Samantha Shankman

Unlike Airbnb's other markets, there are several reasons for a single person to manage dozens of listings in Cuba. Setting up this model could lead to its replication in other, hard to manage areas.

An in-depth knowledge of your neighborhood, and the desire to share it, is the only credentials needed to tap into a growing demand for "insiders."

Brand perception today is built one digital asset, video or campaign at a time. The faster that brands understand who they are and how to share that message, the easier it will be to attract their target customer base.

Even the most well-known, and well-funded destinations would like more money to fuel their international marketing efforts, making partnerships the only feasible way to get there.

Without serving a real need of a large sector of the traveling population, it will be difficult to ever truly get many of these startups off the ground.

Making Airbnb lawful might actually give regular citizens a chance at using it to make an extra buck, but to say that's the gross majority of its hosts in London, or any city, is a tale of two very different cities.

Travel Channel is working hard to recreate its image and new concepts like these are what could turn those efforts into actual eyeballs.

It's difficult to imagine a single kind of traveler that's underserved in today's market with so many niche services provided online. Despite that, new companies are launched every day to do just that.

Hotels are moving away from guidebooks and guidelines and learning how to empower their employees to adapt their services and relationships with individual guests.

Emilia-Romagna can't be considered a success story yet, but its everyday efforts mirror the work of many lesser known destinations and the opportunities that digital media provides to define their offering and broaden their audience.