Sharing Economy Hits OTAs: Expedia Buys HomeAway

From Expedia’s purchase of competitors Orbitz and Travelocity, along with its announcement surrounding the company’s future in rail, the OTA is now extending its reach in the sharing economy and vacation property arena.

A little more than a year after agreeing to list 115,000 vacation properties on its site, the OTA announced that it will be purchasing Airbnb competitor HomeAway, diving into the roughly $100 billion alternative accommodations market.

Approved unanimously by each company’s board of directors, Expedia purchased outstanding common stock of HomeAway for approximately $3.9 billion.

“We have long had our eyes on the fast growing ~$100 billion alternative accommodations space and have been building on our partnership with HomeAway, a global leader in vacation rentals, for two years. Bringing HomeAway into the Expedia, Inc. family and adding its leading brands to our portfolio of the most trusted brands in travel is a logical next step,” said Dara Khosrowshahi , Chief Executive Officer, Expedia, Inc. “We have tremendous respect for the HomeAway team and the business they have built. With our expertise in powering global transactional platforms and our industry-leading technology capabilities, we look forward to partnering with them to accelerate their shift from a classified marketplace to an online, transactional model to create even better experiences for HomeAway’s global traveler audience and the owners and managers of its 1.2 million properties around the world.”

HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples was quoted in a press release by the alternative accommodation platform, excited to expand the company’s reach through this agreement.

“We could not be more excited about joining the Expedia family of leading travel brands and what this move means for our very bright future,” said Brian Sharples , Chief Executive Officer ofHomeAway, Inc. , noting that the company has been moving toward a fully online bookable marketplace and closer to the type of transactional business model with which Expedia has tremendous experience. “We’re eager to benefit from Expedia’s distribution, technology and expertise, which will allow us to provide an even better product and service experience for our owners, property managers and travelers. In this way, I believe our combination with Expedia will turbocharge our growth and industry leadership for many years to come.”

What’s Next for Expedia and HomeAway?

After acquisitions both vertical and horizontal, the OTA may be moving into rail, according to a 3Q earnings call. With Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi believing in the future of rail travel, this comes as one of the last frontiers for OTAs.

For HomeAway, the continued integration into Expedia builds on the company’s current partnership, which hosted 115,000 listings on the Expedia website. The resources available will expand the reach of HomeAway.

This move shows the continued move appease customers seeking lodging in the sharing economy—led by transportation platforms like Uber and Lyft, and lodging platform Airbnb. Although HomeAway is generally focused on extended vacation stays of a week or more, this adds backing to the competition against $25B+ valued Airbnb.

Stay up to date with all of the trends, technologies, and topics in travel payments, follow WEX Travel on LinkedIn, read our Expedia case study, and learn more through the following resources:

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• Breaking Down the Investigation of Expedia’s Acquisition of Orbitz