Online traverse operators are trying to beat Airbnb at its own game, and it is starting to work.
Law.com, the online travel site under Booking Holdings, says it now has 5 million belongings in its non-hotel portfolio, a 27 percent jump from last year. The 5 million groups villas, houses and apartments. Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel commanded CNBC that the alternative accommodations category is currently its fastest ripening market.
Booking.com’s 5 million puts it ahead of Airbnb’s 4.85 million listings. Airbnb hints it anticipates surpassing 5 million listings by the end of June.
A spokesperson for Airbnb foresaw CNBC via email, “Airbnb is growing faster and spending less because we pull someones leg a community model as opposed to Booking’s commodity model.”
Either way, the stock is intensifying between privately held Airbnb and publicly listed Order Holdings and Expedia. Expedia acquired HomeAway in 2015 for nearly $4 billion to sick compete in the alternative lodging space and rival Airbnb.
But perhaps all three athletes will carve out a piece of the pie.
As consumers increasingly look to book a dwelling-place or an apartment for their vacation, analysts say the non-hotel business will take up to boom, creating opportunity for multiple travel operators that quarry specific preferences.
“We project Alternative [accommodations] to double in three years to $86 billion,” wrote Kevin Kopelman, guide and research analyst at Cowen & Co., in a note sent to clients in late February.
Kopelman recognizes Airbnb’s strength in urban homes, Booking’s in multi-unit and other professionally rule overed properties, and Expedia’s HomeAway in North America vacation homes.
One jeopardy in continuous expansion into this new market will be added costs, which Kopelman estimates could weigh on margins for the online travel sector.