6 Ways Airbnb Changed Travel and the Vacation Rental Industry
Skift Take
Airbnb has been a true disruptor in travel, and we'll continue to keep a close watch as it matures into a broader industry player.
Editor’s note: Skift is two years old this week, and we’re rolling out five days of special travel industry coverage. This is just one of a series you can find in full here.
Sharing economy companies have truly changed how we visit destinations, how we stay there, and how we move around.
Services such as Uber and Airbnb have taken the best of the web, mobile, and social to create travel products that allow people to find rides or places to stay with an ease that was previously unheard of. Their success has shown the errors of regulation in some areas, as well as demonstrated that hubris and a disregard for local laws isn't the hinderance to success that one would assume.
Will they live up to the $10 billion-plus valuations we see at Airbnb and Uber, will they be snapped up by older companies hedging their bets, or will they go the IPO route and seek Facebook-like validation for their products?
In this two-part series, we'll look at the poster children for the movement: Airbnb and Uber. First up is Airbnb.
The Case for Airbnb
Our research and coverage of Airbnb has bucked the fawning editorial trends of the tech and travel press,
