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It’s a vacation rental inventory gold rush! James Burrows, Rentals United
Reading Time: 4 minutesSpain: Rentals United CEO James Burrows addresses how OTAs are rushing to expand vacation rental inventory to meet increasing demand. As the world comes to grips with the ‘new normal’, the travel industry has an opportunity to begin its recovery. The vacation rental world especially is having a faster speed of recovery or is even the only sector bouncing […]
Expedia publishes 2020 Summer Travel Report
Reading Time: 4 minutesUS: Online travel agency Expedia has published its 2020 Summer Travel Report, which analyses the latest traveller trends ahead of the peak of this year’s summer season, despite the Covid-19 pandemic playing havoc with travel plans. Summer travel looks invariably different this summer, and Expedia’s latest report sheds light on the emerging priorities and behaviours […]
Vrbo reports major growth as Expedia moves to cut costs
Reading Time: < 1 minuteUS: Vrbo is reporting significant growth as vacation rentals across the United States surge, helping to boost revenue for parent company Expedia Group. This contrasts with earlier in the year, when the company called its short-term rental service “fairly muted”. In an unscheduled financial filing yesterday, Expedia Group said: “Vrbo, Expedia Group’s alternative accommodation business, […]
Vacasa secures $108m Series D round led by Silver Lake
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Vacation rental management platform Vacasa has announced a $108 million strategic investment round. The financing was led by existing investor Silver Lake with participation from other existing investors including Riverwood Capital and Level Equity. Silver Lake previously invested in Vacasa last October in a $319 million strategic investment round, with participation from the same […]
Expedia Group pledges $275m to COVID recovery
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Expedia Group has promised to provide $275 million to help its partners recover from the global pandemic. Approximately $250 million of this will go to the company’s various lodging partners, primarily in the form of marketing credits and financial relief, with the remainder supporting destinations, the industry at large, and additional partner efforts. Each […]
Airbnb lowers internal valuation to $26bn amid drop in bookings
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Airbnb has reportedly lowered its internal valuation by 16 per cent to $26 billion as a result of the global lockdowns and restrictions on mobility caused by Covid-19, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. At the time of its last funding round in September 2017, when it raised $1 billion, Airbnb had a […]
Lobby group calls for OTA bailout help in line with airlines and hotels
Reading Time: 3 minutesEurope: Travel tech lobby group EU Travel Tech has appealed for the European Commission to offer equivalent bailout support to its OTA and global distribution system members in line with the help being offered to airlines and hotels. The group, formerly known as the European Technology and Travel Service Organisation, called on the Commission and […]
Airbnb fails to overturn Santa Monica rental law
Reading Time: 3 minutesCalifornia: Airbnb and Expedia’s HomeAway has failed in their bid to get a Court of Appeals to revoke a law that makes the companies liable for illegal rentals in Santa Monica. The three-judge panel made the judgement this week in a setback for the home-sharing platforms as they seek to avoid regulation by cities which […]
Dubai startup Frank Porter expected to triple growth rate by the end of 2018
Reading Time: 2 minutesDubai: Dubai-based property management company Frank Porter is set to triple its growth rate by the end of 2018, a year after its launch. The Dubai-based start-up manages private properties available for short term rent on home-sharing channels such as Airbnb, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Expedia and HomeAway. Frank Porter founder Anna Skigin said the firm had […]
Expedia Group acquires Pillow and ApartmentJet to help list apartments online
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWorldwide: Expedia Group has acquired two companies that make it easier to list apartments on short-term rental sites like Airbnb or its subsidiary HomeAway. Expedia said on Thursday that it had acquired San Francisco-based Pillow and Chicago-based ApartmentJet. The former offers a software solution that allows building owners and managers to authorise renters to list […]