Booking.com was founded in 1996 and has quickly become a leader in its segment. They created a platform where hotels and their potential guests could meet. Booking.com charged both sides a fee for every successful deal, earning enough to expand its business and reach 223 countries. By 2019, the company has served three billion guests, and the number has been growing all this time.
The popularity of the so-called alternative traveling involving private vacation rentals started growing in the 2010s, and Booking.com could not ignore it. They started accepting private listings there, and the share of such bookings is constantly increasing.