Vrbo News

Vrbo has emerged as a major player in the short-term rental space, serving families and group travelers with a platform focused on whole-home accommodations. At PhocusWire, we bring you the latest Vrbo news, examining the company’s strategy, platform innovations, and its impact on the evolving home-sharing economy.

Vrbo vacation rental updates and home sharing market trends

Our reporting explores Vrbo’s product enhancements, marketing shifts, and partnerships within the broader Expedia Group ecosystem. From traveler experience upgrades and host tools to policy changes and regulatory challenges, we follow how Vrbo is positioning itself in a highly competitive vacation rental landscape.

STR noise monitoring
News / Technology
How tech is helping vacation rentals prevent disturbances
By Kathryn Walson | March 2, 2023
OTAs point to steps they’ve taken, with Vrbo announcing on January 30 the national deployment of party prevention technology in the booking flow. Read More
expedia-group-q4-full-year-22
News / Online
Expedia Group CEO says metrics show strategy is working
By Mitra Sorrells | February 9, 2023
In a call with analysts to discuss the company's Q4 and full year 2022 financial results, CEO Peter Kern says efforts to move all brands to the same front-end tech stack are nearly complete, with Vrbo... Read More
Tracking the loyalty strategies of online travel giants
Opinion / Online
Tracking the loyalty strategies of online travel giants
By Mario Gavira | January 11, 2023
While Expedia, Booking.com and Hopper are betting on financial rewards to boost loyalty, Airbnb is focused on driving retention through love. Read More
Apptopia report image
News / Online
Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia gain ground in U.S. app downloads
By Kathryn Walson | January 6, 2023
Apptopia says Expedia's app downloads nearly doubled year-over-year to 16.6 million and it, along with Vrbo and Booking.com, benefited from slowing growth for Hopper and Airbnb. Read More
expedia-kern-pcw-2022
News / Online
Expedia's Kern on changing perceptions of its role in travel
By PhocusWire | November 30, 2022
Expedia Group's Peter Kern discusses the company's recent technology, loyalty and sustainability moves at The Phocuswright Conference 2022. Read More
expedia-q3-2022
News / Online
Expedia Group sees record profitability, revenue in Q3
By Mitra Sorrells | November 3, 2022
 Revenue in the quarter came in at $3.6 billion compared to $2.9 billion in Q3 2021, a 22% increase.   Read More
revolut-vacation-rentals
News / Online
Revolut adds rental homes to existing accommodation offering
By Linda Fox | October 19, 2022
The U.K.-based company says the launch of Homes is part of its Stays accommodation booking service, unveiled in 2021. Read More
safely-12-million-funding
News / Online
Safely raises $12M to expand its short-term rental insurance solutions
By Mitra Sorrells | October 19, 2022
Founded in 2013, Safely provides guest screening and insurance for individual homeowners and professional property managers. Read More
guesty-yieldplanet-new-hub
News / Distribution
Guesty expands hotel offerings with acquisition of YieldPlanet
By Mitra Sorrells | September 14, 2022
Guesty is also launching a new Distribution Hub that adds direct connections with Hopper, Trip.com, Marriott Homes & Villas and Google’s hotel and vacation rental search products. Read More
expedia-group-q2-2022-earnings
News / Online
Expedia Group posts highest ever Q2 revenue and profit
By Mitra Sorrells | August 4, 2022
 Expedia Group revenue in Q2 was $3.2 billion - up 1% compared to Q2 2019 - and adjusted EBITDA came in at $648 million, up 14% versus the second quarter of 2019. Read More
apptopia-vrbo-lead-july-22
News / Online
Vrbo outranks other OTAs as most downloaded travel app
By Kathryn Walson | July 14, 2022
Vrbo had 10 million downloads in the first half of 2022 – the same amount it had in all of 2021. Read More
travel-ad-spend-2022-report
News / Online
Travel advertisers ramp up spend as demand recovers
By Jill Menze | June 9, 2022
According to a new report, travel ad spend in the U.S. has already reached nearly $623 million in 2022. Read More
Inside Expedia Group's new unified loyalty program
News / Online
Inside Expedia Group's new unified loyalty program
By Jill Menze | May 9, 2022
Called One Key, the program will allow loyalty members to earn and burn points across all of Expedia Group’s brands. Read More
Expedia Group revamps marketplace, tech platform as part of new strategy
News / Online
Expedia Group revamps marketplace, tech platform as part of new strategy
By Jill Menze | May 4, 2022
At Expedia Group’s annual Explore partner event, the online travel giant outlined a new strategy that includes rewarding hotels for providing a better guest experience. Read More
Expedia Group revenue jumps 81% as travel recovery continues
News / Online
Expedia Group revenue jumps 81% as travel recovery continues
By Jill Menze | May 2, 2022
For the first quarter of 2022, Expedia Group revenue was $2.2 billion, an 81% increase from $1.2 billion in Q1 2021. Read More
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