HomeAway moves to online bookings

Saturday, 12 Dec, 2014 0

Holiday accommodation website HomeAway is moving to online booking for its property listings in the next two years.

The firm says the move is in response to customer demand and will also help reduce the incidence of fraud.

It says research has found that travellers get frustrated when online booking is not an option.

It says once the changes are adopted, customers will be able to make a reservation request with one click.

Owners and property managers will be able to accept or reject a reservation within 24 hours.

If they don’t respond within that time, they will lose the booking.

The home rental giant will continue to charge owners a subscription fee or they will be able to move to a commission system.

But it insists there will be no booking fee for travellers.

"Holiday rental travellers are evolving and starting to expect better access to calendar and pricing information, along with quick response times to booking requests," said Brian Sharples, HomeAway CEO.

"That is why we’re committed to product and policy changes over the next couple of years to assure that our owners and property managers are well positioned for success on our global platform."

Bev

Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.