Articles tagged “vacation rentals”

Google's advertising revenue and profits skyrocketed during the fourth quarter — although travel industry spend didn't drive the results. As with other industries, travel advertisers will likely flock to YouTube for brand promotions when demand returns.

Some companies will add subscriptions to their mix of revenue streams, while others will go to market with subscriptions as the foundational offering in attempts at becoming a sort of Netflix of travel.

Today's low-interest rates make it a fine time to buy and rent out second homes in many markets. No wonder Vacasa has hired a new CFO and began acquiring properties again.

The Skift Recovery Index has been tracking the performance of the travel industry since the beginning of the year, through the major downturn in April, seeing it crawl back up during the summer, and then entering a second dip in September. October saw very little movement, but a few green shoots are there to look forward to.

The typical Airbnb review talks up a rental's charms while overlooking vital information. The company's stock prospectus similarly skips some key details for understanding its business. But we can still infer a few things about the distribution dynamo.

Using an American football analogy, Expedia Group is working on technique and drawing up a new playbook during its bye week. The company claims to not care much about market share dynamics now because travel volumes are low, but it is trying to be ready to come back strong when the game resumes.

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.

From new products featured prominently in Google search to acquisitions and antitrust probes, Google's competition issues have been fodder for years. Here are some highlights.

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.

In the school of online travel hard knocks, new entrants have learned that barriers to entry can be substantial. Amazon, Google, and Airbnb should realize that the devil is in the details, and the complexities.