Articles tagged “homeaway”

Signs of HomeAway becoming more aggressive about Asia expansion are evident but there is much to do. Putting in place a new leadership team is just the beginning.

Family travelers mostly prefer the upper-class hotel range when traveling, yet when it comes to alternative accommodation they are much more open-minded.

Vacation rentals and guest-booking fees aren't particularly sexy or headline-grabbing but 11-year-old HomeAway could have a far-reaching impact on parent Expedia's profit numbers. Trivago is a very nice plaything, too.

Once again it is consumer behavior that is driving change in online travel -- this time for vacation rental bookings and instantly confirmable online bookings. OK, Expedia's acquisition of HomeAway and Airbnb's goal to curb racism on its platform are also pushing things in the instantly bookable direction. When companies are sluggish in adapting to consumer trends, as HomeAway was to a certain extent in its standalone incarnation, they suffer.

The U.S. alternative accommodations market remains a one-horse race with Airbnb leading its rivals, but the brand's smart first-mover advantage has also turned it into the whipping boy for local tax authorities and hotel lobbies. This turbulent landscape leaves plenty of room for new consumer-facing brands but also opportunities across the broader alternative accommodations ecosystem.

This is a clear sign that the sharing economy isn’t in its infancy anymore.

Can such a thing exist? Yes, but if we want it to work, we need short-term rental platforms and local governments to cooperate with each other.

Discrimination isn’t a problem limited to peer-to-peer platforms like Airbnb, and it’s not a problem with the sharing economy itself. It’s a problem that has to do with human behavior — how we interact with one another, whether online or in real life — and one that travel brands need to offer more than lip service to improve.

The $100 billion industry vacation rental sector could be going into over-drive as it attracts growing interest from investors, major hospitality brands and travelers seeking alternate accommodations.

OnceThere is trying to develop a robust private label business for tours and activities but in so doing it faces the challenge of having to split the revenue with partners in a sometimes-low margin business that's largely failed to live up to expectations.