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| Statement |
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| So we are very happy to see that |
| In 2024, we are excited to keep up this momentum with continued investment in member growth, including in new markets like Canada, implementation of an inflationary price increase for new members and further refinement of our value proposition, all of which we believe will help us to find better marketing efficiencies and grow profitably |
| Speaking about the industry, it looks like 2024 will be another strong year for travel, not quite as strong as 2022 and '23 |
| Q4 concluded a strong year for Travelzoo, with each quarter achieving year-over-year revenue growth, profitability, and positive cash flow from operations |
| So we're happy about that |
| Slide 5 shows that strong revenue growth continued in our Europe segment and at Jack's Flight Club |
| We’re very happy with the improvements of the balance sheet |
| Jack's Flight Club had a strong year in 2023, closing Q4 with a 29% increase in revenue year-over-year and a 21% increase in premium members |
| We will continue to leverage Travelzoo's global reach, our trusted brand and strong relationships with top travel suppliers to negotiate more exclusive offers for our members |
| We are generating good cash flow |
| We anticipate that we'll find kind of better marketing efficiencies there, which will allow us to grow well and grow profitably |
| The Europe business segment saw a year-over-year revenue increase of 34% to $6.3 million |
| The North America business segment saw a year-over-year revenue increase of 5% to $13.8 million |
| Travelzoo's revenue, operating profit and member count all increased year-over-year |
| We are optimistic |
| We want to grow the number of Travelzoo members, leverage our strong existing relationships with top travel suppliers, and add new relationships to negotiate more exclusive offers, utilize higher operating margins to increase EPS, grow Jack's Flight Club's revenue and develop Travelzoo META with discipline |
| We maintained a solid cash position even after repurchasing 600,000 Travelzoo shares during the quarter |
| And we're very happy that we made the decision to move to this new paid model so far |
| This was driven by particular strength in travel |
| We are seeing stronger growth in Europe, as you saw growth in North America slowing down a bit, but in general, should be a similar year than before |
| Travelzoo members enjoy high-quality travel experiences that represent outstanding value |
| Slide 8 shows that in North America, the GAAP operating margin remained high at 29% |
| Higher revenues were just increased operating margin |
| We are hearing from our partners that in North America, bookings from the partners are good |
| We believe we can keep fixed costs contained in the foreseeable future, while revenues are expected to grow |
| Europe Q4 segment revenue increased 34% year-over-year to $6.3 million from $4.7 million in the prior year period |
| Steve Silver Congratulations to everybody on the strong results in Europe and the return to profitability there |
| So we are better positioned now to enter this conversation |
| Operating income which weighed as management called operating profit increased 25% year-over-year |
| Michael Kupinski Congratulations on a good fourth quarter and a strong 2023 |
| Statement |
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| In fact, as I said, we saw a couple of advertisers becoming a bit more cautious because of the wars in Ukraine and Israel |
| And -- the reason for that was that a couple of advertisers were just becoming cautious, a bit more cautious because of the wars that I just spoke about |
| My question is also about the [Technical Difficulty] back now, Holger, you had mentioned a little while ago that might be some near-term softness, particularly in North America as a result of the conflict in the wars going on, both in Ukraine and now in Israel and the Middle East |
| North America indeed was a little bit slower in Q4 |
| So it looks like there was a technical difficulty, but I could hear you |
| I noticed Jack's Flight Club had a little bit of a step-up, too |
| Michael Kupinski So do you anticipate that North America is going to pick up the pace a little bit? Or do you think that, that -- that you're anticipating that North America will lag Europe again in 2024? Holger Bartel Europe is slightly catching up as we expected |
| I think this is just a temporary situation |
| And then it seems in 2023 that you throttled back a little bit on your sales and marketing spend |
| But given the fact that there is just a lot of turmoil in certain regions around the world, I was just wondering if there's any insight you could share in terms of the thought process is to -- moving to the membership fee now as compared to possibly just seeing how the global situation unfolds over time |
| So it's really not -- I'm really not able right now to predict what we will see in 2024 |
| Can you talk a little bit about your outlook for sales and marketing spend in 2024? Holger Bartel In Q4, our marketing spend tends to be a bit lower because we don't see it as a good quarter or environment for advertising travel offers |
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