Expedia Group Accelerates Vacation Rental Growth With Largest-ever Product Launch for Vrbo and Escapia

Vrbo Sponsored Listings Helps Partners Advertise in Premium Vrbo Search Placements with No Upfront Costs

New Rates and Promotions, like Limited Time Offers and Non-Refundable Rates, Allow Partners to Optimize Revenue Potential

Escapia Modernizes its Reservation Grid, its Most-Used Interface

Today, Expedia Group announces 12 new partner products and functionalities across its flagship vacation rental brand, Vrbo®, and property management software, Escapia. With several products already live and a steady drumbeat continuing through 2027, vacation rental partners can tap into new features spanning promotional tools, guest operations, and property management. 

“We are entering into one of the most exciting eras in our vacation rental history at Expedia Group,” says Tim Rosolio, Vice President of Vacation Rental Partnerships at Expedia Group. “Our intentional investments across every corner of the business were designed to delight travelers while driving growth for our partners and unlocking the potential Expedia Group’s ecosystem has to offer.”

Vrbo Release:

Drive More Demand: New advertising tools, rates, and promotions give partners more ways than ever to stand out in search and increase bookings.

• Vrbo Sponsored Listings (Live Now): Following a successful pilot with early adopters, including AvantStay, Vacation Rental Collective and Liquid Life Vacation Rentals, Expedia Group launches Vrbo Sponsored Listings globally. The pay-per-booked-night advertising solution offers no upfront risk and helps partners secure premium placement at the top of relevant Vrbo search results.

• New Rates and Promotions: Vrbo partners now have more tools to optimize revenue potential while meeting the needs of the 91% of vacation rental travelers who are influenced by promotions,

• Same-Day Bookings (Live Now): Allows eligible partners to tap into the lucrative market of last-minute travelers by opting in and enabling bookings within 24 hours (before 12pm day of stay).
• Limited Time Offers (Coming Soon): Spotlights and enables greater visibility for participating properties during peak Vrbo-merchandised shopping moments (i.e. Black Friday, Spring Sale).
• Vrbo Listings on Expedia Packages (Coming Soon): Enables Vrbo properties to be booked as part of an Expedia package, attracting one-stop-shop travel planners by pairing properties with additional trip elements including flights and car rentals.
• Non-refundable Rates (Coming Soon): Allows partners to surface both refundable and lower-priced non-refundable rates on eligible properties, attracting price-conscious demand while preserving high value bookings and profit margin.

Operate with Greater Confidence: New features and products help partners streamline operations, deliver better stays and protect their business when things don’t go as planned.

• Enhanced Arrivals Experience: New functionalities allow partners to efficiently engage with travelers throughout their stay journey.

• Welcome Guide (Live Now): Centralizes essential stay details and automatically sends guests access instructions before check-in with delivery confirmation for host visibility.
• Inbox-Scheduled Messages and Templates (Live Now): Automates key traveler communications and uses new template personalization tags sourced directly from the Welcome Guide.

• Flexible Cancellation Policies (Live Now): Two new cancellation policies give partners more ways to drive bookings by offering guests the flexibility they expect. Partners can now choose to offer a full refund up to 5 days before check-in, or up to 1 day before check-in.

• Host with Confidence (Coming Soon): Currently in beta, Vrbo’s new host protection program will help partners operate with greater confidence and fewer financial risks by providing solutions that address property damage, chargebacks, and income loss from cancellations due to guest-caused damage.

Escapia Release:

Expedia Group also launches new features to its property management software, Escapia. Known for its decades-long reputation in channel management, trust accounting, and reporting, the enterprise-grade software will now have smarter, more connected tools to help partners streamline operations, optimize distribution and simplify payments.

• New Reservation Grid (Live Now): Upgrades Escapia’s most-used tool to a modern, visual workplace, enabling partners to easily manage availability, reservations, and quotes. Updates also include new multi-quote support to compare and send multiple property options in one email.

• Distribution Optimization: Helps partners accurately manage popular third-party OTA reservations through a phased set of improvements, including folio management and commission enhancements, which are live now, with more automation tools coming soon.

• Vrbo Payments* (Pilot): Vrbo Payments combines payment processing with improved traveler experiences that help reduce cancellations, offers enhanced fraud and chargeback support, and provides access to One Key members booking with travel rewards. The result is a more efficient way for partners to scale with less operational burden.

“There is tremendous momentum behind the next chapter of Escapia, and we’re turning that energy into even more value for our partners,” said Joel Schoen, General Manager of Escapia. “These new features are just the beginning. We’re focused on making Escapia a more intuitive, flexible, connected, and intelligent platform that helps professional property managers work more efficiently, operate at their best, grow their businesses, and deliver an even better traveler experience.”

To stay up to date on the latest holiday rental products and features from Expedia Group, visit here.

*Vrbo Payments facilitates the acceptance of payment through third party providers.