Expedia Hits Pause on Direct Booking Goals for HomeAway Division
Skift Take
To some extent, Expedia is molding HomeAway to its liking. Unlike Booking.com (for now, at least), HomeAway is backing off its goal of making all vacation rentals online bookable. Expedia is also adding apartments in urban areas to better compete against Airbnb and Booking.com.
Expedia Inc. is having its HomeAway vacation rental unit back off from the previously stated goal of making 100 percent of its property listings online bookable by the end of 2016.
HomeAway revised its subscription model, which previously had five tiers, in favor of a $349 annual subscription for properties that are online bookable -- and $499 for those that aren't.
So vacation rental owners and property managers who are paying a listing fee -- and not an 8 percent commission per booking -- have an incentive to make their properties online bookable by paying $150 le
