Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

A recent page-one story in the Wall Street Journal observed that hotels, restaurants, theme parks, and tourist destinations are expecting a massive rebound.

Now that tourism has turned the corner, millions of us will need help finding places to visit, dine, and stay.

I’ve seen this playing out first-hand, as my wife and I just experienced one of the most challenging ski seasons in more than a decade.

See, there is a bigger dynamic at play here – one that is helping to boost a big rebound in the global travel and tourism industry that was worth $1.8 trillion in pre-COVID 2019.

For us, we’re having a devil of a time either finding a convenient hotel with available rooms or literally paying as much as twice what we’ve paid in the past.

That’s where there is an opportunity for you to profit from this travel rebound.

With one of the top online travel leaders just posting a 140% earnings gain, let me show why there are more profits ahead for investors who cash in this travel stock today…

This Travel Stock Pulled in $2 Billion Last Year

According to data compiled by Statista, the global tourism sector fell 42% in 2020 to roughly $1.1 trillion. And analysts expect that by the end of this year, we may see that figure bounce back to more than $1.5 trillion.

No wonder, then, that Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) had blowout earnings in the most recent quarter. The firm’s earnings per share came in at $1.06 when Wall Street had expected only $0.60. Meanwhile, the firm’s revenue came in at $2.3 billion, up 17% from 12 months ago in an exceptional showing for this online travel conglomerate.

You’ll likely recognize Expedia’s name from its travel website, expedia.com, where you can easily search for flights, hotels, travel packages, cruises, festival tickets, and much more. But that’s just one part of what Expedia has under its umbrella.

Other travel sites owned by Expedia include:

1. Hotels.com, a site focused on deals.
2. Vacation-rental and Airbnb-competitor Vrbo.
3. Travel package search engine Orbitz.
4. CarRentals.com.
5. HotWire.com, a service that lets travelers buy hotel rooms, airline tickets, and other travel tickets at a discount at the last minute.

And that’s just a selection.

Expedia owns over 20 travel brands spread across more than 200 websites operating in more than 70 countries.

That size allows Expedia to offer the widest selection of travel and vacation deals in the world, allowing users to search more than 2.9 million hotels, vacation rentals, and other properties.

Meanwhile, Expedia offers airfare, cruise lines, and rental cars from more than 500 different companies.

In other words, it is a one-stop-shop for travel.

But it’s no mere database of vacation options. With that much to choose from, Expedia has invested heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) to help find the right deals for the right people.

The firm now has more than 600 billion AI predictions under its belt, done on the basis of the over 70 terabytes of data the company has on travel and travelers.

COVID, of course, threw a wrench in Expedia’s plans. But as the latest quarterly report shows, travel is making a comeback.

Even Omicron, while causing a disruption, did not reduce travel as much and for as long as past COVID waves. And after two years of being stuck, people are itching to go places.

The fact Expedia also owns Vrbo, the Airbnb competitor, has also helped.
Those still concerned about COVID but wanting to travel may be more likely to choose a small vacation rental that allows them to be the only occupants rather than pick a big hotel, where they have to share hallways and elevators with a bunch of people.

While Expedia doesn’t report financials for Vrbo specifically, it has stated that the Vrbo business is doing very well.

With state after state now easing COVID restrictions, and would-be travelers looking for a good deal, Expedia’s growth will only continue to surge.

And we’re already seeing this set in as a trend.

Those latest earnings were no fluke: Expedia’s third-quarter earnings were also a blowout, with $2.96 billion in revenue coming in higher than the expected $2.73 billion, and up a whopping 97% from the year before.

If Expedia’s earnings grow at just one-fourth their recent rate, that would be a whopping 30% a year.

At that rate, the stock doubles in just 2.5 years.

So, as you travel this summer – or even if you take a staycation – be sure to check out this wealth-building tech stock.