Home Exchange options are very limited in Asia. But there are a lot of people traveling in that region, and a growing number of folks offering lodging on AirBnb-type rental sites. So it seems like a smart move that HomeExchange.com and TripVillas recently closed a deal to offer Home Exchange services to TripVillas Asia members.
The press release suggests that HomeExchange.com will be integrating Asia-based TripVillas members into their home swapping site so that everyone in the HomeExchange.com network gets access to these homes, and TripVillas members will have access to a broader range of options around the world. “Owners of holiday homes already present on TripVillas and rental owners in communities enabled on the holiday rental platform will now see a new button on their dashboard allowing them to opt-in to the HomeExchange.com network and transform vacancies into free stays worldwide.”
I do find it a bit odd that this deal is being offered only to Asian homes on TripVillas as that site has over 200,000 listings from around the world. TripVillas advertises about 18,000 listings in Asia, which would be an impressive addition to the HomeExchange network and especially good for regional diversification in Asia. In practice since it will be an opt-in service we will have to wait and see how many members of that network actually want to join a home exchange service.