Articles tagged “sharing economy”

The entrance of Airbnb, TripAdvisor and HomeAway into the ranks of the heretofore online travel agency-dominated Travel Technology Association is a sign of the sharing-economy times, and will give the newbies added clout when the butt heads with local regulators.

With the U.S. hotel industry performing well, it is losing some business from the sharing economy, but there isn't a lot of hurt yet. That could come later.

Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson says he is having "fun" watching the development of Airbnb. He adds that Millennials will be a "massive" portion of Marriott's customer base in a decade. It won't be too much fun, though, if Millennial travelers stray from hotels as their best options for a stay.

The Alternative Spanish Stock Exchange sounds like a public-company incubator and an attractive way for small-cap companies to prove their mettle.

Trust is a major issue when it comes to renting products, especially ones as personal as your home or as expensive as a car. Despite this obstacle, the travel-related sharing economy is rapidly growing worldwide.

The idea of having an authentic local travel experience is what drives many travelers to use Airbnb. That could be ruined by recreating a traditional travel cycle in which hosts and agents receive perks for their recommendations.

So begins a year of collecting lodging taxes by Airbnb: Portland, New York City, San Francisco. Will it follow suit in its international cities as well later in the year?

Airbnb's ambitions listed here are a huge task and with its funding and right management, it may just have a chance at becoming the global leisure and hospitality brand for the millennial generation.

The year sharing economy went legitimate. It is already happening, with Uber taming down its against-the-machine rhetoric, and Airbnb beginning to think beyond renting room and house shares.