Vacasa Appoints Former Expedia Executive to Board of Directors
September 14, 2017
Portland, Ore., Sept 14, 2017 — Vacasa, a leading vacation rental management company, today announces the appointment of former Expedia executive and Hotwire Chief Technology Officer, Brian Gill to its board of directors. Bringing more than a decade of travel technology experience, Gill will play a strategic advisor role as the company positions itself for further growth in 2017 and beyond. Gill joined Nordstrom earlier this year to lead a 500+ engineering team as SVP of Technology.
Gill led development of core service architecture for all Expedia Inc. brands including household names like Travelocity, Hotels.com, Trivago, Orbitz and others, before taking on the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Scientist role at Hotwire. At Expedia, his 400+ team invented and built technology systems for revenue optimization, natural language processing, global payments, order management, loyalty programs, coupons and web services. At Hotwire, he led the development of a cloud hosted micro-service architecture to enable faster time to market, more responsive systems, and a foundation for future growth of the brand.
An avid traveler and vacation rental enthusiast, Gill is excited to join the Vacasa board. “I’ve been very impressed with the Vacasa vision and its leadership team’s ability to execute. The alternative accommodations industry is growing at record pace and Vacasa is positioned to transform the vacation rental sector. Vacasa’s technology is industry-leading and their commitment to continued innovation will keep them on the cutting-edge in this rapidly evolving space.”
Founded in 2009, Vacasa uses technology to manage more than 6,000 vacation rentals around the world helping homeowners maximize their revenue while providing guests with a consistent, world-class experience. In 2016, Vacasa secured its first round of outside capital: $40 million in Series A financing.
Vacasa has made significant investments in its technology stack, rolling out an upgraded machine learning-based pricing tool Yield Management 2.0, integrating 3D virtual tours via Matterport to all its property listings, and hiring fintec industry alum Tim Goodwin as Chief Technology Officer earlier this year. Since then, Vacasa’s engineering team has grown 40%, a figure Goodwin plans to double by the end of the year.
“As a global brand about to enter a new stage of technology-driven growth, we’re excited to add Brian’s experience and perspective to our board,” says Vacasa founder and CEO Eric Breon. “Brian knows the travel space better than almost anyone in the industry, and his vision and values align with what we’re trying to do. The leadership and experience he brings to Vacasa will guide our growth as we continue to leverage technology to provide best-in-class experiences for our homeowners, guests and employees.”
Get to know Brian Gill a little better in this profile about him on our blog. To learn more about Vacasa, visit https://www.vacasa.com/.
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About Vacasa
Vacasa is a technology-enabled, full-service vacation rental management company with operations in the U.S., Europe, Africa, Central and South America. Leveraging proprietary technology, Vacasa drives revenue for homeowners and provides a seamless experience for guests. Founded in 2009 and based in Portland, Oregon, Vacasa has grown from two to more than 1,600 employees in eight years, has been honored as the Oregon Better Business Bureau Large Business of the Year and was ranked ninth on the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies list. For more information, visit https://www.vacasa.com/ or on Twitter @vacasarentals.
