Expedia CEO Is Bullish About the Future of Airbnb
Skift Take
Expedia partnered with HomeAway on vacation rentals last week. One day it is going to partner with or acquire a sharing economy company built in the Airbnb mold, depending how the market shakes out. When you are as big as Expedia, you can afford to sit back and see how things shape up.
Expedia Inc. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sees a lot of potential in Airbnb-type short-term rentals, and could envision partnering with these types of sharing-economy businesses to meet consumer demand in the future.
"From a consumer standpoint, it seems to be a good product and a product consumers like," Khosrowshahi said during Expedia Inc.'s third quarter earnings call.
An analyst asked Khosrowshahi for his take on short-term rentals as practiced by companies such as Airbnb and Wimdu, particularly in Europe.
Having just announced a deal to partner with HomeAway on vacation rentals, which often are leisure bookings over several days to a week, Khosrowshahi said short-term rentals have "hit a consumer chord," adding that the eventual size of the market will depend on
