The expansion of vacation rentals on the site begins a process of putting Booking.com – and its clearly successful and aggressive marketing and contracting model for hotels –into the same sector as the likes of HomeAway, and TripAdvisor to a lesser degree. The difference at this stage is that Booking.com is going down the partner route through the likes of InterHome, rather than contracting directly with individual property owners.
By Tnooz’s Kevin May
January 8, 2013 — It shouldn’t come as a surprise to observers of Booking.com (and the quest for global domination) as it now looks to be increasing its coverage of vacation rental properties.
After small and tentative steps until now, Booking.com has struck a deal with vacation rental service Interhome to pull in properties to the global platform for consumers to search and secure.
Interhome is currently providing around 2,500 properties around the world, a fraction of its global portfolio of 32,000.
In some respects the Priceline-owned brand is simply extending its existing service (visitors to the site have been able to book bungalows and cottages “for many years”, an official says), but an agreement with a dedicated supplier such as InterHome is an interesting and strategic move.
The Booking.com official adds: “Our goal is to be the place on the Internet where travelers can find the right place to stay at whatever budget or for whatever need no matter where they come from or where they wish to travel.”
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