Articles tagged “vrbo”

It's a dire warning from one of the sector's most experienced founders and investors — but just don’t talk about trends until 2023, HomeAway's Carl Shepherd made a point to add.

Vrbo President Jeff Hurst looks to build on the full-home rental site's growth momentum coming out of the pandemic. But that doesn't mean travel this summer will be a breeze: book early or have a back-up plan is his advice to travelers.

Airbnb seemed to be disciplined about its marketing spend during the first quarter, and didn't return to the bad old days of 2019 in terms of freewheeling spending. The true test will be this summer when rivals crank up their performance marketing campaigns.

Short-term or vacation rentals are being touted as the winners of the pandemic, and in many ways the sector is taking big steps to becoming mainstream. But losers are emerging, too, and the impact of the pandemic will reverberate for years to come.

Which short-term rental companies and strategies are building momentum, and can they maintain it when a full travel recovery takes hold? The Skift Short-Term Rental and Outdoor Summit will feature executives who'll have much to say about these issues May 19, and beyond.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the company expects to add millions of new hosts in the next few years, and it has plans to simplify the host signup process. But Airbnb has to be concerned that over the last six months that strategic growth imperative has been tough going.

Vrbo indeed seems to be stealing a bit of market share from Airbnb in the U.S. in recent months, albeit from a much smaller base. Vrbo's aggressive marketing campaign earlier this year appears to be paying off.

Booking.com faces tough-going in U.S. short-term rentals. Its business model has hosts perceiving they pay lower commissions to Airbnb, and the latter is has a big brand advantage. At the same time, Booking.com needs to defend Airbnb incursions on its own European turf.

Expedia is taking advantage of the travel recovery in the U.S., a region that is the company's strongest, while Booking Holdings got pinched for its weaker presence. Don't read too much into it. These are Covid-impacted developments, not protracted trends.

The geographic business mix of Booking Holdings has always been a tightly held secret. The trajectory of the uneven recovery, with the U.S. being its strongest and Europe the weakest regions, prompted the company the tell-all. The dynamic proved disadvantageous for Booking's short-term rentals.