Articles tagged “vacation rentals”

Vrbo was leaving money on the proverbial table by sticking with whole homes. That seems to be changing, but it remains to be seen how far Vrbo will meander into hotels and other inventory types.

In Skift's top stories this week, Hawaii's domestic U.S. tourism roared back, Accor's CEO said the biggest hotel investment bargains are yet to come, and HomeToGo could go public in a blank-check-company deal.

At a time when some big hotel brands seek to increase average daily rates, Booking Holdings' expansion of its Genius loyalty and discounting program could hurt that effort. Some individual properties, hungry for increased exposure as they compete with vacation rentals and other hotels, will welcome the move.

Google eventually will monetize its vacation rental listings, but paid advertisements in its Things To Do vertical will happen sooner. Conscientious objectors Airbnb, Expedia/Vrbo and Booking, which aren't participating with Google in vacation rentals for now, will likely have something to say about the shape of that money grab.

VTrips all but outright says that it's more profitable than its larger rival Vacasa. But we'll only know for sure if they both file to go public.

Who said investors no longer want to bet on consumer-facing travel startups that compete with Google? HomeToGo is in talks to go public via a blank-check company owned by Lakestar. It'll be an approximately $1.2 billion deal, sources tell Skift.

Short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo are increasingly reliant on professional property managers to provide quality inventory. This considerably closes the gaps of service standards and reliability between the rental and hotel industries, which brings key opportunities for rental operators.

Watch a full session from our recent online event devoted to the short-term rental and outdoor industries.

Watch a full session from our recent online event devoted to the short-term rental and outdoor industries.

Watch a full session from our recent online event devoted to the short-term rental and outdoor industries.