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HomeAway CEO Downplays Booking.com as a European Competitor

Dennis Schaal photo
Dennis Schaal

Photo Credit: Vacation rentals can be unique and much different than cookie-cutter hotels, which means making vacation rentals online bookable is a relatively complex problem. Pictured is a HomeAway villa rental in Greece.  HomeAway

Skift Take

HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples doesn't underestimate Booking.com as a competitor but the reality is that Booking.com isn't the most formidable rival in vacation rentals when you consider the market country by country.

There's a funny thing going on in the vacation rental business: Industry leader HomeAway, which is strongest in rentals from individual owners, is scurrying to add professionally managed properties, and Booking.com, which is strongest in professionally managed properties, is attempting to ramp up its roster of vacation rentals from individual owners. HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples, speaking during his company's fourth quarter earnings call Tuesday, essentially advised Booking.com and other online travel companies trying to add vacation rentals by owner that is a "very difficult" endeavor, adding that HomeAway has a huge competitive advantage in the area. Booking.com and its Villas.com vacation rental site offer a total of 247,000

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