HomeAway released its 2009 annual report for the UK earlier today, boasting encouraging figures in terms of traffic, booking enquiries and sign-ups.
Operator of the HomeAway Holiday Rentals and Owners Direct brands in the UK, HomeAway says it is reporting 43% growth year-on-year in booking requests from 2008 to 2009.
Growth of  property listings has also jumped by 45% over the same period.
The good news is apparently a one-way street, according to European president Petra Friedmann
The company says it has been doubling its compound annual growth rate since 2005.
Much of the company’s growth has been secured due to its aggressive acquisition strategy in Europe, snapping up both Holiday Rentals and Owners Direct in recent years.
Traffic to the European sites, according to ComScore, are increasing by 65% year-on-year (2008 to 2009).
On a worldwide basis, HomeAway is reporting revenues of $120 million for the year ending 31 December 2009, with one third of the company’s revenues coming in from its European division.
The question for many will be what will the company do when the impressive growth rate begins slowing down?
Some suspect the growth runway is actually a pretty long one given that official reports (PhoCusWright study in 2008) put the US vacation rental marketplace alone at around $25 billion a year and unofficial estimates in Europe at around a similar figure.
Given the company’s foray into high profile marketing on TV recently it could be seen as an indicator that the company sees plenty of growth ahead.
So, even with a number of sizeable competitors, at least in the US, HomeAway appears to be pushing ahead regardless, consolidating businesses in regions such as Europe and rolling out its common branding and IT platform.
But as one close holiday rental watcher recently commented privately:
“HomeAway is like one of those perfect wines that is sitting in the cellar, waiting to be opened. It improves over time, but at some point the wine-tasters will be unable to wait any longer, knowing the bounty inside is sure to be good. What’s the betting it’ll be a big OTA that is preparing the corkscrew?”
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You’re article raises the 64K question that’s lingering over HomeAway like a dark cloud, and one the company KNOWS it is going to have to face once they’re done wastefully spending millions in VC dollars on superbowl ads — what comes of their growth once their acquisitions cease? Those following the company and the market know that it will spiral downward rapidly. No neat little improvements to their user interface or highly-priced superbowl ad will help them grow more than a good ol’ fasioned acquisition which boosts their revenue. 2010 will be a telling year for them. Watch for growth to decline dramatically, and layoffs to follow shortly thereafter.
Feh. Your observation is dated and incorrect. The Superbowl ad increased traffic to their site exponentially and brought a significant ROI far in excess of the capital outlay. Wasting money indeed. You obviously work for a competitor or rival ad agency.
Not Everything is straight forward.
I understand the point their traffic has grown exponentially (did it?) but that traffic in not generating revenues. Or if it is, a very little revenue.
It was just made for brand awareness to go public at any time soon.
A deep analysis to their business model tell their weaknesses and strength: they have no competitors and the price it up as much as they like.
If someone big in the internet travel market steps in, their strength will be their weaknesses: competitive prices for advertising.
Overall it seems to be a solid company.