Skift Take
HomeAway, as it becomes part of Expedia Inc., will become more urban-oriented, and Airbnb is determined to onboard vacation rentals in resort locations. All of which means that Expedia, Airbnb, and Booking.com will increasingly butt heads over the next few years.
The competition between HomeAway, which primarily features vacation rentals in resort areas, and urban-oriented Airbnb hasn't been head-on for the most part.
But Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Expedia Inc., which is in the process of acquiring HomeAway, believes the battles between Expedia and Airbnb, and Booking.com, will become increasingly direct over the next few years.
"I would say from the start to the next two to three years, we're [Expedia-HomeAway and Airbnb] going to be working in parallel with similar solutions, but in different markets," Khosrowshahi said. "I think in three to five years, we will increasingly move into the urban space. And certainly Hotels.com, Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity bring a lot more urban demand, and I think we'll take advantage of that urban demand to build up Homeaway's supply in those urban destinations. Then you are going to get competition. Direct competition."
Skift sat down with Khosrowshahi November 19 at the Phocuswright conference in Florida, and we discussed the alternative lodging market; Expedia's take on TripAdvisor and Google emerging as booking venues; Expedia's position in China, and other topics.
Skift: HomeAway indicated in the proxy statement that one of the reasons they were interested in a deal was because the business model risks associated with their shift to online booking and introducing a traveler fee for the first time. Do you feel like Expedia's integration of HomeAway is going to be the most difficult one you have to do in relation to your integrations of Wotif Travelocity, and Orbitz Worldwide? Is the integration of HomeAway going to be the most challenging one?
Dara Khosrowshahi: It's going to be quite different. All of them are challenging. None of this stuff is eas
