Vrbo

Vrbo, originally[1] known as Vacation Rentals by Owner, is an american website that was founded in 1995 as a service for homeowners to list their properties for short term rental. The original website was created by David Clouse in Aurora, Colorado in order to rent his Breckenridge Ski Resort condo.[2]

Vrbo - Vacation Rentals
Type of site
Lodging
Available inEnglish
OwnerExpedia Group
URLvbro.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional, but is required for certain tasks such as booking and listing
Launched1995 (1995) (as VRBO)

At the time, vacation rental services "prior to the Internet" were classified ads, management services, and compilations of rentals based on various destinations.[3] But the web had been on the rise and a few sites were looking to use the new vehicle to innovate industries. VRBO would slowly grow to over 65,000 rentals over the next 10 years.

Vrbo uses an "annual homeowner subscription model",[4] and this annual fee allows homeowners to list their condo, beach house, or cabin on the website.[5]

In 2006, Vrbo was acquired by HomeAway,[6] and on December 15, 2015, Expedia Group, Inc. acquired HomeAway for US$3.9 billion.[7] On March 27, 2019, VRBO was re-branded Vrbo, including a new logo, capitalization, and pronunciation.[8]

As of April 2019, the site listed more than two million properties across the world that travelers could rent.[9]

The company was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the four major Online Travel Agencies (OTA's), both Airbnb and TripAdvisor forced property owners to offer full refunds to travelers that were affected by either national or local government declarations of national emergency[10]. Vrbo and Booking.com, however, "generally [chose to] refer perplexed and exasperated guests to the property manager or vacation rental owner to see if they’ll charge a cancellation fee, provide a full or partial refund, or merely issue a credit toward a future stay."[11]. Subsequently, Jeff Hurst, the president of VRBO, released a newsletter on March 12th asking hosts to try and do the following.... ″This is a good time to review your cancellation policy and consider adopting a flexible or moderate policy for the time being. Because this is an evolving situation, travelers may reach out to cancel or delay travel plans. In the spirit of good hospitality, we strongly encourage you to offer a full refund.″ This sparked the Twitter hashtag to trend #boycottvrbo.

On March 18th 2020, VRBO issued an updated press releases for property managers and travelers which clarified "Refunds of payments made for vacation home rentals are based on the homeowner’s cancellation policy. If a homeowner or property manager refunds a booking due to COVID-19 (coronavirus) concerns, Vrbo will automatically refund the traveler service fee.".[12] Furthermore, VRBO announced partners (property owners) who engage in "Any intimidation of travelers (such as suggesting that travel is safer for them than staying home or dismissing the severity of the crisis) will result in permanent removal from Vrbo and Expedia Group".[13]

However, as Buzzfeed noted, this is still not a mandatory type of refund. Some people who had previously booked with a property owner who listed on Vrbo reported getting little to no refunds.[14]

References
  1. "The story behind the new Vrbo brand". www.homeaway.com. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  2. Minor, Nathaniel (2016-05-16). "Short-Term Vacation Rentals, A Colorado Invention, Are Under The Gun In Denver". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  3. Trivett, Vincent. "What the Sharing Economy Means to the Future of Travel" (PDF). Skift Research. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  4. Swor, Richard (2018). "Long Term Solutions to the Short-Term Problem: An Analysis of the Current Legal Issues Related to Airbnb and Similar Short-Term Rental Companies with a Proposed Model Ordinance" (PDF). Belmont Law Review. 6 (1): 278–316. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  5. Green, Peter S. (3 July 2004). "Renting out the weekend house?A few caveats". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  6. "HomeAway Secures Record $160 Million in Financing Vacation Rental Leader Announces Acquisition of VRBO.com" (Press release). AUSTIN, Texas: Homeaway, Inc. BUSINESSWIRE. 2006-11-13. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  7. "HomeAway: The Best Acquisition Of The Last Year". Seeking Alpha. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  8. "The story behind the new Vrbo brand". www.homeaway.com. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  9. Sullivan, Laurie (3 April 2019). "Vrbo Ad Campaign Reflects New Pronunciation, Ver-Bow". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  10. "Short-Term Rental Firms Face Backlash Over Sharply Different Coronavirus Cancellation Policies". www.finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  11. ""Short-Term Rental Firms Face Backlash Over Sharply Different Coronavirus Cancellation Policies"". Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  12. "Coronavirus concerns disrupt Florida beach vacation rentals for renters, owners". Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  13. ""Vrbo plans to ban rental owners who dismiss severity of coronavirus threat to travelers"". Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  14. "Airbnb Said It Would Give Full Refunds For Coronavirus Cancellations. Vrbo Told Renters To Take A Hike". www.buzzfeednews.com. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.