Expedia 2009 Annual Report Download - page 4

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We are also focused on Asia Pacific and Latin America, where we see outsized potential for growth in these
less penetrated markets. Today, APAC and Latin America make up approximately 5% of our business, a figure
that we think we can double in the next couple of years.
Our media businesses, TripAdvisor Media Network and Expedia Media Solutions Group, continue to grow
their leadership positions. In an environment where many companies shrank year-over-year, our advertising and
media revenue grew 10% in 2009, accounting for more than 10% of our worldwide revenues. We have continued
to expand the breadth of our media product base, both geographically and with new products such as TripAdvisor
Business Listings, TripAdvisor Flights, FlipKey™ Vacation Rentals and Expedia®StorePoint Expandables™.
Our execution in travel media continues to set us apart competitively, hedges a portion of our marketing spend
and adds a complementary and highly profitable dimension to our portfolio of leading consumer travel booking
brands.
Our solid performance in 2009 has confirmed that our business model is resilient and our success isn’t
dictated by one type of economic environment over another. We have a strong balance sheet, an improved
investment grade credit profile, and we generated $584 million of free cash flow for the year. As a result, we are
in a position that we can appropriately invest in our businesses, continue to make opportunistic acquisitions, and
still generate excess cash to return to our investors. To this end, we paid our first ever quarterly cash dividend in
March 2010.
Though some may say that paying a dividend is a sign of slowing growth, it is actually a reflection of the
confidence that we have in our business and especially our employee base. 2009 was a difficult year for our
employees — we effected a huge reorganization, including a painful downsizing, we didn’t grant broad-based
raises, and we reduced bonuses following poor 2008 results, all in the context of a deep worldwide recession. But
our teams bore down and executed, and delivered a solid year. We are not where we want to be, but we have an
organization with big dreams, a team that is passionate about our company and our industry, and the scale, global
brands and technology to continue to lead the industry into the future.
We are proud to lead this company and we thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Dara Khosrowshahi
President & CEO