When you search for hotels at Expedia or any of the various booking sites the company owns (including Hotels.com and Travelocity), you'll soon see vacation-rental options displayed, too, according to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Expedia.com currently has a tab for "vacation rentals" that takes you to search results from HomeAway, an Airbnb competitor acquired by Expedia in 2015.
But under the new initiative—expected to begin testing before the end of the year—HomeAway offerings will be right there on the page alongside hotel listings.
"What we are talking about," explained Khosrowshai in the company's latest earnings call with reporters, "is a much more fundamental kind of integrated experience, where someone who comes to an Expedia or Hotels.com and is searching for hotels, depending on length of stay, depending on weekday, weekend, etc., they are going to get a complementary mix of hotel search results and/or vacation-rental results."
He predicted that consumers will benefit from the increase in choices, and that HomeAway will get an increase in bookings.
The move will likely not thrill the hotel industry, however, since it makes it even easier to find numerous rooms at often cheaper rates than hotels are offeing in whatever location you're visiting.
