Booking.com is growing its Australian business at more than a double-digit rate despite growth in outbound travel slowing to just 2.3 per cent now that the dollar has fallen. 
It's a sign the online travel giant is gaining market share against bricks and mortar-focused rivals such as Flight Centre Travel Group.
"We are in online travel. We are in the sweet spot of where the market is moving," Priceline Group and Booking.com chief executive Darren Huston told The Australian Financial Review on Thursday. "Australians are embracing that at a very rapid pace. We are the benefactors I would say of the general trend that may be up and above the local short-term trend."  
He said in local currency terms, bookings and revenue were rising at more than a double-digit rate, although the company does not release its local market numbers publicly. In contrast, the market's biggest local player, Flight Centre is growing at around a 3 per cent rate in its leisure business, although its business is more weighted toward flights than hotels.
"We are doing really well," Mr Huston said. "If you talk to most of the hotels in Australia we'll be their No. 1 producer. Australians love our product, not just for booking in Australia but also for travelling [overseas]. And Australia is a really popular destination now, particularly for the Chinese market."
As in other markets, Booking.com, via its Villas.com offshoot, is looking to boost its local presence in the growing non-traditional accommodation sector where it competes against players such as Airbnb and Stayz. Priceline's biggest global rival Expedia this month agreed to buy Stayz owner HomeAway for $US3.9 billion ($5.48 billion). 
US regulatory filings made clear HomeAway had spoken with other potential buyers before agreeing to the Expedia deal. Mr Huston said Priceline had been looking at HomeAway "for years" but decided it was best to build its business organically and focus on properties that could be booked instantly.

'Friction-free commerce'
Airbnb and HomeAway allow holiday home owners to vet the potential guests before allowing bookings, whereas Villas.com does not. To date, Airbnb and Stayz each have more than 40,000 listings in Australia, while Villas.com has around 7100 in this market and more than 380,000 globally.
Villas.com charges the property owner a commission for the booking, just as the company does with hotels on Booking.com. Stayz has a similar model, although Airbnb is more reliant on booking fees paid by the traveller.
"Frankly, our customer base is a premium customer base and they are expecting a hotel-like atmosphere," Mr Huston said. "We are really about friction-free commerce."
Earlier this year, Expedia and its Wotif subsidiary and Booking.com raised the commission rates they charge hotels for bookings in this market to 15 per cent from 12 per cent previously. The competition regulator has begun a consultation process on the issue given hotel owners are concerned rates could keep rising in the future given the local industry is dominated by two players that charge up to 20 per cent commission in other markets.
Mr Huston said Australian commission rates had been low compared to the rest of the world before the recent rises but they were now at "standard levels" and there were no plans to raise them further.
This week, Marriott agreed to buy rival Starwood Hotels for $US12.2 billion, in a move that could help give the chains greater bargaining power against online travel agents as more direct bookings are encouraged. Mr Huston said he expected consolidation would continue in the hotel industry, but the chains would need online travel agents to bring new customers to the franchises.
Beyond hotels, Priceline is also focused on restaurants via its OpenTable booking service, which is similar to TripAdvisor-owned Dimmi. Mr Huston said OpenTable would be launching in the Australian market soon.