我查看了一般及行政費用，發現它環比和同比都有所增長。有什麼要說的嗎？

Well, strong euro. Times have changed when now the $1.09 euro is a strong euro. We're used to the good old days of $1.30. So I'd say nothing to call out there, Naved. It's been relatively stable for the last year or so. It's kind of been in that like $1.05 to $1.10 range. So nothing that I would call out regarding change in travel behavior from the euro. And I'm sorry, what was your second question?

歐元走強。時代變了，現在1.09美元兌1歐元，歐元匯率走強。我們已經習慣了1.30美元的美好舊時光。所以我覺得沒什麼好說的，納維德。在過去一年左右的時間裡，情況一直比較穩定。價格一直徘徊在 1.05 美元到 1.10 美元之間。所以，就歐元對旅行行為的影響而言，我並沒有特別需要指出的改變。不好意思，您的第二個問題是什麼？

Just the G&A expense kind of jumped sequentially, also year-on-year, so anything to call out? Anything onetime there?

一般及行政費用較上月及年比均有成長，有什麼需要特別指出的嗎？有沒有什麼特別的經驗？

Sequential G&A. I mean, the key drivers in there would be office-related expenses, so rent and related occupancy expenses and personnel-related expenses, travel and so forth.

依序收取一般及行政費用。我的意思是，其中的主要驅動因素是與辦公室相關的費用，例如租金和相關佔用費用、人員相關費用、差旅費等等。

Yes. It's just that it's probably the first time in maybe over a year or so that the line item sort of deleveraged or was showing leverage. That's why -- that's the reason for the question.

是的。只是這可能是近一年來該計畫首次出現去槓桿化或槓桿化的情況。這就是問題的原因。

It would just be investments that we're making in those areas as we're adding headcount and being ready for growth in the future. And I would expect that, that would be an area, in particular, Naved, where we would have leverage for the most part going forward. So for whatever reason, I think, in Q1, it could purely just be from the Easter shift.

這只是我們在增加員工人數、為未來發展做好準備的過程中，在這些領域的投資。而且我預計，尤其是在納維德這個領域，我們將在未來的大部分時間裡擁有影響力。所以，不管出於什麼原因，我認為，第一季的情況可能完全是由於復活節假期造成的。

Our next question comes from Kevin Kopelman with Cowen and Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen and Company 的 Kevin Kopelman。

Congrats, Dan, on the retirement and on a great tenure. You talked about seasonality of bookings this year with Q2 slower than usual. Can you also comment on the seasonality of profit? Do you anticipate that the typical weighting of profit toward third quarter high season will be increasing this year versus last year? And if so, why?

丹，恭喜你光榮退休，也祝賀你擁有輝煌的任期。您提到今年的預訂量有季節性波動，第二季比往年同期放緩。能否也談談利潤的季節性變化？您是否預計今年第三季旺季利潤的比例會比去年增加？如果真是如此，原因是什麼？

Well, we don't have a Q3 forecast for you, Kevin. So I won't say whether the weighting will increase because that could give you a read on the bottom line, but it will continue to be, by far, our biggest profitability quarter of the year, given just the normal seasonality of the business with the great preponderance of travel happening in Q3 for high-season summer travel.

凱文，我們目前沒有第三季的預測數據可以提供給你。所以我不會說權重是否會增加，因為這可能會讓你對最終結果有所了解，但考慮到正常的業務季節性，以及大部分旅行都發生在第三季度（夏季旅遊旺季），這仍將是迄今為止我們一年中盈利能力最強的一個季度。

Okay. And then just on the competitive landscape. Last year, a key competitor was having some issues during this time of year. Are you seeing any change as they've been more ramped up this year?

好的。然後就競爭格局而言。去年這個時候，一家主要競爭對手遇到了一些問題。隨著他們今年加大力度，你覺得有什麼改變嗎？

A couple of things about the way we look at the landscape. One is we try and concentrate mostly on what we can do better. And we don't -- and we're not as concerned about what our competitor's doing. That's been a part of a culture at The Priceline Group for a very, very long time. With that being said, we are not naïve. We do recognize that there is substantial competition out there and people would like to try and take away some of our business and not let us go as fast as we've been going. I haven't seen any major changes in the last quarter that would indicate any major changes in the competitive landscape. And I'll let Dan -- if Dan has any thoughts. Am I missing anything?

關於我們看待風景的方式，有幾點需要說明。第一，我們盡量把精力集中在可以做得更好的事情上。我們不會——我們也不太關心競爭對手在做什麼。這在 Priceline 集團的企業文化中已經根深蒂固很久了。話雖如此，我們並非天真無知。我們確實意識到市場上存在著激烈的競爭，有人想搶走我們的一些生意，不讓我們繼續保持目前的成長速度。在過去一個季度裡，我沒有看到任何重大變化，這表明競爭格局沒有發生重大變化。如果丹有什麼想法，我會告訴他。我漏掉了什麼嗎？

I guess I'll just add, from last year, we couldn't notice anything discernible in our results when they were talking about issues with their website, so nothing that we could detect.

我還要補充一點，從去年的情況來看，當他們談到網站問題時，我們的結果並沒有顯示出任何明顯的異常，所以我們沒有發現任何問題。

Our next question is Jed Kelly with Oppenheimer.

下一個問題是來自奧本海默公司的傑德·凱利。

Can you assess or expound on any changes you are seeing over the past year with the comfort level that traditional vacation rental property managers that were typically operating through an inquiry-to-book model are now having with the instantly online bookable model?

您能否評估或闡述過去一年中，傳統度假租賃物業管理公司（通常採用詢問預訂模式）對即時線上預訂模式的接受程度發生了哪些變化？

I haven't spoken to enough property managers to be able to answer that accurately or not. I think we have to just look at the data, and the data is that we have lots of property managers who are willing to put their properties on our system. And as you can see from some of our competitors and what they've said, you can see that's happening in their businesses, too. So from that data, I would make the assumption that people are becoming comfortable or are comfortable or always were comfortable if there was a system to do it easily. That's the best, I think, I can answer on that. And I just would reiterate that we are pleased with the growth of our supply in that area. It is something that we are very focused on.

我還沒有和足夠多的物業經理交談過，所以無法準確回答這個問題。我認為我們只需要看看數據，而數據顯示，有很多物業經理願意將他們的房產放到我們的系統中。從我們的一些競爭對手以及他們所說的話中可以看出，這種情況也正在他們的業務中發生。因此，根據這些數據，我會假設，如果有一個系統可以輕鬆完成某件事，人們就會感到舒適、感到舒適，或一直感到舒適。我想，這是我能給的最好答案了。我再次重申，我們對該地區的供應成長感到滿意。這是我們非常關注的事情。

Our next question comes from Michael Olson with Piper Jaffray.

下一個問題來自派珀·傑弗瑞的邁克爾·奧爾森。

And Dan, congrats on a great run. I just had one question for you guys. There's been some chatter that the hotel groups are looking at finding new ways to gain back more direct booking share potentially through some, I guess, alternative methods like more lobbying or legislative or other means. I'd just be curious if you have any thoughts on whether or not this is a risk for Priceline and perhaps, generally, just how you feel about where your current relationships are with your hotel partners.

丹，恭喜你跑得非常棒。我有個問題想問大家。有傳言稱，酒店集團正在尋求新的途徑來重新獲得更多的直接預訂份額，我猜想，可能會通過一些替代方法，例如更多的遊說、立法或其他手段。我只是好奇您認為這對 Priceline 來說是否構成風險，以及您對目前與飯店合作夥伴的關係有何看法。

Sure. Couple of things, and I'll start by saying we have good relationships with our hotel suppliers. And if we didn't have good relationships, we wouldn't be able to grow as fast as we've been growing or achieve the success that we've been able to achieve. And we do that by providing to our hotel partners some great services, helping them in areas that they can't do. We bring them customers, millions of customers. We put a platform out that enables them to see people from around the world and be able to try and get that customer to come into their hotel. Now I've read in the news some things that you're referring to, and I'd just make a couple of points. One, as I think we've talked about before, and you can do by just doing some math on the numbers that we've revealed, we have a mid-single-digit percentage market share in this business. There are a couple implications of that. One is, we've got a lot of landscape -- there's a lot of room up for us going forward. Second thing I'd say is, in the news item, I heard them use a word like monopoly. And I'd just point out that I have never heard the word monopoly used in the same sentence about somebody who has a single -- mid-single-digit share. We've done a very good job with our partners since I've come here 17 years ago, and we will, I believe, continue to do so going forward. Every company wants to try and have customers come to them direct and lower the marketing and distribution costs as much as possible. We get that and we'd like to do so ourselves. Believe me, I'd love for our customers to just call us and not have to pay any marketing at all to get them to come. But that's not the way the competitive world works, and you have to pay to get people to come and notice you and pay you for them to come -- continue to stay and come back. That's the way it works. I don't fault anybody for wanting to try and bring people to their business directly. I do fault anybody who makes the statements or allegations that aren't true. Enough said.

當然。有幾點要說明，首先我想說的是，我們與飯店供應商的關係很好。如果沒有良好的人際關係，我們就無法像現在這樣快速發展，也無法取得我們已經取得的成功。我們透過向酒店合作夥伴提供一些優質服務來實現這一目標，幫助他們解決他們無法解決的問題。我們為他們帶來客戶，數百萬客戶。我們建立了一個平台，讓他們能夠看到來自世界各地的人，並嘗試吸引這些顧客入住他們的飯店。我從新聞中讀到了一些你提到的事情，我想補充幾點。第一，正如我們之前討論過的，而且你只要對我們公佈的數字進行一些計算就能得出，我們在這個行業中擁有中等個位數的市場份額。這其中包含兩層意義。一是，我們擁有廣闊的土地──我們未來還有很大的發展空間。第二點我想說的是，在新聞報道中，我聽到他們用了「壟斷」這個詞。我還要指出，我從未聽過用「壟斷」這個詞來形容只擁有個位數（或接近個位數）股份的人。自從我17年前來到這裡以來，我們與合作夥伴一直合作得非常好，我相信我們未來也會繼續這樣做。每家公司都希望客戶直接上門，並盡可能降低行銷和分銷成本。我們明白這一點，我們也想自己這樣做。相信我，我非常希望我們的客戶只需給我們打電話，而不需要我們花任何行銷費用就能讓他們上門。但競爭激烈的世界並非如此運作，你必須花錢才能讓人們注意到你，並且花錢才能讓他們留下來，繼續光顧。事情就是這樣運作的。我不怪任何人想要直接把顧客吸引到自己的店裡。我會譴責任何發表不實言論或指控的人。無需多言。

This concludes the Q&A session. I'd like to turn the call back over to management for closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。我想把電話轉回給管理階層，請他們做總結發言。

Well, I just want to thank everybody for listening to us, and thank you very much.

最後，我要感謝大家收聽我們的節目，非常感謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference. Thanks for your participation, and have a wonderful day.

女士們、先生們，今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，祝您有美好的一天。