By enhancing the services offered on its app, the ride-hailing startup, known for upending the global taxi industry, hopes to achieve the same for vacation travel.
Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi spoke about his goals for the company as it announced its first-ever worldwide operational profit.
The achievement occurred as an all-time high number of Uber journeys were made this spring.
In the months of April through June, according to Uber, roughly 25 million rides were made on the platform daily on average, up 22% from the same period last year as travel in North America gradually rebounded from the epidemic.
In all, there were around 2.3 billion rides throughout the quarter.
Mr. Khosrowshahi claimed that the travel industry’s recovery had created an opportunity for Uber to grow, particularly in the UK, where travel agents continue to play a larger role than in other areas, including the US.
In May, UK users were able to book flights via the Uber app. Last year, it made it possible to book trains and buses in the UK.
“Travel is a very important eco-system for us, both in terms of pick-ups and drop-offs, so we said hey, why can’t we go after this tour operator market?”
Mr Khosrowshahi said.
“Essentially we are building up services that we think rival traditional tour operators.”
As had been expected, there are yet few indications that the new products would reduce demand for the company’s primary taxi service, he noted.
Mr. Khosrowshahi, a former executive at the online travel agency Expedia, was appointed CEO in 2017 to help the business weather the storm from the privacy and sexual harassment scandals as well as the ousting of founder Travis Kalanick.
