Articles tagged “vrbo”

The Skift Health Score ranked Booking Holdings as the overall leader in August among 100 public travel companies but the entire travel industry faces grave uncertainties. Then there's that little search engine Google, which has an even larger travel business than Booking.

Airbnb looks to be cleaning up some overhangs before its anticipated initial public offering, including being fairly aggressive about promoting its crackdown on wayward house parties in its rentals. In case investors ask about the issue, Airbnb has an answer.

Short-term rentals may be outperforming the hotel industry through the peak summer leisure season, but a fall downturn in family vacations could extend the drag on performance to platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.

If the future of travel will tilt toward non-urban destinations, which are not Airbnb's strength, its stock market registration papers will have to show how the company is addressing that weakness.

In coronavirus-related travel stories this week, Skift covered how the end of a $600 supplemental unemployment check impacts out-of-work travel employees, Disney Parks' lost year, the prospect of an IHG default, and how Vrbo addressed its Google problem.

Room for a compromise seems to have emerged between Expedia, Airbnb, a hotel union, and the city council over short-term rental limitations in San Diego although bad blood looks to exist between Airbnb and Unite Here Local 30. Going it alone with a referendum doesn't seem like a viable stance for Airbnb.

Vrbo is benefiting from a ton of direct traffic because vacation rentals are having a moment, and competitors' paid marketing through Google fell off a cliff. The brand will likely get some sustainable benefit from the lift, but the dynamic can change in a heartbeat.

Expedia Group, and its Vrbo unit, are willing to take a significant hit to their property listings in San Diego in exchange for an ongoing path to crystal clear legality in an important business and convention market. With other jurisdictions undoubtedly looking on, Airbnb has to decide if it will play hardball.

Vrbo has been in the right place(s) at the right time, somewhat reversing a very challenged 2019. Is the changed trajectory a momentary blip in the throes of a pandemic, or will it be sustainable?

Vrbo is one of the only major short-term rental platforms with advertising opportunities. This, combined with its valuable, high-spending audience of family and group travelers, will likely make it an appealing offering to brands.