Expedia to Hoteliers: Vacation Rentals Won’t Steal Your Business
Expedia officials can try to assure hoteliers that the rise of alternative accommodations is no big deal for their businesses. But you can be certain that figuring out how to manage this changing dynamic is of paramount concern for all parties involved.
How is Expedia Group going to balance what has long been its core business — hotels — with all the efforts it is making to load vacation rentals and apartments on its sites after acquiring HomeAway in 2015.
Speaking before 4,500 audience members, including many hoteliers, Expedia officials sought to convince them that mixing alternative accommodations into Expedia's search results won't hurt hotels.
Cyril Ranque, president of Expedia Group's Lodging Partner Services, told the audience at the company's Explore '18 partner conference in Las Vegas Wednesday, that although some hoteliers are concerned about the proliferation of vacation rentals in Expedia's search results, they shouldn't worry because the use case for a hotel versus a vacation rental stay are clearly different.
