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Vacation Rental Brand Vrbo Emerges as Expedia Star With Pandemic-Era Bookings

Dennis Schaal photo
Dennis Schaal

Photo Credit: A vacation rental in Leadville, Colorado on July 4, 2013 that has been listed on Vrbo. The vacation rental brand has been leading Expedia Group's recovery in June 2020.  Flicker.com / Larry Lamsa

Skift Take

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?

What a difference a pandemic can make in the fortunes of the sometimes-challenged Expedia Group vacation rental brand, Vrbo. It was only in February when Expedia Group officials discussed "six months of somewhat disarray" in adding 765,000 Vrbo listings to the Expedia lodging platform, or spoke of "fairly muted" Vrbo trends in the fourth quarter of 2019. The legacy of a painful rebranding that delivered a search engine gut punch, and a transition to a new payments platform weighed down Vrbo last year. But in a financial update Monday, Expedia Group said Vrbo "has been the largest contributor to the improved booking trends," which saw gross bookings at the group moderate to bei

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