Stayz was highly successful for many years, many have called it an institution. People have used it to set up holidays for over ten years.
Benignly bought by Fairfax in 2005, the media empire proved it could build digital portals and Stayz’s glossy, magazine-style spreads of holiday homes, retreats and rentals lured us away from the grindstone. But by 2013, their little website that could dominate the destination landscape in Australia and the big players from overseas were champing to get at the action.
In 2013, the temptation became too much and Stayz was purchased by U.S. holiday rental group HomeAway. $220 million changed hands (not that us little property owners were aware of it — that’s how much our combined efforts in cleaning and catering for Australian holidaymakers are worth apparently!) Then, in 2015, HomeAway was itself purchased by global travel giant Expedia for $US3.9 billion ($5.4 billion).
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