By Ankit Ajmera
(Reuters) - Trivago NV is benefiting from a surge in the listing of alternative accommodations, even as hotel referrals generate the lion's share of sales, its CEO said, after the company reported a 68 percent jump in quarterly revenue.
"This growth that we have is basically also due to the fact that we are growing stronger in alternative accommodation," Chief Executive Officer Rolf Schromgens told Reuters in a telephonic interview from his office in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Apartment sharing sites such as Airbnb and HomeAway, owned by U.S. online travel firm Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE), have fuelled growth in the vacation rental market, which is expected to hit about $194 billion by 2021, according to market research firm Technavio, as more millennials look to tap the sharing economy.
The market, which includes shared apartments and vacation rental homes, was valued at more than $100 billion in 2016.
"Booking.com or Expedia are adding more and more alternative accommodation to the inventory. And when they are adding, we are adding that too," Schromgens said.
Booking.com is a unit of Priceline Group Inc.
Shares of Trivago, majority owned by U.S. online travel firm Expedia, rose as much as 22.8 percent to a record high of $21.89 in early trading on Monday.
Trivago allows customers to search through hotel deals aggregated across a variety of online travel sites and generates much of its revenue when a customer clicks on the offers.
Priceline Group and its affiliated brands, including Booking.com, accounted for 43 percent of Trivago's total revenue in 2016, while Expedia comprised 35 percent of total revenue.
Trivago also raised its 2017 revenue growth forecast to 50 percent, from 45 percent previously, and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be "slightly up", compared with flat to a slight increase earlier.
Through Friday's close, the company's shares had gained about 62 percent since their debut in December.
