Comprehensive coverage of vacation rentals and short-term rentals in both urban and traditional vacation destinations. Get breaking news, original reported stories, trends, interviews, and more.
Dennis Schaal, Skift
An Airbnb pre-IPO stock split gives the company's potential public debut more momentum because its share price in theory would be lower. Of course, none of Airbnb's IPO paperwork is public yet so the particulars of the IPO are just guesswork for now.
2 days ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
On the road toward its IPO, Airbnb has engaged in nonstop publicity about its efforts to crack down on house parties. Another less-noticed part of that effort is when Airbnb blocks these bookings of whole homes, it encourages users to book hotels instead.
5 days ago
Jane Lanhee Lee, Reuters
Airbnb has always been obsessive about its design, and it's hard to imagine a more obsessive designer than Jony Ive.
7 days ago
Haixia Wang, Skift Research
Labor Day weekend didn’t provide a much-needed boost for the U.S travel sector. In September, 37 percent of Americans traveled, barely one percentage point higher than in August. The path of travel recovery ahead might be even rockier with summer vacation officially behind us.
2 weeks ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
With thousands of hotels going out of business and up for sale, and vacation rentals business booming in certain destinations, there will be a ton of disruption and convergence in hospitality. Savvy short-term rental operators can pick off some direct bookings, but the mega online travel agencies will hardly notice.
3 weeks ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Airbnb's proposed December timing for an initial public offering could be dicey because the U.S. presidential election and its aftermath is such a wild card at this point. Still, a $3 billion funding infusion could help Airbnb pay down the high-interest private equity debt that it raised earlier this year.
4 weeks ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Airbnb banned one-night stays, but only around Halloween in the U.S. and Canada. An outright ban, as is the policy at Vrbo, would be harder for Airbnb because that would hurt its corporate travel business. Still, house parties are a problem that may keep on creating ugly headlines.
4 weeks ago
Matthew Parsons, Skift
Focusing on alternative accommodations is a smart move because in uncertain times, who doesn't want options?
1 month ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Despite Brian Chesky’s rhetoric about Airbnb needing to return to its local connections mission and roots, the economics point to Airbnb needing Domio- and Sonder-like listings. Even if it means negative publicity pre-IPO.
1 month ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Message delivered: If Airbnb is concerned about the market's rollercoaster ride and the timing of its going public, then Bill Ackman's Pershing — and other special purpose acquisition companies — could take a little of the anxiety out of the process.
2 months ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
The online travel agency lineup in Google vacation rentals involves strategic considerations: take advantage of the bookings, and strengthen Google's competitive position in the process, or risk going without.
2 months ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Airbnb looks to be cleaning up some overhangs before its anticipated initial public offering, including being fairly aggressive about promoting its crackdown on wayward house parties in its rentals. In case investors ask about the issue, Airbnb has an answer.
2 months ago
