Future of Lodging

Who needs telephones in hotel guest rooms? Hotels can instead have guests make and receive calls via their mobile apps. That's one of the outcomes made possible by this acquisition of the vendor Criton by Nonius.

As the short-term rental market grows rapidly in Asia-Pacific, all of the stakeholders involved will grow along with it. The sector is expected to remain fragmented for now, but in the coming few years as the market matures and its demand-supply equilibrium gets defined, market leaders will emerge.

What performs better financially than a hotel, on average? A hybrid model of lodging that mixes short-term and long-term stays, according to Placemakr. Is the startup genius? Or is it trying to do too much?

The stigma behind airport hotels is changing and with that comes servicing more “destination travelers” versus displaced travelers.

The smartest money appears to be warming to the emerging asset class of professionally managed short-term rentals and vacation rentals. But it's probably too soon to expect an "STR REIT," or short-term rental real estate investment trust, this year.

Hey, when opportunity knocks, answer the door if you think there is an ample addressable market. That's what Inspirato did as it develops a corporate rewards or incentive program and seeks to broaden its products into flights and adverture travel, as well.

This deal is the second investment in two weeks in business intelligence for the short-term rental sector, coming after startup OTA Insight's purchase of Transparent. "Follow the data" is the new "follow the money."

Just about every travel company — Sonder included — wants more direct bookings because of the lower costs and chance to build customer relationships. Still, Sonder may be at a growth stage where adding distribution channels can be an important hedge against over-reliance on the bigger ones.

Google Travel turned off Russia advertisers, but is still getting a limited amount of advertising for Russia travel from ad partners outside Russia. In contrast, Skyscanner and Kayak don't display any information about Russia travel.

Another hotel group enters the luxury home rental fray, but Mandarin Oriental is putting its properties through a rigorous brand standard ringer before guests have an opportunity to book.