Vrbo Explicitly Trashes Airbnb in New Host Recruitment Campaign
Photo Credit: A vacation rental on Valentine's Day, February 12, 2020. Vrbo began an advertising campaign to attract hosts. Flickr.com / Robert Stinnett
Skift Take
It's never any fun when companies are reluctant to speak ill of competitors. But, when it comes to wooing hosts, little Vrbo believes it needs to explicitly tell hosts what it can do that giant Airbnb can't. The pitch may be useful in attracting a segment of hosts.
Short-term rental host recruitment is a new high-stakes battle in online travel, and Expedia's Vrbo drove home that point in kicking off a new online advertising campaign that informs hosts that if they list their homes on Vrbo they'll attract "the guests who stay longer and spend more" than Airbnb guests.
The script of one of Vrbo's YouTube videos, which was released Thursday, states, "If you only list your vacation home on Airbnb, you might get a few people. You might attract someone looking for a quaint little studio. But if you list it on Vrbo, you'll attract families looking for a bit more and who spend over twice as much more. Your dream guests awa
