In The Big Chair LIVE - Henrik Kjellberg of Awaze

Henrik Kjellberg, CEO, Awaze

Henrik Kjellberg became CEO of Awaze (formerly European Vacation Rentals) in 2018. The group includes brands such as Hoseasons, James Villas and Novasol. His previous roles have included president of Hotwire and chairman of eLong, the Chinese travel company.

The Awaze group of brands was acquired by Platinum Equity from Wyndham Worldwide for $1.3 billion in early 2018.

Developments in private accommodation have hit the headlines regularly, for good and bad reasons, in the past few months.

Huge sums are being invested in startups, with investors seeing great potential and rapid growth in traditional vacation rentals as well as in what is often termed alternative accommodation.

Moves such as OYO’s acquisition of @Leisure in May, Google’s further push into vacation rentals and the growth of Airbnb continue to fuel the discussion.

Enter Awaze, which was announced as the new name for European Vacation Rentals group (formerly Wyndham’s European business) in March of this year.

Henrik Kjellberg, Awaze's CEO after spending almost 16 years within Expedia Group, joined us in the PhocusWire Studio at last month’s Phocuswright Conference in the United States to discuss the growth of his company and the sector and the challenges he faces.

He also talked about cutting through the noise in the fiercely competitive sector as well as whether it’s a bubble waiting to burst.