VacationRenter : Using AI and automation to provide the best vacation rentals
The travel and wellness industry is both booming and undergoing a shift. For the coming generation, the trend of travelling for wellness is here to stay. There is a multitude of options when it comes to airline carriers and places of lodging ranging from low, mid to high cost. Thus, more people are travelling frequently throughout the year.
A recent PhocusWire article mentioned, “The vacation rental industry is estimated to achieve a global market value of $194 billion by 2021.”
Travel-booking sites like Skyscanner and Trivago have been gaining massive popularity due to the boom in the travel industry. VacationRenter, a technology company that aggregates the best vacation rentals from top sites to assist travellers in finding the best place to stay is announcing plans to expand internationally.
The startup company was founded by ex-Google workers David Kolodny and Phil Santoro. They said the company expects to handle about US$600mil (RM2.51bil) in gross bookings for 2019 as opposed to US$100mil (RM419.41mil) last year.
In the next few months, the startup will begin rolling out features such as localized content, new partners and new currencies.
Besides that, VacationRenter plans on bringing on additional executive leadership, growing the team, and building smarter ways for travellers to find their ideal rentals through automation and AI.
The company profits from collecting home-share listings from around the Web and taking a referral fee or share of bookings when users click through to book on other sites such as Booking Holdings Inc or HomeAway owned by Expedia Group Inc.
Using technologies such as automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), VacationRenter finds the best available options from top vacation rental sites and displays only the best results.
VacationRenter’s provides a service whereby the rental search process is seamless, quick and easy to use. Additionally, it also offers resources such as travel guides, price trends, rental options and nearby attractions to help travellers plan the best trip with the best price.
Marco del Rosario, the Chief Operating Officer of VacationRenter said, “Vacation rentals are a fantastic option for travellers, but it’s hard to find the perfect one.”
He further elaborated, “Our growth to date is a testament to the service we provide travellers, and we look forward to expanding and making VacationRenter more accessible to international travellers over the next year.”
VacationRenter was conceived inside Wilbur Labs, a San Francisco-based startup studio that is using AI to disrupt various industries.
Kolodny said his company’s early focus on AI and the fact that the overall market has grown significantly over the years will help VacationRenter position itself among big names like Expedia, Booking and Google.
“Vacation rentals should be bigger than hotels,” Kolodny said. He added that the market for staying in other people’s homes is also more complex and fragmented than the hotel world, making a meta-search engine all the more valuable.
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