North American online travel agent Expedia says that it will test adding HomeAway vacation rentals to its search results.
The plan is to include roughly 10,000 US and Mexican standalone vacation rentals on expedia.com from HomeAway, the largest marketplace for holiday stays. The move follows in the wake of a prior agreement to include B&B listings from HomeAway sub-brand BedandBreakfast.com.
The trial will begin early in 2014. The 10,000 properties only represent a sliver of the 575,000 HomeAway vacation rentals claimed worldwide on the HomeAway, VRBO.com, and Abritel.fr sites.
The inclusion of the listings has implications with hotel owners' fight against short-term rentals. Some experts say this move will rankle hotel managers even more, now that their listings are in direct competition with vacation rentals.
The news comes only a week after HomeAway expanded its business model to include a pay-per-rental commission-based fee structure (and not just a subscription-based service).
Looking ahead, the company will report its third quarter results on November 6, which will reveal if it has witnessed growth in its Asia market after its purchase of TravelMob.