Airbnb News

Voice has tremendous potential to transform the vacation rental or private accommodation experience as we know it — but are we there yet? And if not, how do we get there?

Travelers are prioritizing experiences that can teach them something new and open their eyes –– meaning that hospitality brands and accommodations need to shift how they attract and appeal to guests.

This move makes plenty of sense but we — presumably like those very people who want to use Airbnb to list their properties — wish Airbnb was a bit more forthcoming with actual new tools.

When it comes to the acquisition game, Expedia Group CEO Mark Okerstrom is one of the travel industry's savviest players. It's fun to see him back at it, after a mostly quiet period of him settling into the company's top job.

Chip Conley mixes some self-promotion into his predictions, but these insights from a longtime hospitality insider warrant attention.

The regulatory environment for Airbnb is becoming increasingly more restrictive, but completely wiping out Airbnb as an alternative for travel accommodations via regulation won't necessarily be beneficial from an economic standpoint.

In initial public offering land, it's a long time until 2019. The markets are turbulent at the moment and there are big regulatory headaches that stubbornly persist, but investors are salivating at the prospect of dropping some money into Uber and/or Airbnb. These IPO plans could be very impactful.

An Expedia acquisition of Thomas Cook? While problematic on many fronts, including buying all of those offline agents, it isn't out of the question. Consider that Expedia would gain access to a customer base in Europe that it hardly touches. Expedia's Barry Diller has made a ton of acquisitions. He and Okerstrom are hardly done yet.

Airbnb is clearly growing very fast. But before it goes public, it will have to sort out regulatory issues like the one it faces in the UK.

What is hurting Airbnb’s ability to see true success? Increasing regulation, the company’s potential impact on local housing markets and the traditional hotel sector, and the company’s increasing role in hospitality and accommodation distribution. In this report, we attack all three.