Skift Travel News Blog

Longtime Vrbo executive Jeff Hurst, who was chief operating officer of Expedia brands and formerly Vrbo’s president, is leaving the company.

This follows the exit in September of John Kim, who was president of Expedia Marketplace, and last month became executive vice president and chief product officer at PayPal.

Expedia Group announced earlier this week that Brad Bentley, most previously president and CEO of clean energy company Inspire, would become chief operating officer of Expedia brands, taking Hurst’s role.

Hurst had been with Expedia/Vrbo and predecessor company HomeAway since 2010.

Kim has worked at Expedia/HomeAway since 2011.

Following Expedia Group hiring former Google travel advertising director Rob Torres in April, Expedia stated this week that it hired Tript Singh Lamba, most previously head of head of product for YouTube ad monetization and personalization at Google, as senior vice president of consumer product for Expedia product & technology.

Bentley will report to Jon Gieselman, president, Expedia Brands, including Expedia, Vrbo and Hotels.com. Lamba will report to Rathi Murthy, Expedia Group’s chief technology officer and president, Expedia product & technology.

“Building long-lasting direct traveler relationships and operating more effectively with our capital allocation are core components of our B2C strategy,” Giselman said in the announcement statement. “It is critical to have a leader that understands all the complicated investment tradeoffs between customer acquisition, engagement, and retention, and can apply that experience to our planning, operating model, and daily operations. Brad’s substantial operational experience with direct-to-consumer products puts our Brands division in a position to thrive even more.”

Expedia didn’t announce a reason for Hurst’s departure, and a spokesperson characterized it as merely a leadership change after Hurst’s more than 10 years of accomplishments at Expedia and HomeAway.

Hurst didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Expedia’s John Kim is stepping down to take a new role at PayPal as executive vice president, chief product officer, beginning Sept. 26.

Kim, who was once in the running to replace CEO Mark Okerstrom after his shock departure in 2019, leaves after a stint of more than 10 years at the travel brand. He was most recently president of Expedia Marketplace.

He’s also served as president of HomeAway/Vrbo after it was acquired by Expedia in 2015. Kim was credited as leading Vrbo’s transition from a largely subscription business toward a digital business where many management companies and hosts pay commissions per booking instead of an annual fee.

Previously he worked at Yahoo, Overture, Accenture, Bank of America and Pelago.

At PayPal, Kim will lead the consumer and merchant product and engineering teams, the company said. He succeeds current chief product officer Mark Britto, who will remain with PayPal for a transition period, before retiring at the end of this year.

PayPal has made several key hires this year, including adding a new chief financial officer and information officer.