VIDEO: Booking.com on its big opportunity in private accommodation

Booking.com is fighting on a number of fronts these days, having ramped up its strategy on private accommodation over the course of the last two years.

A key element of that strategy has been the hiring of Olivier Gremillon, who joined the accommodation giant in February this year to the newly created role of vice president of its Homes Division.

The fact that Gremillon arrived at the company from Airbnb - the brand that Booking.com is going up against in the private accommodation sector - has probably made the appointment more headline-worthy than it should.

But it signals to the wider market that Booking.com is deadly serious about its focus on creating a broad platform for travelers looking for any accommodation type, not just hotels.

In his first appearance since the appointment, Gremillon was at Phocuswright Europe 2018 in Amsterdam last week and able to shine a light on what the company is doing in private accommodation.

Subjects covered in his session with Phocuswright's Douglas Quinby and with PhocusWire shortly after range from fees, acquisitions and regulation to Booking.com's ambitions for the sector and lessons learned from the Villas.com test of a few years back.

Here is the full clip from the main conference stage...