Articles tagged “str2019”

Short-term rental tech vendors are increasingly forced to pick a side: Focus on professional property managers or focus on the long tail of independent hosts. There's business in both, but understanding customer needs is paramount.

In online travel, everything is tactical and not necessarily permanent. But for now, at least, those coveted Airbnb listings are appearing in Google's vacation rental pages in some European cities. This could have big implications for both companies if those listings remain.

Nowhere is the need for a more tech-driven, business-oriented model for setting rates more clear than with short-term rental property management companies. Several startups aim to supercharge rate-setting with data-powered insights. But there's probably too many of these young companies for them to all survive long-term.

The online juggernaut isn't satisfied with dominating urban markets. Airbnb wants to take the beaches and the mountains, too, in the battle for short-term rental bookings. So the company is becoming savvier in how it approaches local property managers.

We’re diving deeper into the fast-changing world of the short-term rental sector with this first-ever Skift Summit. Here’s what you can expect to learn and who you'll hear from at our inaugural event.

If you believe internet ratings, you’d think everything sold online is above average. Booking.com appears to be trying to combat that problem in the short-term rentals sector by rolling out a rating system. The company risks upsetting some property managers by acting as self-appointed judge and jury of unit quality. But some travelers may like the additional context.

Airbnb has nothing to worry about. Marriott is mainly interested in using rentals as a tool to build brand loyalty. So the Bethesda, Maryland-based hotel giant won't threaten the established players in short-term rental booking.

The Booking.com flight partnership with eTraveli doesn't seem particularly seamless because travelers still have to hop over to a third-party site, Gotogate, to complete their reservations. Still, the deal is another step in Booking.com's evolution from hotel-only provider in its early days to well-rounded online travel company.

Behind the scenes, there may be abundant reasons that Booking Holdings and Airbnb, for that matter, won't be dabbling in Google's vacation rentals business for the time being. Perhaps they are seeking to boost direct traffic or are unhappy with the economics and user experience. Expedia may be positioned to take some advantage.

Do or die? Test and learn? Now or never? As Airbnb marches toward going public in 2020, a key question in many minds will be how Airbnb deals with Google — and at what price. There are no slam-dunk answers.