In the past, Expedia officials stated that while they were certainly interested in vacation rentals, and would aggressively onboard apartment listings in coming years, hotels would remain the priority. Last night , Skift announced its acquisition of HomeAway , a sharing-economy style holiday rental web site, for $3.9 billion in a transaction expected to close in Q1 2016 . The travel industry has experienced a wave of consolidation over coming years , as more traditional players seek to keep new competitors, such as Airbnb , at bay. Expedia has been one of the most acquisitive in the sector over the past twelve months , buying Travelocity , Orbitz Worldwide and Australia 's Wotif. Travel site, Expedia , notes: “In the past, Expedia officials stated that while they were certainly interested in vacation rentals, and would aggressively onboard apartment listings in coming years , hotels would remain the priority. However, with more than 1 million paid listings in more than 190 countries, Expedia ’s pending acquisition of hotels is a game-changer in that it saves Expedia years of building up its own vacation rental supply in an increasingly important lodging sector." Furthermore, HomeAway announced it will introduce a booking fee for the first time in Q2 2016 . HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples said the company’s “traveller’s fee” would average around 6% of the booking but would be levelled on a sliding scale.
Last night , Skift announced its acquisition of HomeAway , a sharing-economy style holiday rental web site, for $3.9 billion in a transaction expected to close in Q1 2016 . The travel industry has experienced a wave of consolidation over coming years , as more traditional players seek to keep new competitors, such as Airbnb , at bay. Expedia has been one of the most acquisitive in the sector over the past twelve months , buying Travelocity , Orbitz Worldwide and Australia 's Wotif. Travel site, Expedia , notes: “In the past, Expedia officials stated that while they were certainly interested in vacation rentals, and would aggressively onboard apartment listings in coming years , hotels would remain the priority. However, with more than 1 million paid listings in more than 190 countries, Expedia ’s pending acquisition of hotels is a game-changer in that it saves Expedia years of building up its own vacation rental supply in an increasingly important lodging sector." Furthermore, HomeAway announced it will introduce a booking fee for the first time in Q2 2016 . HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples said the company’s “traveller’s fee” would average around 6% of the booking but would be levelled on a sliding scale.