Booking Holdings, parent company of online travel agencies Booking.com and Agoda, reported an operating profit of US$2.25 billion, representing 21 percent year-over-year growth.
Breaking down the 309 million room nights booked during the quarter which were up by eight percent year-on-year, Asia was the only region to achieve double-digit growth.
On the other hand, Europe and other regions maintained high single-digit growth.
The United States, however, remained the weakest market during Q2-2025, showing growth in low single digits.
Paradigm shift
Based on the quarterly results, Asia is no longer just a supplemental growth area for Booking Holdings and its subsidiaries.
Instead, it is apparent that the region is now the company’s primary growth driver, as it forms a critical second growth curve for the future.
To be fair, Asia has long been central to Booking's strategy thanks to its market scale, demographic dividends, infrastructural development, and rising income levels.
With the combined expertise and exposure of Booking.com and Agoda within the Asia Pacific, the company believes it can continue to tap into the region’s momentum.
As such, company executives expect Asia to maintain high single-digit room night growth over the medium term.
What China means for Booking Holdings
As he reported the results for the quarter, Booking Holdings’ chief executive Glenn Fogel spoke of where China stands with regard to the company’s progress.
Fogel said: “We have talked about how we don't really think much of China as an area in which we will be able to compete well domestically. It's also somewhat more problematic than we'd hoped around a decade ago when we had higher hopes of us being able to be a major player there for outbound business.”
Fogel nevertheless pointed out that inbound travel to China is showing resilience.
He added that Booking Holdings and its subsidiaries continue to benefit from rising inbound bookings made by travelers in Europe, Asia, and other regions save for the US, all of which contribute meaningfully to platform revenue.
