Germany's Trivago is benefiting from a "talent drain" in the U.S., as Europe now appears to be a viable competitor for tech talent, according to company co-founder Rolf Schromgens.
Schromgens observed that perceptions of the U.S., including those potentially colored by President Donald Trump's ban on immigrants from some predominantly-Muslim countries, have helped his Europe-based business recruit.
"We see that we, as a company based in Europe, we are way more attractive now for talents from all over the world, including talents from the U.S., and so our numbers of applicants from the U.S. have doubled in the first quarter from the quarter in the year before," he said.
Europe is also a beneficiary of the U.S. "talent drain," Schromgens said, because of what it has to offer compared to American firms and culture.
"When people think about where they want to work, where they want to stay for the next years, that is way more important [than the possible decline in hotel prices] and I think that's what we see," Schromgens said. "They might think, I can go to U.S. and Silicon Valley, but I can also go to Europe, and maybe it's more secure for me to go to Europe than to go to the U.S."
Trivago has seen strong growth since going public in December 2016. First quarter revenue rose by 68 percent period-over-period and shares are up about 85 percent since the beginning of 2017.
The thriving global tourism industry, especially in China and Asia, has contributed plenty to this growth.