Orbitz adds vacation rentals

August 26, 2008 |

Orbitz is now offering roughly 30,000 fully furnished properties in North America, Central America and the Caribbean through a partnership with Zonder, a Salt Lake City-based vacation rental provider. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed.

Travelers booking their vacations on Orbitz.com now have the option to rent a private home or condominium for their trips rather than a hotel room, online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide Inc. said Tuesday.

In an interview, Orbitz Worldwide Inc. President and Chief Executive Steve Barnhart said that the vacation home rental market is highly fragmented, with most rentals advertised and booked locally. Orbitz, he said, is the first major online travel agency to offer a dedicated inventory of rental homes.

The option is timely given the economic downturn, Barnhart said. He noted that a rental home allows vacationers squeezed by rising fuel and airline prices to trim costs by, for example, cooking their own meals.

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