Expedia Group has announced that its Vrbo vacation rental brand has launched its Fast Start program in the UK in order to recruit hosts from other vacation rental firms like Airbnb.
The new initiative allows property owners to transfer their ratings or Superhost status from other travel sites, improving the visibility of new 4.5* hosts and Superhost properties in the first 90 days to help them create an average of 25% more reservations and 140% more booking value. Vrbo believes the program’s success will be reproduced in the UK, Canada, and France, where it is now being expanded. The program was launched in the US earlier this year.
After the epidemic, vacation rentals became a popular choice for travelers, with demand skyrocketing as a result.
The initiative’s goal is to help top vacation rental hosts make more money from their properties by marketing themselves on Vrbo – allowing them to feature their review score from other sites like Airbnb and displaying a ‘New to Vrbo’ badge for 90 days, so they can switch sites without losing the good scores they have built up.
Both Maud Laurent, Vrbo’s VP of Product Management, and Hari Nair, Expedia Group’s SVP of Account Management, will be available for an interview to talk about the company’s recent launch and the vacation rental industry’s rapid growth.