Expedia Group retires HomeAway, moves customers over to Vrbo

Expedia Group is getting rid of the HomeAway brand in the United States as the next phase in its efforts to simplify the branding of its vacation rental portfolio.

Beginning next month, users of the HomeAway website in the U.S. will be redirected to Vrbo.com, and users of its app will be asked to download the Vrbo app. 

In March 2019, Expedia Group rebranded VRBO to Vrbo, with a new logo, pronunciation and ad campaign. Two months later it named Vrbo its primary global alternative accommodations brand, and since that time it has launched Vrbo in countries where it did not have a vacation rental presence and has rebranded existing country-specific sites to Vrbo. The brand is live today in 15 countries across the Americas, Europe and the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.

"Since it was founded 25 years ago, Vrbo has become a leader in the vacation rental industry and a household name in family travel," says Peter Kern, vice chairman and CEO of Expedia Group.

"Through the years, the Vrbo brand has consistently outperformed HomeAway with family travelers. Unifying our vacation rental brands under Vrbo allows us to focus our energies on providing the best travel experience for families everywhere."

The company says this move will enable it to devote more resources to marketing, engineering and customer support for Vrbo. It says nothing will change for homeowners, property managers or travelers that have been using the HomeAway site.

Along with Vrbo, Expedia Group's portfolio of vacation rental brands includes HomeAway UK, Stayz, Bookabach, Abritel and Fewodirekt.