Today, Expedia Group announces new partner products and functionalities across its holiday rental brand, Stayz®, and property management software, Escapia. With several products already live and a steady drumbeat continuing through 2027, 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 holiday 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.”
Stayz Release:
Drive More Demand: New advertising tools, rates, and policies give partners more ways than ever to stand out in search and increase bookings.
- Vrbo Sponsored Listings (Live Now): Following a successful pilot, 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 Stayz search results.
- New Rates and Promotions: Stayz partners now have more tools to optimise revenue potential while meeting the needs of the 91% of holiday rental travellers who are influenced by promotions,
- Same-Day Bookings (Live Now): Allows eligible partners to tap into the lucrative market of last-minute travellers 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 Stayz-merchandised shopping moments (i.e. Black Friday, Spring Sale).
- Holiday Rentals on Expedia Packages (Coming Soon): Enables Stayz 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.
- 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.
Escapia Release:
Expedia Group also launches new features to its property management software, Escapia. Known for its decades-long reputation in trust accounting, reporting, hands-on support and onboarding, the enterprise-grade software will now have smarter, more connected tools to help partners streamline operations, optimise 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 traveller experiences that help reduce cancellations, offers enhanced fraud and chargeback support. 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.
