Vacasa, a Portland, Oregon-based startup, manages about 4,300 vacation homes around the world in ski towns like Beaver Creek, Colorado, and beachside villages around the Mediterranean Sea. And for the first time next year, the company plans to start listing some of its homes on Airbnb.
It’s the sort of business Airbnb needs to win to justify its $30 billion valuation and maintain its revenue growth rate, projected by Cowen & Co. That growth rate is expected to slow to 76% this year from 87% in 2015. The company has got plenty of homeowners to rent out their spare bedrooms or their entire homes temporarily. But when it comes to people or companies like Vacasa that own properties rented out full-time to vacationers, particularly in rural areas, Airbnb lags far behind rivals like HomeAway, VRBO and FlipKey.
