AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - HomeAway, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY), the world leader in vacation rentals, today announces the promotion of Bill Furlong to vice president of the North American business and Matt Laessig to vice president of global business development.
Furlong is filling the position vacated earlier this year by Jon Gray, who was promoted to chief revenue officer. Furlong has been with HomeAway® since 2010 and most recently served as vice president of HomeAway Software®, the leading provider of property management software for professional vacation rental managers. Furlong will oversee HomeAway's operations in North America, including HomeAway Software, which will continue to operate as a separate division.
As the former chief executive officer of Escapia®, Furlong has more than a decade of vacation rental industry experience. He also spent five years as a product manager at Microsoft and has a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Laessig is taking over business development responsibilities from Taleeb Noormohamed, and previously served as the general manager of HomeAway's BedandBreakfast.com®, a role now filled by Lisa Westlake Chen, who previously headed up marketing for the brand. In his new role, Laessig will craft strategy, identify partnership targets and negotiate deals that enable families and groups to experience the beauty of whole vacations.
Prior to joining HomeAway, Laessig led business development for North America at Bazaarvoice. He has a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
"Bill and Matt have been significant contributors to the success of HomeAway over the years," said Brian Sharples, HomeAway co-founder and CEO. "Their leadership and vision for our business will continue to be critical as we enter the next phase of HomeAway's growth."
Also, as announced in April, Carl Shepherd retired from his role as chief development effective September 11 but will continue to serve on the HomeAway board of directors.
###
About HomeAway
HomeAway, Inc. based in Austin, Texas, is the world leader in vacation rentals, with sites representing over one million paid listings of vacation rental homes in 190 countries. Through HomeAway, owners and property managers offer an extensive selection of vacation homes that provide travelers with memorable experiences and benefits, including more room to relax and added privacy, for less than the cost of traditional hotel accommodations. The company also makes it easy for vacation rental owners and property managers to advertise their properties and manage bookings online. The HomeAway portfolio includes the leading vacation rental websites HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com in the United States; HomeAway.co.uk and OwnersDirect.co.uk in the United Kingdom; HomeAway.de in Germany; Abritel.fr and Homelidays.com in France; HomeAway.es and Toprural.es in Spain; AlugueTemporada.com.br in Brazil; HomeAway.com.au and Stayz.com.au in Australia; and Bookabach.co.nz in New Zealand. The Asia Pacific short-term rental site, travelmob.com, is also majority owned by HomeAway.
HomeAway also operates BedandBreakfast.com, the most comprehensive global site for finding bed-and-breakfast properties, providing travelers with another source for unique lodging alternatives to chain hotels. For more information about HomeAway, please visit http://www.HomeAway.com.
This article was originally distributed on PRWeb. For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/10/prweb12995887.htm