HomeAway isn't worried about Booking.com's vacation rental challenge
Skift Take
HomeAway's Brian Sharples isn't worried about online travel agencies getting into vacation rentals. InterContinental, Marriott and Hilton have the OTAs on a relatively tight leash, and won't stand for a serious flirtation with those dreaded vacation rentals.
The largest hotel-booking company on earth, Booking.com, has been adding vacation rentals in Europe, but HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples seems unfazed by it, and in fact he's learning some lessons from Booking.com's practices.
On the advertising front, HomeAway is in the midst of an about-face. The company that offered TV and digital advertisements for Super Bowls in 2010 and 2011, is basically giving up on off-line advertising for now in favor of display and SEM ads.
